Sean Kirkpatrick says the Defense Department would have benefited from engaging with the public on unknown aircraft.
Sean Kirkpatrick, director of All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office at the Department of Defense, gives a presentation during a public meeting of NASA’s unidentified anomalous phenomena independent study team, on May 31, 2023 at the Mary W. Jackson NASA Headquarters building in Washington.
He made the comments after POLITICO reached out for a response to a Defense Department Inspector General report in late Januaryand could have overlooked threats to the U.S. Kirkpatrick now provides strategic scientific and intelligence consulting services under Nonlinear Solutions LLC, and serves as the chief technology officer for Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
Kirkpatrick said the Pentagon is reticent to engage on the subject because it’s concerned about getting caught up in a web of conspiracy theories that has long existed surrounding the issue of UFOs. He argued that staying silent just exacerbates the problem. While he said Pentagon leadership generally was reluctant to talk publicly about UFOs, he praised Hicks for her support of the AARO mission.