How did I miss this? Here is a really interesting portion of the Hill article in case you missed it too:
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Asked on May 2 whether a 63-page Pentagon report categorically denying the existence of illicit UFO efforts is “case closed,” Gillibrand stated, “Oh, it’s definitely not case closed.”
Gillibrand noted that two knowledgeable individuals with whom she has met “refused to meet with” Kirkpatrick or his office. These whistleblowers’ hesitations may be well founded. In recent months, the Pentagon’s UFO office has lost much of its credibility following a series of flawed and deeply misleading reports.
Crucially, another set of newly released documents indicates that high-level current and former officials with apparent knowledge of illicit UFO programs refused to meet with Kirkpatrick.
In a June 2023 interview with NewsNation, Rubio made a series of startling UFO-related comments. According to Rubio, “smart, educated people with high clearances and very important positions in our government” have informed Congress of the existence of secret UFO programs.
As the documents reveal, Kirkpatrick was taken by surprise by Rubio’s comments. A Senate Intelligence Committee staffer subsequently informed Kirkpatrick that the senior officials described by Rubio were among those who refused to speak to his office.
As Christopher Mellon, the Department of Defense’s former top civilian intelligence official, notes, many UFO whistleblowers do not trust the Pentagon process, preferring to speak to Congress and the intelligence community’s internal watchdog instead.
This puts the Pentagon in a particularly awkward position. If the director of the UFO office was aware that high-level officials alleging the existence of unreported UFO programs refused to speak with him, how can he and his office credibly issue sweeping denials that such programs exist?
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submitted by /u/mattriver
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