By Tim Binnall
In an intriguing turn of events, the Inspector General for the Department of Defense has announced plans to conduct an evaluation of how the Pentagon has responded to the UFO phenomenon. The forthcoming endeavor was revealed in a memo issued by the oversight office on Monday and quickly caught the attention of UFO enthusiasts when word of the decision spread throughout the community on Tuesday morning. The announcement from the IG somewhat vaguely states that they intend to "determine the extent to which the DoD has taken actions regarding Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP)." The memo goes on to say that "we may revise the objective as the evaluation proceeds, and we will consider suggestions from management for additional or revised objectives."
Additionally, it indicates that "we will perform the evaluation at the Offices of the Secretary of Defense, Military Services, Combatant Commands, Combat Support Agencies, Defense Agencies, and the Military Criminal Investigative Organizations." Receiving the memo were a myriad of high-ranking DoD personnel including the Chairman of the Joint Cheifs of Staff as well as the directors of both the Defense Intelligence Agency and National Security Agency. As is so often the case when it comes to the UFO phenomenon and the United States government, this latest development brings with it far more questions than answers, including what exactly prompted the decision to launch an evaluation in the first place as well as what, if anything, might come of it.
While the IG's inquiry into the matter is seemingly separate from the forthcoming Pentagon report on UFOs, which is due to be released next month, there is some speculation that it may have been initiated due to a lack of transparency among different departments within the DoD when it comes to producing information for that investigation or perhaps for members of Congress looking into the phenomenon. Nonetheless, the decision by the DoD Inspector General to evaluate how the Pentagon has handled unidentified aerial phenomena has been met with considerable enthusiasm by UFO disclosure advocates since the office has both significant investigatory powers as well as the funds to carry out such endeavors.