In May of 2021, we learned that the office of the Inspector General at the Department of Defense had opened up two investigations into the Pentagon’s handling of ongoing investigations into sightings of UFOs by military personnel. (I know… they want us to call them Unidentified Aerial Phenomena or UAP these days, but I’m old and I don’t care anymore.) The first investigation involved how the investigation was handled and whether or not it was being run efficiently. The second was related to the Pentagon’s apparent mistreatment of former AATIP director Luis Elizondo and the possible destruction of official records. (Someone inside the DoD either deleted all of Elizondo’s emails and records decades ahead of schedule or lied about doing so to evade FOIA investigations.)

As with most investigations undertaken by various offices of the Inspectors General, neither of these projects have been completed yet and no findings have been made public. But now the Inspector General for the Department of Defense is being replaced and Joe Biden’s nominee to fill the role, Robert Storch, is being grilled by the Senate as part of the confirmation process. The questioning took an interesting turn this week when New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D) had her turn to interview Storch. She wanted to know if he was familiar with the ongoing UAP office investigation and if he planned to proceed with it. When Storch confessed he didn’t know much about it, Gillibrand began to press the issue and she made it clear that Storch needed to take this seriously or there could be consequences.

I was first alerted to this exchange by D. Dean Johnson on Twitter. (If you have any interest at all in the government’s UAP programs and activities, you should bookmark and keep an eye on Johnson’s website and his social media feed. He is all over this topic and frequently the first to publish breaking news regarding it.)

In May 2021, the DoD Inspector General began an evaluation "to determine the extent to which the DoD has taken actions regarding" UAP. Today (2-15-22), at confirmation hearing for DoD IG nominee Robert Storch, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand sought promises from Storch on the UAP study. pic.twitter.com/zDHnehGHP6

— D. Dean Johnson (@ddeanjohnson) February 15, 2022

Here’s the brief video of the exchange between Gillibrand and Storch. See if you can catch the implied threat at the end of the Senator’s remarks.

Gillibrand was the Senator who was the author of the bombshell amendment to last year’s National Defense Authorization Act creating a new UFO investigation office that would be accountable to Congress, so it’s not a surprise that she would be asking about the ongoing IG investigations and Storch’s views regarding them. The nominee first tried to simply say that he was “not familiar” with the subject, but if confirmed, “of course” he would look into it.

Gillibrand wasn’t having any of it. She told Storch that she needed assurances that he would be getting up to speed and pursuing this issue. Storch’s next attempt at deflecting the question didn’t go much better. He gave a generic statement saying that “of course” (again) if there were any pending investigations he would “give my best attention” to them.

But like a dog who’s gotten hold of a steak bone, Kirsten Gillibrand didn’t let it drop there. She informed Storch in a very unsubtle way that she expected a response from him in writing as to his understanding of the issue. And she wants it before anyone votes to confirm him.

“Since you aren’t familiar, can you please familiarize yourself with this issue and respond to both of those questions in writing before your confirmation, please?”

Storch actually took an uncomfortable pause at the point, glancing down the table to the people on his right before answering with a simple, “Yes Ma’am,” and beginning to scribble notes on his notepad.

Being a sitting IG of another agency who was nominated by a Democratic president and being questioned by a Democratic Senator, Storch no doubt thought that this review was going to be all softballs and glad-handing. But Gillibrand threw him a curve when she clearly implied that his confirmation was anything but a sure thing until she felt comfortable that he was going to move forward enthusiastically with the UFO office investigations. Storch honestly looked shocked at the realization that he had just been effectively given a complicated homework assignment covering a subject that many government officials are still very uncomfortable discussing.

But he doesn’t have much choice at this point. He needs to hop on the UFO bandwagon immediately or Gillibrand could conceivably tank his new job prospects. We have indeed lived to see interesting times, my friends. And I, for one, am enjoying the show immensely.