On May 3, 2021 the Department of Defense’s Inspector General (IG) announced (pdf) that it was beginning an evaluating the “DoD’s Actions Regarding the Unidentified Aerial Phenomena”, adding to the growing momentum behind UAP investigations.

This follows on the heels of last summer’s official release by the DoD of three UAP videos and the announcement that the DoD was establishing the Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP) Task Force (UAPTF) (see previous post).

Since the Navy’s release of the UAP videos, there have been additional high profile stories such as the 2019 incident where multiple Navy ships were swarmed by “Mysterious ‘Drones’” on multiple nights.

The first public report by the UAPTF is due next month. The UFO/UAP community eagerly looks forward to it.

The IG’s announcement, however, was fairly vague, stating:

The objective of this evaluation is to determine the extent to which the DoD has taken actions regarding Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP).

Most of the UFO/UAP community is excited by the IG’s announcement. They see it as evidence the DoD is taking the issue seriously because the phenomena is real.

Some, however, believe the the memo could indicate that the IG sees the UAP effort as a boondoggle, waste of money, or has been abused to inappropriately funnel money to specific organizations. After all, the DoD IG’s primary mission is:

To detect and deter fraud, waste, and abuse in Department of Defense programs and operations

But what I find interesting about the IG’s letter is the long list of people copied on its release, including the Director of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). (see image below)

DARPA was created following the launch of Sputnik in 1957, and DARPA's goal has been that the United States

would be the initiator and not the victim of strategic technological surprises

The Navy’s public statements and actions suggest the US has been surprised by the phenomena, and whether the phenomena is man-made or something else, the DoD wants to get a handle on it ASAP.

With the official video releases, the creation of the UAPTF, and now the DoD IG’s involvement, the UFO/UAP topic has certainly taken on a new life since the two high profile stories by the New York Times in 2017:

Glowing Auras and ‘Black Money’: The Pentagon’s Mysterious U.F.O. Program

2 Navy Airmen and an Object That ‘Accelerated Like Nothing I’ve Ever Seen’

DoD Inspector General’s memo:

Distribution list for the memo (highlight added):