Thinking the Unthinkable

The UFO Speech that Biden Should Deliver Now

Stating that UAP come from a non-human intelligence will shake up politics and start a global conversation that could save the planet. It’s time, Mr. President.

My Fellow Americans

This is not a speech I ever expected to give. Not tonight. Not anytime.

Yet to know what I now know and to refuse to talk to the American people in a transparent way is to fail to do my duty. Being President of the United States carries with it many responsibilities. The most important one, I believe, is to be accountable to the citizens of this country and to tell them the truth.

Tonight I will do that. I’ll look you in the eye and tell you the truth as I know it. One that is based on the consensus of some of the best minds this country has to offer — in government, military and science — corroborated by our intelligence gathering from over a dozen agencies, and confirmed by many of this nation’s allies.

What we’ll discuss tonight will need all of us to see each other as we must — as mothers and fathers, as brothers and sisters, and, mostly, as fellow human beings who need each other and share a common future as citizens of this Earth.

At the beginning of this last summer, on June 25th, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence released its Preliminary Assessment on Unidentified Aerial Phenomena, a task that was mandated by the United States Senate, and approved by the full Congress. The DNI was directed to work with all intelligence gathering agencies, including the Department of Defense, and report back what was known about the UAP issue.

I appointed the Director of National Intelligence, Avril Haines. I also appointed the Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin. That makes their report ultimately my responsibility as well.

I read the first draft of this report, sitting at my desk in the Oval Office. As someone who cares about this country, it affected me deeply.

You’ve probably heard about UAP sightings in news coverage. The Senate committee’s concern about Unidentified Aerial Phenomena, or what has so often been called UFOs, was based on an increasing number of cases where our nation’s military facilities and forces, including our nuclear assets, were encountering unknown and anomalous situations with craft operating in our nation’s airspace. These vehicles exhibited abilities that appeared to be an advanced technology. They appear to be under intelligent control.

Let me be specific. We have reports of these UAP traveling over 10,000 miles per hour, going from space to air and then sometimes even into the sea. They have evaded our radar, and seem to have no wings or other signs of propulsion. Indeed, they seem able to defy gravity. These are reports from our nation’s top military pilots corroborated by our nation’s most cutting edge equipment and sensors.

By now, all who want to have read that report from the ODNI have done so. It exists in a classified version and in a much shorter unclassified version.

While millions of Americans and people around the world have seen such objects with their own eyes, the report focuses primarily on military encounters where there are multiple witnesses and supporting technical data. It makes one thing extremely clear. These UAP are the figments of no one’s imagination. They exist.

The report makes another thing quite clear. The United States, which operates and maintains the greatest military capabilities and assets that the world has ever known, does not make these vehicles. They are not ours.

Some have been concerned that perhaps our adversaries make them, that somehow other nations have leapfrogged our country in advanced technology, placing our country and our citizens at risk. That is a legitimate concern and it has been an urgent priority of this nation to understand if nations like Russia or China are behind them.

This report makes clear that it is extremely unlikely that any other nation on this Earth makes these vehicles. I found myself putting the report down at that point, looking off into the night sky outside the Oval Office and thinking to myself —

If we don’t make these objects, and no other nation on Earth does either, then who does? What do they want?

The report does not answer those questions, although it is obvious that we must ask them now. From the moment of the report’s release, this Administration has been working behind-the-scenes on a priority basis to do just that. Since June 25th, I have requested multiple detailed briefings on this issue and received them. Last night, I viewed several videos from various elements of the U.S. military. They are extraordinary in their clarity, taken by our top pilots, and their authenticity is unchallenged. I’ve asked that they be rapidly cleared for release to you so you can see them for yourselves. After all, you paid for our military to gather this evidence.

At the conclusion of these briefings, it was made clear to me that if there was a mundane or terrestrial explanation, we would have found it by now. I am told that we must look to alternate explanations, including one that acknowledges these UAP do not originate here on Earth, that they are extraterrestrial, or something even more difficult to understand.

Whatever theory may ultimately win out, it now appears that we are not the only intelligent beings in the Universe.

Saying that out loud shocks me to my core, and it may shock you as well. I promise you this. We will explore this mystery together.

And so tonight, I come not just to speak to my fellow Americans, but to all of my fellow citizens of the world.

I spoke in my Inaugural Address about how we must come together and avoid the poison of partisanship. There is no other issue where that is as important as this one. The presence of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena remains a great mystery. It is one we must solve together.

The work ahead will involve not just Americans. It will need our friends around the world — the United Kingdom, Germany, Brazil, France, India, South Korea, Australia, Israel, Mexico, Canada and so many others that I can’t name them all tonight. But the work will also need to involve countries that we have had difficult relations with — Russia, China, North Korea, Iran, Venezuela, Afghanistan, Iraq and others. From the United Nations to NATO to the Vatican, every global institution is going to have a part to play.

There is another challenging truth, however, one that I contemplated at length while alone in the Oval Office. I can’t dodge it, and I won’t sugar coat it. I’m 79 years old. If this is not the time in my life for personal courage, there is never going to be a time.

What I realized is that these reports go back over seven decades. These objects were once called foo fighters, then flying saucers, then they became UFOs or Unidentified Flying Objects, now we call them UAP. By whatever name we refer to them, they have always been a part of this mysterious phenomenon.

This government, and other governments around the world, have known about this issue and instead of leveling with the people of the world and making them part of the solution, they have classified the truth, ridiculed people who knew about it and wanted answers, and denied its very existence.

Initially, this was done after the devastation of World War Two, when our leaders in government and the military had a desire to find the answers first before sharing them in order to prevent public panic. But the answers didn’t come easily and, as the years went on, instead of more people knowing, fewer and fewer did. Instead of becoming less secret, the entire mystery became more secret. When President Eisenhower spoke about the military-industrial complex, he may have been speaking about this.

On a personal basis, I can only say that I never thought much about the subject. I was busy raising a family and serving our country in the U.S. Senate, then as Vice President. In all those years, I was never briefed specifically on the topic. I heard rumors from time to time, but the world is a dangerous place and politics is a demanding business. There was always something else that demanded my attention.

For most of my political life, I simply assumed that if there was something to this, that I would be told about it. Even when, as President Obama’s Vice President, I was briefed on a few specific incidents, it was always done with the understanding that these were likely created by our adversaries and that they were being dealt with properly.

It is understandable if some, if not many of you, are angry, if you feel that your country has lied to you about something that you, as a human being, have a right to know. There will be days ahead when that is sorted out. I promise you. Now, however, we must look forward, not backward. We have work to do.

We may be on the brink of something truly historic that will change the way we see ourselves and our place in the Universe. There is no clear road-map, but we are resourceful, and we have met great challenges before.

We all know that we live in extraordinary times. The past year has challenged folks across this nation. A pandemic has so far taken the lives of over three-quarters of a million Americans and each life lost impacted so many others. But we are here, and we persevere, as we always do.

We are rebuilding our economy, even as we rebuild our roads and bridges. Let’s not forget, though, that we’re also rebuilding our national spirit. As Americans, we’re a country built on optimism, a country that sees a better future for our children as their birthright. That should never change.

What we need now, however, is to pivot toward action. Rather than a few of us studying this issue, it’s time for all of us to be involved. All of us together are smarter than any one of us.

There may even be reason to anticipate progress. The Apollo program got us to the Moon, but it has improved our lives in so many ways since thanks to the scientific and technological breakthroughs it allowed us to see that we might not have seen without it. This may happen again.

I will be meeting in the days ahead with both Democratic and Republican leaders in the Congress. I will demand that we find common ground. A bipartisan plan to get more of the facts and share them with you will be discussed and presented.

There will need to be procedures and policies implemented to review classification, and while we can share the overall truth, some documents will need to remain classified while they are evaluated in a way that is consistent with our national interest. Because of that, today I have reached out to Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines. I have asked her to devote whatever resources are necessary to aid in the expeditious review of classified documents and to see that what can be shared with the people is in fact shared quickly and transparently.

Action must start here, and start now. I have also just met with NASA’s administrator Bill Nelson, a former astronaut and U.S. Senator. I have asked him to personally coordinate this administration’s response and to work with the Congress to get the truth to the American people. His passion for space and his skills at communication will be great assets.

If leaders in the Senate and the House believe that public congressional hearings are in store, my Administration will support them. Congress will decide if immunity from prosecution will be granted to obtain testimony and whether subpoenas will be issued. My Administration will support transparency.

At the same time as this work goes on in the United States, I will be reaching out to foreign leaders, both friend and foe. That will include, as I’ve said, our alliances like NATO, and our global commitments, like the UN. The United States is not the only country on Earth to have encountered this phenomenon, yet the sharing of knowledge has been impeded by suspicion between countries over the years. Cooperation is essential, but it need not violate any nation’s sovereignty or security.

I know that what I’ve said tonight raises far more questions than it answers. This is not the end of the process, it is only the beginning. Still, I will be guided by one principle —

The issue that was hushed up by one generation, then turned into an object of derision by another, now demands to be heard straight up in ours.

This is a unique moment in history and it requires American leadership. In the weeks ahead, working with the nations of the world, we’ll coordinate a multi-lateral effort to learn the truth together and say it out loud. If we know more than others, we will say more than others.

The phenomenon we face has not changed tonight. Only our way of looking at it has. That is a good thing. As the Gospel of John tells us, “The truth will set you free.”

I want to close on one final thought tonight. It’s about hope.

After I first read this report, I went up to the family quarters in the White House. Jill was still awake, reading a book, and she could see that I was disturbed. As you know, there was a part of the report that was not classified. I told her what was in it.

She took my hand and with that reassuring way she has, she told me, “Maybe we’ll finally be able to see how alike we are.” God bless her.

That’s my hope, too. That the silver lining is that whoever else we may encounter in the days ahead will hold up a mirror for us to see ourselves and to understand that despite our own differences we are all humans together and we must live in peace. With each other. And with all life.

May God bless my fellow Americans. May God bless our fellow citizens of this Earth.

Trail of the Saucers is published by Stellar Productions and Bryce Zabel, the co-host of the popular new podcast Need to Know with Coulthart and Zabel.