MYSTERY WIRE — Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks has signed off on a new memorandum to “direct the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security to develop a plan to formalize the mission currently performed by the UAPTF.”

In the one page document published to the Department of Defence publication page late this afternoon, the Deputy Secretary lays out three key components:

  • Establish procedures to synchronize collection, reporting and analysis on the UAP problem set, and to establish recommendations for securing military test and training ranges.
  • Identify requirements for the establishment and operation of the new activity, to include the organizational alignment, resources and staffing required, as well as any necessary authorities and a timeline for implementation.
  • Be developed in coordination with the Principal Staff Assistants, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Secretaries of the Military Departments, and the Commanders of the Combatant Commands and with the DNI and other relevant interagency partners.

It ends with this statement, “All members of the Department will utilize these processes to ensure that the UAPTF, or its follow-on activity, has reports of UAP observations within two weeks of an occurrence.”