More Official Contradictions
“I’ve just been
advised that the first POC for UFO/UAE sightings at Airservices Australia is the NOC Supervisor....”
- Squadron
Leader Jodie Hatch, Royal Australian Air Force
That’s weird. Firstly,
myself, and others, have been repeatedly told, in official correspondence from
both the Defence Department and Airservices Australia, that no one uses the
term “UFO”. Secondly, no one in Defence or Aviation officialdom has ever
mentioned the term “UAE”, despite repeated and reasonable enquiries into such
terminology matters.
To further elaborate,
on the 15th of July, 2013, I submitted a request for certain
materials held by the Directorate of Defence Aviation and Air Force Safety (DDAAFS)
under the Freedom of Information Act. It appears, despite my paying of search
fees, plus assurances from the RAAF’s Director of Coordination, Group Captain
Barbara Courtney, that this request was not handled with due diligence; but
that is a topic for a later blogpost. In the handling of that FOI request,
Defence produced a large number of internal emails and documents, some of held
under the banner of a so-called ‘corporate file’. On the 8th of
April, 2014, I requested that file, ironically, under the FOI Act. Essentially,
I was doing an FOI request for the file which contained some of the documents
created during an FOI request! That request was successful, and I obtained dozens
of pages of internal emails and other documents regarding my earlier request.
One of the many emails that stood out is a 22nd July, 2013 email
from one Squadron Leader Jodie Hatch to the Director of the Defence FOI Branch
which stated:
“I’ve just been advised that the first POC for
UFO/UAE sightings at Airservices Australia is the NOC Supervisor XXXXXXXX”
The actual email is imaged below.
That
a RAAF Squadron Leader used the term “UFO/UAE” – whether it be in a Defence or Airservices Australia setting – is at
complete odds with what I have been told in previous communications with both
entities, as we shall see.
Firstly, in
telephone correspondence on 12th April, 2013, I was told by an Airservices
Australia’s public relations staffer that they do not have a specific terminology
for UFO’s. Secondly, on the 6th of August, 2013, I sent a letter to
the Chief of Air, RAAF, asking what “terms and terminology” for UFO’s were used
to by Defence in any and all Defence settings. On the 15th of August, 2013 I
received a letter from Group Captain Barbara Courtney, Director of
Coordination, RAAF, on behalf of the Chief of Air (see my previous blog posts)
The only term actually offered to me was the rather dry phrase “Violation of
Controlled Airspace” – and that was only the term used in a technical setting
when an unknown aircraft violated controlled airspace. In other words, Defence
ignored my very reasonable questions.
So,
now, in regards to the above internal Defence email, we have a situation where a
RAAF Squadron Leader is using the term “UFO/UAE”, which of course brings into
question, to put it mildly, what I had been officially told by both Defence and
Airservices over a year ago. The term “UFO” is clearly “Unidentified Flying
Object”. The term “UAE”, I assume, is something along the lines of “Unknown” or
“Unusual” “Aerial Event”. Either way, what I have been told before about UFO
terminology is shown to be complete nonsense.
Furthermore, note
the sentence in the email says:
“…first
POC for UFO/UAE sightings at Airservices Australia is the NOC Supervisor
XXXXXXXX”
Hold on.. This is new.. “POC” stands for
“Point of Contact” and the “NOC” is the “National Operations Center”. Up until now
none of this was known to UFO researchers, despite clear and fair enquiries in
the past The notion that the “NOC Supervisor” handles UFO events is of great
interest to me and my cohorts have already started investigating this matter.
As for the “UFO/UAE” terminology issue, I judged by the fact that Squadron
Leader Jodie Hatch was discussing Airservices Australia in her email that the
terms were indeed Airservices Australia’s. I sent the Airservices Legal branch
a letter on the 16 September, 2014, containing a copy of the Defence email as
well as an explanation of the situation. I asked a number of questions,
including the obvious one:
“Does
the term “UFO/UAE” stand for “Unidentified Flying Object/Unknown Aerial Events”
or “Unidentified Flying Object/Unusual Aerial Events” ? The difference here is of course just one
word: ‘Unknown’ or ‘Unusual’. I wish to learn which one is utilised.”
On the 8th of October, 2014,
I received the following correspondence:
“Your
inquiry regarding UFO/UAE sightings was forwarded to Corporate and Industry
Affairs for coordination of a response. Please find attached response to each
of your questions. Information was obtained from both our National Operations
Centre and from our Safety, Environment and Assurance business group.”
Attached was a copy of my questions, in PDF
form, and finally, I thought, we may have an answer. In the attachment was a
copy of my original questions, with answers below each. The key question was
answered as below:
“Q1.
Does the term “UFO/UAE” stand for “Unidentified Flying Object/Unknown Aerial
Events” or “Unidentified Flying Object/Unusual Aerial Events”? The difference
here is of course just one word: ‘Unknown’ or ‘Unusual’. I wish to learn which
one is utilised."
“Answer:
Airservices does not have a formal definition.”
Thus, the entire matter is dismissed in
one line. Taken at face value, this must mean that Squadron Leader Jodie Hatch
was actually using internal Defence terminology in her email. I have written to
the Melissa Davidson, Assistant Director, Freedom of Information, Ministerial
and Executive Coordination and Communication Division to ask what, indeed,
Defence was talking about in relation to “UFO/UAE” sightings. The fact that
Defence has stated repeatedly, to me and other researchers, that they do not
use the term “UFO”, one has to assume that someone, probably Defence, is not
being entirely honest with us. This is not surprising. For seventy years we
have been playing an endless game of hide-and-seek with authorities on this
matter. And that game clearly continues today.