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Kirkpatrick’s deputy, Tim Phillips, will lead the workplace in an performing function till the Pentagon hires a everlasting substitute, Kirkpatrick mentioned.
A physicist, Kirkpatrick took on the function at AARO after spending a long time in quite a lot of scientific jobs for the army.
Kirkpatrick’s tenure has been marked by a excessive stage of public and congressional curiosity within the challenge of UFOs and the potential of extraterrestrial life. The Biden administration established the workplace in July 2022, below Kirkpatrick’s management, to look into the unidentified craft army pilots have more and more reported seeing within the skies, and whether or not they posed a menace to nationwide safety. Since then, Kirkpatrick has investigated greater than 800 instances.
AARO has been within the information regularly in the previous few months, together with for its function in serving to the U.S. detect a fleet of Chinese language surveillance balloons.
Kirkpatrick himself made headlines this summer season when he fired again at a whistleblower’s explosive declare that the federal government is protecting up a decadeslong program to reverse-engineer alien craft. AARO has not uncovered any proof to assist the declare, Kirkpatrick mentioned on the time, calling the feedback “insulting.”
The whistleblower, retired Air Power intelligence officer Maj. David Grusch, has refused a number of requests to interview with AARO, Kirkpatrick mentioned.
Lawmakers, witnesses and UFO fanatics, nonetheless, have continued to criticize what they name an absence of transparency from the federal government relating to the phenomenon.
However Kirkpatrick mentioned AARO has made strides the place transparency is worried, together with launching a long-anticipated on-line software for former and present service members and authorities staff to report UFOs.
“Dr. Kirkpatrick has served the American folks with honesty and integrity, tackling an extremely troublesome mission to clarify the unknown,” Deputy Protection Secretary Kathleen Hicks mentioned in an announcement. “His dedication to transparency with the US Congress and the American public on UAP leaves a legacy the division will carry ahead as AARO continues its mission.”
One other memorable second got here when he co-authored a draft tutorial paper positing that the unidentified objects AARO is finding out might be alien probes from a mothership despatched to check Earth.
Kirkpatrick mentioned the doc that was posted on-line was in draft kind and didn’t have permission to be revealed. Nevertheless, he doesn’t remorse his involvement.
In actual fact, he believes “the perfect factor that might come out of this job is to show that there are aliens” — as a result of the choice is a a lot greater drawback.
“If we don’t show it’s aliens, then what we’re discovering is proof of different folks doing stuff in our yard,” he mentioned. “And that’s not good.”
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