Space Force Readiness and Political Shifts on Disclosure Examined | Backscroll

Transcript

Good day and welcome back to Reality Check Q&A. After my little absence trottting around South America and the deep remote parts of the Pacific, I was desperately trying to persuade my reality check editors to allow me to become the Rapanoui Easter Island correspondent for NewsNation, but they saw right through me, didn't they, Megan? They they politely declined and told me to come back to work here in Australia to answer all of your viewer questions. Good day, Megan. How are you? >> Hi, Ross. I'm happy to see you back in the chair.

>> Nice to be back here. Nice to be back here. And what a busy time. Goodness gracious me. Is there going to be disclosure? Is Mr.

Trump going to make an announcement? I have a funny feeling it's all going to be a bit of a big yawn. But let's give it a go, Megan, and answer some of these viewer questions about that. >> That sounds good to me, Ross. We have a lot of people who are wondering where you were. So, I guess we will start with your trip.

We've got a post on X from Gonzalo. He says, "After visiting the tridactyl corpses and seeing the problems the researchers at the University of Eeka face with the Peruvian government, do you notice how similar it is to the issues in the US disclosure effort except for there the conflict is over physical evidence, not whistleblowers?" >> Okay, Gonzalo, let me be very clear. At first, um, I was very, very skeptical about the so-called tridactyl beings, objects being real beings, because like a lot of people, I'd swallowed particularly the Reuters news report, which suggested that there were artificial toys, hoax objects that had been intercepted at an airport on their way out of Peru. and it put a stink over the whole thing that quite frankly suggested to me remotely that there was something very smelly or suspicious about these objects. Having seen them for myself, I can't reach at this stage a definitive conclusion.

But what I can tell my viewers and listeners is I do not think these are hoax objects. I do not think that they are some kind of constructed artificial object. The scans and indeed the visual inspections that we were allowed to do in three separate locations of three separate groups of beings blew me away. Frankly, they are real, whatever they are. Uh what needs to be done and this is what we're hoping we can do with the story that we will be airing is find scientific researchers who are rigorously independent and determined to do the quality DNA and other forensics testing that allows us to confirm the already independently researched findings that have been done by US, Mexican, and Peruvian scientists, suggesting there is indeed something anomalous about these objects.

And yes, I do agree there is a similarity to the way that the issue has been, how does one say this? Sciopt disinformed. I have no doubt at all that someone along the way has been putting down poison for the tridactyl story. I was as fooled as everyone else. I'm not saying definitively that they are alien beings or indeed anything anomalous, but I certainly agree that we've got over a probitative hurdle, which means that they should be properly rigorously investigated. They deserve full scientific investigation.

And I'm in no doubt whatsoever about the credibility, the authenticity, and the sincerity of the scientists that we met in IKEA, Lemur, and Kusco. All of whom are desperate to have the research that they've done verified and independently reviewed by some of the world's top scientists. Um, I just wish the US showed as much open-mindedness about the issue uh on other issues uh with the the subjects of UAP in the United States. I can tell you that there are good scientists in South America that genuinely want this issue investigated. They're not bludgeoning me or any other researcher to reach a conclusion.

What they want is independent, verified, peerreview research. By golly, that's what we're going to try and help them get. They deserve it. I I think they're authentic and credible people. Let's see whether the objects that they've got uh can be prosaically explained or are they as the evidence perhaps perhaps suggests are they evidence of some perhaps prehuman advanced technology civilization or are they evidence of some ev some civilization that existed contiguously with humans which went largely undiscovered.

Some of the evidence suggests they might have lived through to as late as 800 AD, but some of the evidence also suggests that they may be as old as 13,000 plus years. It is mindblowing. And I can tell you, Megan, and dear Reality Check viewers, it blew me away to hold those incredible objects in my hands and look at the complexity of their construction. They are no way artificial objects. They are not toys.

They're not hoaxes. Whatever they are, they're real and they need investigation. >> Well, we look forward to bringing everybody four plus episodes of your entire trip. Uh >> maybe more. Maybe more.

>> Well, we're going to move on to another huge story that happened while you were gone. Age of Disclosure. It came out. People are seeing it. We've got a question on X from Guitar and Jits.

Please ask him about Marco Rubio's latest comments on the age of disclosure from the Fox Handy interview with Marco Rubio. His comments don't inspire any confidence. >> I agree. I mean, I think frankly uh it's clear Marco Rubio in his interview with Sean Hannity has acknowledged that the interview was done he said three or four years ago. That's not true.

It was about two years ago. My understanding is it was the winter of 2023. Um he knew full well what he was saying and I'm told by people close to the project that um uh he was fully aware of the edits and how his views were being represented. Uh it's perhaps unfortunate that now that he's the acting national security adviser as well as the secretary of state I would find it very hard to believe that Marco Rubio has not been briefed readin i.e security briefed into the legacy program. If he hasn't been then that's another reason why the Trump administration needs to take the so-called deep state very very seriously indeed.

I I was I was actually frustrated, I'll be honest, with Sean Hennity's interview because I was waiting for him to ask Marco Rubio as acting national security adviser, "Have you been briefed? Have you been read in or told anything about the UAP legacy program?" Uh, uh, what's his name? Brett Bayer on Fox did an excellent interview recently where he went into some of the detail with um Dave Grush about uh what Dave allegedly discovered uh during his research into the legacy program. There was an open opportunity there for Fox to basically ask the question which is Mr. Acting National Security Adviser, Mr. the guy who advises the president on national security. Have you been briefed on UAPs? And of course, we didn't get that question asked.

So, we didn't get that answer. And it worries me because there was the usual kind of nervous titter that happens whenever questions get asked about UAPs. And I don't know why that's the case. The thing that got most people excited about Marco Rubio's um statements was that uh Michael Shelonburgger, a friend of this show and a friend of mine, did a very good piece where he interviewed an anonymous senior advisor to Marco Rubio who quotedly was quoted as saying, "We are headed towards massive disclosure." Now, he didn't say who this adviser was. Uh, it's not clear whether that statement was authorized by Marco Rubio, but I I have to be honest, I'm not seeing even a whiff, a scaric, a hint of anything coming from the Trump administration on any imminent disclosure.

Uh, I don't think they're actively avoiding the issue. The way it's been explained to me, they've just been overwhelmed in the first six to eight months of their administration with dealing with what they've had to deal with. the Middle East, Ukraine, the economy, uh, everything else that the Trump administration's had on its plate, maybe the subject of the biggest story in human history, the greatest secret that mankind has ever known has perhaps been relegated to a lower priority. I have no idea why. If I was Donald Trump or Marco Rubio, the first thing I would do when I got into office was bring in the head of the DIA, the head of the CIA's science and technology department, and I would say, "You gentlemen will be tried for treason if you don't tell me the truth right now about UAPs.

What do we have? What do we know? And why haven't we told the American public about it?" And if they haven't asked that question, that is a dereliction of their responsibility as officers of executive government that are entrusted by the American people to protect the American Constitution. Because fundamentally at the heart of all of this, Marco Rubio, Donald Trump, every other member of the administration knows that it is an article of the US Constitution that requires that Congress be informed about any expenditure that has been done in its name. And if it's true that there's been billions, perhaps trillions of dollars expended on a legacy UAP retrieval and reverse engineering program, even if a president has issued an executive order or a peed a presidential emergency action directive, that does not excuse the obligation to notify Congress. And if Marco Rubio has not asked the question as acting national security adviser about the legacy program, he bloody well should be because this is the biggest story in human history and the public have a right to know. >> Ross, I totally agree and I'm not one to start a fight with Sean Hannity, but I have the transcript in front of me and I just want to point out one thing that I would love to hear you touch on.

The very first question of the interview is I want to start this out with a fun question. So, it's just confusing to me. Is the mainstream media starting to take this topic seriously or do they still need to kind of make a joke out of it before they even start discussing it with somebody like Marco Rubio? >> That's what irritates me about this whole subject. Why is it a fun question when, as the age of disclosure demonstrated, people like James Clapper, people like Jay Stratton, um they've got on the record, highly credible, authentic, former senior government officials. I think Jay's got the uh the status of a vice admiral from his civilian position as the head of the UAP task force.

This is not some inconsequential role. These are people saying they have, in Jay's case, direct knowledge of the legacy retrieval and reverse engineering program. Why? I I don't want to buy a fight with Fox or Sean Hannity. I I I actually quite like a lot of the work that Fox has done recently, but why be so flippant about a subject that is so important? Why invite the interviewe, Marco Rubio, to treat this as a fun question? Why is it a fun question? Why aren't we at the stage now where when the age of disclosure movie makes incredibly clear serious credible people are saying this is a real subject, an authentic subject for investigation? Why invite such flippency? I I I don't understand. I I completely agree with you, Megan.

It it makes no sense to me that we would invite an interviewee just to treat this as a joke question. Well, we would love to have him on. So, open invitation for Marco Rubio for you. >> Absolutely. I I would love to get him on.

And the first question I would ask him is the question that should have been asked, which is, Mr. Secretary of State, Mr. Acting National Security Adviser, you've been in office now for 9 10 months. have you sought [snorts] and received any information at all on the legacy UAP retrieval reverse engineering program? And if his answer was no, I'd say why not? Why not? And it does make me wonder, I mean, I know a lot of people are getting very cynical and very skeptical about the Trump administration and saying that Trump has wimped it. David Grush um uh you know obviously stuck his neck out recently on Fox News by doing another interview with Brett Bayer in the hope that we could push the Trump administration to do something about the UAP disclosure issue.

Other people have spoken more recently. The age of disclosure is an enormous leap forward in terms of adding credibility to the issue. I'm very disappointed. I don't see any evidence at all that the Trump administration at executive level in the White House is doing anything about it. There is there is an ongoing FBI and office of director of national intelligence Tulsi Gabbard Cash Patel investigation into alleged illegalities.

Uh no answers yet on what's coming out of that but uh there is a deafening silence from the White House. Is it as I've been told that the president is too scared to take this issue on? Has Donald Trump wimped it? I'm not calling the president a coward, but is he intimidated by the national security state? Has he been cowed by the deep state? I wonder. >> Well, our next question is in that similar vein. This is from Marty and email. Hi, Megan Ross.

Appreciate your efforts on this subject. As someone who has been following this fascinating mystery for over 30 plus, I'm starting to feel we are on the brink of an announcement, especially after hearing the comment in the last week from various individuals, David Grush, etc. that efforts are ongoing in the Trump White House. Ross, did you notice within the end credits of Age of Disclosure, Bob Fish was an adviser. Is that significant? Also, when General Neil McCassland mentioned in a leaked email it was the end of the Cold War and we discovered a life form, he might have been referring to the NHI's taken back to the US after the Virginhai UFO crash in 1996.

That was not long after the Cold War had ended. Thanks and keep up the good work. >> Okay, now I might be wrong on this, but I'm pretty sure cuz I wrote the book about this. I'm pretty sure he didn't say it was the end of the Cold War and we found a life form. I think he said to Tom Dong, and this is the quote, it was the cold war and we found a life form.

Um, and that doesn't mean it was at the end of the cold war. I don't think it was the 1996 vaginha crash that he's referring to. Um, I think General Neil Mccasland when he was talking to Tom Dong was probably talking about either Roswell 1947 or Aztec which I think was 194849 I can't remember straight away but um there were as we know alleged multiple retrievalss of craft in that period of time in the late 40s early 50s um as for Bob Fish Bob's a friend of mine we keep in touch. Um, I don't think it's significant that Bob was an adviser to the age of disclosure. Uh, if I was um Dan Farah and uh Jay Stratton and uh uh Lu Lzando who were putting all this film together, I would be basically um wanting to draw on the best available sources.

And Bob's one of the people who I highlighted in my book knew a great deal. He was um revealed in the Podesta emails that were leaked on Wikileaks. uh to be someone who'd contacted uh Podesta in the White House with information about UAPs. Um but I I you know with the greatest respect to Bob, I don't think his information is any more revelatory than what people like David Brush or J Stratton or others have revealed. Um, suffice to say, I just want to emphasize, I think at the moment, what the Trump administration is doing on UAPs is a big fat nothing.

And I worry that we are having the wool pulled over our eyes yet again by the national security state that has been fighting a viciferous war behind the scenes. A lobbying battle with key senators, key chairmen and women of various committees to try and shut down public scrutiny of the UAP issue. There are very brave and courageous politicians who've stuck their necks out and whistleblowers like Dave Grush, Jay Stratton, Lu Lzando who've really pushed hard for the White House to do something about it. But I have to say at the moment I think that we are essentially being blown smoke and mirrors. I I think the administration is trying to ignore it.

I don't know whether it's just because it's distracted by other events. I find it very hard to believe that either Marco Rubio or Donald Trump would not have asked the question as soon as they got into power. Frankly, they should have. This is all about the concealment of technologies, of information, of incredible knowledge, sacred knowledge that the public, the human race has a right to know. Unless there's some good reason for the public not to be told about it, I think the president should be considering making an announcement.

And uh it would be a grave disappointment if we came to the end of 2025, yet another year where a president allows themselves to be snowed by the national security state. >> Okay, Ross, I've got another big headline that we would like your input on. The AP put this out. Malaysia's transport ministry said Wednesday that a private firm will resume a deep sea hunt for Malaysia's airline Flight 370 later this month, more than a decade after the jet vanished without a trace. The search will be carried out by a Texas-based marine robotics firm, Ocean Infiniti, which signed a no find, no fee contract with Malaysia's government in March.

>> Well, it's good news. It's good news that they're recommencing a search. My worry is that they may [clears throat] be looking in the wrong place. A lot of this is based on I won't go into the incredible detail of it, but essentially it's um new types of data uh investigating um uh electromagnetic uh radiation changes that occur when an aircraft moves through space. U and it means that they allegedly have been able to plot or or harden up the location of MH370 somewhere at the bottom allegedly of the Indian Ocean.

Um, I'll be interested to see what they find and if they find. I've done numerous stories on MH370. As viewers would know, I do not subscribe to one conspiracy theory that MH370 was um taken by orbs into some kind of portal which uh is based on a now discredited CGI. And at risk of attracting the viciferousness of several raving nutters on UAP media, I just don't give that theory any currency at all. But I do think that there's something anomalous about the disappearance of MH370.

It needs to be resolved. It's one of the biggest aviation mysteries of all time. And um I'm actually in touch with people in Malaysia at the moment. I may be bringing a future story to reality check with some new information from Malaysian researchers, which interestingly enough suggests that MH370 may be in an entirely different location from where the Ocean Infinity people will be searching. So, it'll be very interesting to see what comes out of this search.

It's good news, though. Um, I just I hope like hell for the families. I'm in touch with two of the families. Uh people forget that, you know, there are loved ones who've been agonizing for 10 years now to get an answer about this and it causes them real pain when there is um a lot of wacky conspiracy theories pedled about coverups and lies. So the public do deserve answers, especially the the people the families of those who were lost.

>> Absolutely. Russ, we will go to our next question posted on X. This is from Guy Incognito. Who is the person you trust the most in the government when it comes to being open and honest about the phenomenon and why? >> Um, I can't name that person. In fact, there's multiple people in government who are helping me on a confidential basis.

Uh, I trust them the most because they have been consistently accurate in terms of what they've told me about the legacy UAP retrieval and reverse engineering program. They are patriots. They think that there are crimes being committed, illegalities being perpetrated because of the continued concealment of this program. They think that there are sections of the Pentagon and the intelligence community and private aerospace who have exceeded lawful authority and are basically acting uh ultrav. Um uh I can't name those people because to do so would be to jeopardize their confidentiality.

But uh suffice to say there are real patriots in the American government, good people who recognize the public's right to know um uh in government. I guess if you would if you were to nominate people in government, does it constitute being in government to be working as a staffer for a um a member of Congress? If that was the case, I'd nominate Dave Grush because David Grush has consistently been, in my opinion, the most accurate and the most truthful reteller of what he knows. And um I just hope that at some stage he gets the vindication he deserves. >> The first ever reality check disclosure award goes to Dave Grush. [laughter] >> All right, here's an email from Joe.

Goodday, Ross. If Brandon has direwolf DNA, wouldn't it be the ultimate evidence, not to mention a suite up yours if he invested in producing a clone? Love your work. Thanks, mate. Joe. >> Okay, just to give our audience some background to this, a few months ago, I did a reality check with Brendan Fugal where we went through some of the revelations from the latest Skinwalker Ranch series.

And unlike a lot of people, I actually applaud the science that's being done by the scientists on Skinwalker Ranch. Um I don't think it's a government disinformation project and I think they are doing good solid work and I'm persuaded that Brandon is genuine when he says that he will not allow the people that are doing the production to put in knowingly false information. Um, I'd love to hear from anyone, by the way, who you a lot of people claim to me that there's stuff on skinwalker that's false. I'd love to hear your evidence. Um, the interview I did with Brandon, we talked about the fact that a partial dire wolf, potential dire wolf carcass was found by a riverbank on Skinw Walker Ranch.

Why is this significant? Well, firstly, it's significant because there are allegedly no wolves in Utah. Uh, more importantly, the dire wolf died out 10,000 years ago. It's not meant to exist currently. Um, the bits that were found from memory, I do recall it was a jawbone and some other DNA material. It was DNA tested by a company known as Colossal Bioscience.

Um, and yes, they are the people who are going on to try to clone a new direwolf, a modern-day direwolf. uh they made a claim I think back in April this year that they had successfully cloned or were about to successfully clone but there's some skepticism about that. What can we say? I don't think we can definitively say that what was recovered at Skinwalker Ranch was a dire wolf. But what they did find was that it was 30 No, it was less than that. It was about, shout at me if I'm wrong, Brandon, but I think it was 10% or 30% DNA of a wolf and the remainder was some species unknown to human science, which strongly suggests it might be dire wolf.

And I also remember there was a biologist zoologologist called um I can't remember his first name Woodruff on the Skinwalker Ranch episode who looked at the uh structure of the jawbone of the creature that was found and said it looked like a spitting image of a direwolf. So how did this happen? We don't know. Uh but wouldn't it be cool if they could uh create a direwolf from that DNA? Um let's wait and see. I'd like to see the evidence. Um, certainly one cannot say categorically that it was a direwolf that was recovered, but sure as hell it's intriguing.

If it wasn't, what is it? All right, we have another question about Skinwalker Ranch. This is an email from John. Hi, Ross. Wouldn't Robert Bigalow be a great person for Congress to have to testify for a future UAP hearing? If I'm not mistaken, Mr. Piccolo has been involved in many aspects of this field and his several year ownership in research at Skinwalker Ranch, the results of which have never been released to the public could provide a lot of information.

Thanks and keep up the good work. Uh firstly I I would actually want to underline I think the public owes a deep debt of gratitude to Robert Bigalow for funding the research that was done by his firstly um NID's team the National Institute of Discovery Science of which Edgar Mitchell was a member a board member they did some of the original groundbreaking work into Skinwalker Ranch and my understanding is he was also then involved when the DIA came into the ranch and um did some of their investigations there and uh indeed he may have been present when some of the anomalous phenomena was observed. Um it would be fantastic to get Robert Bigalow to give evidence, but I suspect he's operating under the same constraints as a lot of people from that event are. They're under non-disclosure agreements with the Defense Intelligence Agency, which funded the OSAP research. That wouldn't block Robert Bigalow, by the way, from uh doing um an interview about his National Institute of Discovery Science research.

And look, he's done a couple of interviews over the years with George Knapp, our friend and colleague. U and I'd love to get him on reality check. I've tried a few times. Um he uh he's resistant to um intense journalistic scrutiny I suspect because there are a lot of questions curly questions we could ask him about what he's uncovered in his time there and what conclusions he's reached. And don't forget also that Robert Bigalow has also been doing work into consciousness.

Um tragically I understand he lost his son. Uh my deepest sympathies there sir. And more importantly, he's taken an enormous amount of effort to fund investigative research into whether human consciousness survives biological death. And I strongly suspect it does. So yes, he'd be a great interview uh along with so many other people who should be called.

I'm constantly perplexed at the people who are being called before the congressional inquiries. And I don't know why people like Robert Bigalow are not being called in open public forum and invited to give testimony under oath in a full public hearing. It would be great to hear him testify. He's a great American. He's given an enormous amount, much much more than people realize to public understanding of anomalous phenomena and uh he deserves credit for that.

>> I agree, Ross. You know, I'm from Las Vegas. So um the Big Lows are an amazing family in >> Oh, you're a Las Vegas girl. I thought you were a California girl. I'm I'm everywhere, Ross.

I'm I'm everywhere. [laughter] But Vegas, yep, Vegas made, baby. Go night. >> Okay, I just want to give a quick plug to the state of the world forum which is being held online hosted by my friend Jim Garrison and myself on the period 14th to the 17th of December this year. Uh what is the state of the world forum? Well, Jim Garrison is an amazing guy.

He worked for a long time with the New Paradigm Institute with Danny Sheen and he's moved very much more assertively into consciousness studies. Uh Jim wouldn't mind me saying he's a bit of an old hippie and at the end of the cold war he did something quite miraculous between 1995 and 2000 he started up this thing called the state of the world forum where he got Mikall Gorbachef the president of Russia and u secretary of state James Baker um the Indian national congress president Sonia Gandhi the primatologist Jane Goodall noble laureates South African president they becki and an array of people to come and speak at a forum that discussed the state of the world at the end of the cold war and what possibilities there might be for peace in the world in the emerging world order and 20 years on Jim's decided to do it again and I'm very privileged to be involved in this on December the 14th and just to repeat the link it's www.stateoftheorld.forum forum on the 14th to the 17th of December and it's centering around four consequential truths. Accelerating planetary ecological collapse, increasing global and social instability. Are we going to war? Is World War II imminent? Exponential AI. Are the computers going to kill us? And my personal favorite and obsession, cosmic intelligences are present on Earth.

It's the first time that disclosure is going to be integrated into a major conference with other world issues and we'll be running multiple forums highlighting the latest for example three atlas with professor Avi lobe UFOs and nukes with Dr. Beatric Villerol, my favorite astrophysicist, and the interface between AI and non-human intelligence with Pipper Mongrren and numerous other speakers speaking about consciousness and how we can achieve world peace. It may be a naive hope in these grim times as the clock ticks ever closer to doomsday midnight, but he is hoping that the speakers including Diane Hennessy Powell, Dr. Ravi lobe Kai Dickens from telep telepathy tapes astrophysicist Dr. Beatatric Villerol Dr.

Rupert Shel Sheldrake the biologist and consciousness researcher former US National Science Foundation program director Dr. Anna Brady Estz experiencer author Chris Bledo economist technologist Dr. Pipper Mongram and former UAP task force collaborator Sarah Gam. He is hoping we can arrive at a solution for world peace and UFOs AI NHI. Please go to www.stateoftheorldforum state sorry start again start stateoftheorld.forum and sign up to view the online forum that'll be taking place from December the 14th for 3 days.

I hope to see you there. Thank you so much for joining us here on our first reality check Q&A. Since I've come back from South America, News Nation cruy rejected my bid to become the Rapanui correspondent. I had dreams of panina coladas and sacheting beach holiday for the rest of my life. It wasn't going to happen.

But it was an amazing story and we're looking forward to bringing you those stories very very shortly on Reality Check and News Nation. We're going to be doing something very special on the tridactyl beings. And don't forget, you can always send your questions to us for Q&A at reality checks now.com. >> Yep. >> Wonderful.

Thanks so much for joining us and thank you Megan. >> Thank you Ross. Hello and welcome back to Reality Check. Well, this week we've got something special. You might remember back in December 2019, President Trump signed into law appropriations bills that authorized the creation of what's called the Space Force.

And intriguingly, this is the sixth and newest service in the armed forces. And we know very little about it. It's obviously been ruthlessly and very successfully lampuned by Steve Carell on a Netflix series, but my colleague, journalist Brian Inon, has had the privilege of getting access to a space force facility operated at the Petersonen and Shrivever Air Force Base in Colorado. And I'm dying to know whether Brian got a ride in the Air Force's secretive X37B. And I'm most interested to know what is Space Force all about.

Before I bring Brian on, let's have a look at the package he's prepared. From the outside, it may look like any other military base, but getting onto this base was no easy task. We had to be accompanied by badge carrying officials and driven in a military van onto base. Once on base, we were only allowed [music] in pre-approved locations. were quickly reminded how serious these men and women take their roles.

>> The celebrity of it was was really fun early on. Now, um you know, it's very it's it's very challenging because you have to you have to know a lot of things and there's a lot of there's a lot of interest that we have as a nation in space and protecting those interests is is a difficult job. >> A part of that job is keeping track of every single thing floating around in space from satellites to even an astronaut's toolbox. Each piece, thousands, tens of thousands of objects has a piece. We have to see all those objects all the time.

We have to maintain track of all those objects all the time. Our day started at the aggressor barn. From the outside, it looks like a garage. But when we walk in, we were greeted with a tiki bar and photos, almost a man cave kind of feel. But walk a few feet back, and you quickly begin to realize this is anything but a hangout.

The service women and men who greet us there are called aggressors and they explain the space is a tribute to the exclusive group of service members who have served here before. >> A lot of the heritage of being aggressors is we act like the bad guys in exercises, right? So we draw on some of the heritage of our great power competitors like Russia and China and we really root our activities to replicate their their threats. We're greeted by members of several branches of the US military. Navy, Marine Corps, Army, Air Force, and Space Force uniforms can be seen in the main area at the aggressor barn. Not unusual on many bases, but it's a reminder of exactly how big the role of Space Force, the youngest child, if you will, of the armed forces, plays in all branches.

Like the Marine Corps historically was born out of the US Navy, Space Force was born out of the Air Force as more of a specialized focus that goes beyond traditional US airspace. >> That we were go to con all of our guys have already seen what's going to happen. They train against it, but they know how to defeat. >> We're given an in-depth presentation from aggressors about the history of the aggressors, which dates back to the 1970s after the US lost many of their air-to-air battles in Vietnam. The aggressors were created as a more in-depth training for pilots.

Think of this as the equivalent of the Navy's top gun program. [music] Their goal to replicate the technology our enemies use against us. >> We try to bring that intelligence to life and make it real for our own friendly forces. >> The Space Force aggressors show us how with somewhat basic, inexpensive equipment, our adversaries can block satellite [music] signals. They turn this machine on and the Garmin GPS I'm holding suddenly goes dead.

So basically with $10,000 worth of equipment, an adversary could take out GPS equipment. >> Yes. Over an entire area, they could take out an entire airport for just a few thousand. >> And more sophisticated equipment can do even more damage. Then we head outside where we see some of the most important weapons the Space Force has in their arsenal, satellites.

>> There's been exponential growth uh from our adversaries in the last decade. China, Russia, or even more primitive adversaries like terror groups can and some have tried before to block our satellite signals that [music] beam back important surveillance images. Stopping that, which Space Force does and does well, is why they are so important to every branch of the military and for every single American. Remember, satellites power our phones, our power grids, pretty much everything, making space [music] the next potential battlefield worldwide. >> I think the next war will be cyber and space.

What does a war in space look like? I mean, when I hear space in a war, it it's kind of freaky. >> It's not just, you know, war in space and aliens coming and, you know, people shooting like Star Trek. It's something like that, but their everyday life could change. Can you imagine not be able to access your money at all on your phone or even your phone not working at all, having no access to your phone. Um, I mean, our [music] whole lives could change.

So Brian, thank you so much for joining us. Did the Air Force give you a ride in the X37B? And what on earth do they mean by Space Force? >> I wish Ross, I wish we would have gotten a ride in it. No, you know, we've been trying for quite some time, probably three or four months, to get onto a Space Force base, and you can imagine with the military, there was all sorts of back and forth and hoops to jump through and background checks. and we finally got on to those bases uh in Colorado. We didn't get a ride um but we did get to see it was interesting access to see sort of behind the scenes of what they do and of course you only get to see the things that they want to show you.

I mean you know how frustrating it can be doing some of these military stories cuz it's a very controlled environment but it was still really eye opening. So, one of the things that intrigued me off the top is there was a young space force officer you interviewed called Deving Devon Rushing who's what called a Delta 2 weapons officer. Now, as I understand it, my friend, there's a there's an outer space treaty that forbids the use of weapons in outer space. What on earth is Space Force doing talking about weapons? What's this reference to weapons all about? Yeah, it's a good question and it's the first question I asked him too. Like what exactly does your title mean? It all sounds very sci-fi, almost like out of a movie.

When they say weapons officer, it's sort of like a generic term. It doesn't it's kind of weird, but it doesn't actually refer to specific weapons. At least that's what they say. Um, and they they won't talk about having any weapons in space. Like like I said, there's a ton of like confidential um behind the-scenes stuff that that they weren't allowed to talk about, but they're not acknowledging any weapons in space.

And when I asked him what what the title meant, he said, "Oh, it's it's more of just a generic term. Uh and it it doesn't uh mean anything about a specific weapon or anything, but they did say uh in terms of like war in space, they do believe that the next world war will be in outer space and fought in space." uh they were they were very clear about that which is why you know this is now the sixth branch of the military in the US why they say it's so important space force yes I saw your interview there with the chief master sergeant who said I think the next war will be cyber in space and then she went on to say it's not just war in space and aliens coming >> people shooting like Star Trek what do you mean not dust. [laughter] I'm having a bit of fun here, but uh I mean really uh it it it appeared to contemplate the possibility that part of this is being prepared for the possibility of engagement with something else. >> Yeah, it's interesting. I went into this really wanting to get the answer to that question.

Of course, I've followed all of your UFO reporting and done a little bit of it myself. Um, and I was very interested in what they knew about UFOs because they have surveillance in space really unlike anyone else. I mean, they can see, again, they'll only tell us so much, especially when it comes to the equipment and the satellites they have. But, you know, they say they can see 22,000 miles, maybe even more into space. And they've got an entire unit of Space Force.

their entire job around the clock, 365 days a year, is just monitoring space and monitoring every single little object that they can see. So, of course, I was interested in like, do you ever see unidentified objects out there? And they were very quick to shut me down. They do not want to talk at all about UFOs or aliens or anything like that. Um, they just kept going back to their entire mission being national defense and, you know, threats on Earth like mainly like China uh and Russia. So, they're not denying it.

They didn't categorically deny that they're seeing anomalous objects in space. They just didn't answer the question. >> Yeah, they didn't deny it. And it's interesting, we went to the one base where their entire job is surveillance. That's their entire unit and they've got all they call them sensors uh that they monitor everything that they can see happening in space.

And I asked them like, "Is there ever anything you see that you can't identify? You're not sure what it is?" because they they catalog all the items that they see and they said even something as small as like a wrench or a bolt that came off of the space station years ago they've got cataloged and they're tracking so they can see even really really small objects and I said is there anything you come across ever that you can't identify and they said no we haven't had that happen which again I mean I think not that they were coached on what they could say to me but they were definitely very guarded and it's hard to believe that they're able to identify every single little object out there. But, uh, the the the one officer who I spoke to said that everything that they had seen, they were able to put into some kind of category. I >> I'm fascinated that they gave you the access, Brian, and I'm I'm actually they're very good sports in doing this because we, News Nation has been giving the Air Force particularly a very hard time. And this is an organization that spun off from the Air Force. But let's talk about the detail of what they're really preparing for.

Because their mission, let's be honest about it. Their mission is fundamentally to prepare for the awful possibility of a confrontation, an international confrontation that, as you say, goes into space. We we did a story recently on reality check where we interviewed a major general Roger Teague who's former very senior in space command and he was talking about how the um satellite command control systems that we have in place that we've had in place since the 1950s simply aren't enough for the job. And there is a growing concern about the Bellose statements being made by the Russians implying that they're working on some kind of anti-satellite technology. And you might recall back in February uh John Kirby, the National Security Council spokesman.

He talked about the fact that there is indeed some new weapon in development by the Russians. We don't know if it's nuclear or not. We don't know anything about it. And the White House was very quick to play this down. But he did talk about the awful possibility that um the Russians are developing some kind of new space anti-satellite weapon.

Clearly a large part of the role of space force is to monitor space debris that's being caused by um you know things like as you say an astronaut's toolbox falling out of an astronaut's pocket. Um but clearly a large part of the problem is space debris. Why is space debris a problem? What did they say to you about that? >> Well, space debris is an issue because it could uh interfere or destroy or damage our satellites, which you go back to. I mean, you think about the satellites now, what an integral part they are in terms of our national defense. Um, and if there there was a war, uh, everything for the most part is controlled by satellite now.

whether it be uh the missiles, the aircraft carriers, GPS on the planes, even communication uh for our soldiers, you know, out in the field, you know, when they're in conflict. So, if one of our adversaries was able to take out a satellite or have some kind of technology to interfere with our satellites, uh they could take down all of those systems, which um would, you know, be a major issue uh for the military. So that from what they tell me, that's really Space Force's number one mission um and concern uh is figuring out how to uh fight back against that, keeping an eye. I mean, there's been reports, you mentioned Russia, there's been reports even within the last couple of months of China launching something uh into space that they weren't exactly sure what it was. At least that's what they're telling us.

Could it have been some kind of new technology to try to take down satellites? That's the kind of thing that Space Force told us that they're most uh concerned with. And they they call them um guardians instead of like soldiers. They're called guardians. Uh and and they took us into a few warehouses where they showed us some of the technology that they're developing to um be able to uh counteract some of those they call them like GPS jamming devices uh that that would take down the communication equipment. Now, that was very interesting because I I think they actually demonstrated to you how easy it is to disrupt the satellite communication signals that allow the receipt of GPS signals.

How easy is it? What did you see? >> Yeah, it's very easy. I mean, they they have the equipment there um that our adversaries would have and even some basic equipment that like rogue terror groups could use. I mean, it it looked pretty basic. I mean, you know, it's like old radio equipment. it looks like.

And so they have it there so that they can study it and figure out how to um fight back against it. And so they had me hold like a Garmin GPS and showed me that when they turn some of this equipment on, it literally jammed the GPS signal. So it even goes beyond space. I mean, obviously they're worried about China and Russia having really advanced technologies where they could um interact with our satellites, but even on the ground there's jamming equipment they say that our adversaries have. And again, even you know, smaller terror groups and and not even that that organized of um of groups have that they can use on the ground point towards um you know, like a group of soldiers or uh or even like an aircraft carrier that can that can actually try to jam um the satellite signal from the ground.

Uh which as you can imagine would would be a huge issue. Look, it's quite understandable too that a lot of what we're talking about in Space Force is surrounded in secrecy because what we are really talking about is the awful probability that in the event of some international confrontation, the first thing that any foreign adversary would do is to try to take out our satellite infrastructure. And it's funny, I I didn't realize until I did this story a few weeks ago on reality check interviewing Major General Roger Teague just how vulnerable we are. I mean, even the communications we're having right now are probably going through satellite technology. Most of the internet, phones, I mean, it's extraordinary how dependent we are on this technology now and how vulnerable we are.

>> It is. But I mean, when you think about it, and I thought a lot about it after I went out to the Space Force base, and I hadn't really thought about it either, but obviously national defense is one thing, but uh you know, all of our banking systems uh go through satellite. Power grids are uh controlled through satellite for the most part. You know, you go to the ATM, you go to check out at the grocery store, all of that. You try to use the GPS uh in your car.

So if someone was able to take out any of those key satellites up in space um they could disrupt everything. Uh and that's why um it's so important and you mentioned I mean space force is new. It came around in 2019 under the Trump administration. Uh there was a part of the air force that was doing this work before. Um but uh I it's so important now that it needed to become its own sixth branch of the military.

And it's interesting it got kind of politicized. People kind of made fun of it that weren't fans of Trump. And you mentioned the Steve Carell show and there's I mean you Google it on YouTube there's all sorts of parodies of Space Force but when I was doing my research for this story uh even as far back as uh former President Bush and Obama they were all trying to create this new branch of the military had been in the work works for decades uh they all realized how important it was. It just finally came to fruition um under under uh former President Trump. >> I have to say they're cool uniforms.

I like the Delta. What does the Delta patch mean? Do you have any idea what the Delta patch signifies? >> You know, they've got a ton of different cool um patches and and there's different deltas and each one has a different sort of meaning depending on what what exactly they do, but even walking around the building um it it it's I was like, who designed these uh these patches? And there's even like almost it almost looks like cartoons on the walls. It's really interesting and it's a really different feel than the rest of the military. And I've done stories, I think pretty much with every branch of the military. Uh, and Space Force is a totally different feel.

It almost has like a nerdy I I don't mean that in a negative way at all, but almost like a nerdy aspect to it. There's a lot of engineers. There's a lot of um people with advanced degrees working there. Uh, and you get that feel um when you're there. It's uh it's it's it was really really interesting.

>> It's interesting. You know, one of the things I've done in the past was I embedded with American forces at a place called Al Assad Air Base in Iraq. And when I was doing my preliminary research before I spoke to you, I I looked and saw that the first combat operations that the Space Force were involved in was the detection and tracking of the Iranian missiles that were actually fired on the Al-Assad air base. And I've got friends who were there at the time and I I know how grateful they were that there was early warning. I mean, there were still casualties sadly as a result of that attack.

But um it it's very interesting because I I I think there's a tendency and I'm guilty of this. There's a tendency to think that Space Force is something that's easily lampuned and that it's a bit of an indulgence to start talking about having a force in space when we're not even talking about a war in space. But it's quite clear that when they're talking about combat operations, what they're also looking at are things like terror groups. I mean, the Houthis in Yemen who are firing missiles at boats in the Red Sea. We're worrying constantly, of course, about North Korea potentially testing new weaponry out over the um the sea towards Tokyo and other places.

And it's quite obvious, for example, here in Australia, we have enormous facilities in Western Australia that are part of this space force monitoring system for space debris and my sources tell me anomalous objects. So whether they're being candid with you or not, Brian, I'm very sure that they are picking up what are called fast walkers. You didn't hear that term being used around the the traps in the Space Force headquarters. No. And again, uh, you know, we were in such an controlled environment.

I mean, they only had, uh, you know, high ranking officials available to talk with us. And, and you mentioned the coverage we've done in the past. I mean, I think they kind of knew that that question was coming and they were very quick to uh, sort of shoot me down and say, "No, our main, you know, focus is national defense." They don't seem to want to talk about the UFOs. Um, but the capabilities are amazing. I mean, they can clearly see uh, a lot out there.

um and probably stuff that they don't want to talk about. And when I went to the base, you know, you kind you kind of had this vision in your head of space force and there's going to be like little space shuttles and they're, you know, launching up to look for moonmen. But it's interesting. It's not like other branches of the military where you would see tanks or you would see planes. It's it's a lot of computers.

It's big control centers where they're looking at big screens cuz most of the devices they use and the sensors are up in space. So, um you know, you would never know looking at the outside of these buildings that there's all these people inside in uniform. basically sitting at computers in these big control centers uh just spending 24 hours a day uh monitoring screens for the most part. >> Yeah, it's interesting. I mean, I respect the fact that there's a lot of things they can't talk about for national security reasons.

And look, I'm I'm very sure we do need a space force because it's quite clear that the Russians particularly, but also the Chinese have been experimenting with anti-satellite weaponry. And General John Raymond, who I think was a previous uh commander of um Space Force, he spoke out a couple of years ago saying that the Russians had experimented with literally maneuvering some kind of mobile satellite in between two communications satellites. It's quite clear that our potential foreign adversaries are experimenting with and testing technologies in space that are raising very serious concerns. And I think one of the problems in telling this story for Space Force is they don't want to show their hand to a potential foreign adversary, but at the same time, they want to raise public awareness by talking to good reporters like yourself that this is indeed a potential threat. It's a delicate balance for them, isn't it? >> Oh, absolutely.

And I felt for some of them when we were um at the uh the the Guardian barn, they called it, where they showed us that equipment. I mean, you could tell they were being really really careful about even even talking about Russia and China. They wanted to be careful about what they said, what they knew, what words they used. Um, because it's, you know, it's something they're dealing with every single day in terms of and I even I even mentioned, well, I've read articles, you know, there's published reports where this certain thing was launched a couple months ago and and they still didn't want to talk about it. But they do.

They're in a tricky position because um they want to be taken seriously and they should because it's pretty clear hopefully we won't have another war ever, but the chances of that are slim that it is going to be a war that involves space and and what they do is so important and they want to get that out there and they want to educate the American public and the world. But at the same time um and and they know about all the jokes too by the way. I mean again you just Google Space Force and and people make fun of them. So they they want to set the record straight, but they have to be so careful um about what they say because uh you know all parts of the military are classified in one way or another. But I think with Space Force it's even to the next level because it's such an emerging space and the technology that they um are developing is is so um you know different and emerging that I feel like for them it's even more they have to be even more careful and secretive.

>> It's funny though. I mean, I just wanted to maybe finish with asking you the question about the name of the squadron that you visited that they're called the space aggressor squadron. >> Yeah. >> What are the implications behind that term? Is the term aggressor a throwback or is it something that's designed to hint about what their role is? >> Yeah, it's funny you say that kind of like you said the the um the gentleman with the weapons title. It's the same kind of thing they explain to me and it's it's a throwback.

It's not cuz aggressive and they talk about space warfare and you think of like weapons and um and you hear the term aggressor and you think about them being aggressive and no they they say that again is just the title um and doesn't refer to like anything specific that they're doing in terms of like any kind of aggressive behavior. Um and again there's only so much they could tell us but from from what they'll say publicly you know there are no like weapons per se uh that they're operating actually in space right now. Well, they're not allowed to under the Outer Space Treaty, but I think to be to be fair to Space Force and Space Command, it it's quite obvious there is a growing concern that the Russians and the Chinese are potentially moving towards breaching the outer space treaty which was signed I think back in 1967. Very very good reasons for why the space force has been created. And as I've said, you know, there are people I talk to here in Australia, people in my government are very proud of the role that Australia plays in helping the detection of space objects.

And um there are arrays that have been erected right across Western and Southern Australia to actually assist in this work. And I think there's a huge amount of pride here in Australia that as part of the Five Eyes Alliance, we're feeding information, intelligence from space into Space Force and other commands, including Space Command. So, I think your trip was a very fruitful and interesting one, Brian, and thank you very, very much for talking to us about it. >> Yeah, thanks for having me on, Ross. It's always nice to see you.

>> Good on you. Nice to talk to you. So, four marks, frankly, to Space Force for giving Brian Inon the access that he did get. It it's important that I think we do acknowledge there is important work to be done in space albeit a lot of it shrouded in national security secrecy and the importance of not upsetting potentially our foreign adversary rivals. So before I go today there are a few viewer questions that have come in and we always like to try and respond to our audience.

So I'm going to knock off a few of those. One viewer asks me, "I mysteriously know about the atomic atmospheric test and its ramifications. Why does a former senior general not know?" I think that's a reference to Major General Roger Teague when I was asking him about the starfish crime explosion which was a test of essentially anti- uh satellite and the electromagnetic pulse weaponry by the United States right back from through the 1950s into the early 1960s. And it it's awesome to think about it now. I mean the implications of this are just mind-blowing.

But back in the late 50s, early 60s, America did test weaponry which was involving the explosion of weapons either in high atmosphermosphere or in orbit. And the biggest one of all, I think, was called Starfish Prime. And it was exploded over at holes in the norththeastern Pacific. And incredibly, it was seen as far away as Hawaii, the flash. And it knocked out communications and electricity in Hawaii of all places.

And indeed, the um the impact was felt in as far away as New Zealand, where I grew up. And it's interesting because I when I asked Major General Roger Teague, who'd worked in space command, he didn't know about the Starfish Prime tests. And I do. I think it's an important piece of American history. If we are expecting our foreign adversary rivals to not use, not deploy anti-satellite weaponry, it does have to be acknowledged that America along with every other nation involved in space, China and Russia, has at different times tested anti-satellite weaponry.

Uh, and most recently, I think the US used an F-15 to knock out an old satellite in space just to demonstrate that capability. So, moving on. Skinwalker Ranch has a lot of evidence for those complaining the security is insane with military. Ross, question. I'm a sky watcher.

I thought seeing a UAP in 2016 was a once- ina-lifetime experience. For 6 years, I looked at the skies and nothing. Since Since 2022 on clear nights, I've seen UAP weird things that disappear and show the five observables. Some could have been misidentifications, of course, but in 2022, I saw four. 2023, I lost count.

It's not like I see a UAP every night. There's no clouds and I skywatch. But it's not unusual. I don't do C5. I just look up.

Is there an uptick on the phenomenon? Look, certainly there's an uptick on the phenomenon for me because so many people are sending me reports like yours, sir. I am getting on a daily basis videos from people purportedly of anomalous objects moving either in the atmosphere or in orbit. There is certainly in terms of reported sightings an uptick. It's impossible to know whether that's a genuine increase in the number of objects that are anomalous moving in our skies because frankly I think what's happening is people are starting to take a closer interest as we're all starting to talk about this. Ever since I started talking last month about Langley Air Force Base where and indeed Eglund Air Force Base where there's been sightings of anomalous phenomena.

I am being flooded with information suggesting that there is frequent anomalous activity around those and other Air Force facilities. Um, actually I just want to mention something. I got a tip overnight. One of the stories that's been surfacing is the story about Eglund Air Force Base. And I notice Arrow, the All Domain Anomaly Resolution Office, recently announced in its historical review report that a sighting that allegedly took place in January 2023 by a jet fighter pilot out of Eglund Air Force Base over the Gulf of Mexico, where he allegedly saw an Apollo command module acornshaped object.

The ARO, the Pentagon's UFO investigation office, categorically denied that there was video of that incident. And very, very interestingly, there's an FOI I've just tweeted about where a guy has obtained paperwork from the US Air Force confirming there is video. Somebody's lying. And I know they're lying because overnight I've just received information telling me that the Air Force is reluctant to admit that there is video because the video came from their latest F22 Raptor fighter. And there were two fighters, I'm told, on location that were there when this object was seen.

And there is video. It's being declined for national security reasons. Yet, Arrow tries to make us believe this is a balloon. Utter BS. I'm calling it out.

It's a flatout lie. Next question. Hello, Mr. Ross. Thanks for your amazing work and coverage on this topic.

I feel like we collectively are shooting ourselves in the foot again, not you particularly, Mr. Ross by saying things like no government would come out with disclosure in today's climate which is true. Yes, it is. But I don't think there is any climate where a government wholeheartedly tells everyone everything. There's way too many players involved in this for that to happen in my opinion.

Whistleblower whistleblower based disclosure seems to be the only way forward. Thoughts? Yeah, I agree. I mean we're in agreement. you're you as you've said it's true that no government will ever come out with disclosure in today's climate. I think that's absolutely true and I think part of the problem part of the dilemma that I'm increasingly becoming aware of is I do think the US government is probably experimenting with nonhuman technology.

I really do I think the evidence is becoming overwhelming and you're going to be hearing a lot more from this on this from me in the next few months. Um, what are we doing about our own space debris? China is four times the population of the US and yet they have the same amount of space debris. These generals are taking talking out both sides. I presume both sides of their mouth. What about our space war capabilities? Any updates? Well, we're delighted to tell you that our friend Brian Enton from NewsNation has just visited Space Force and you've just seen his report on what's happening out of the Peterson Shriber Air Force Base in Colorado.

So, yes, we are chasing both what the US is doing to combat potential adversaries in space and we are monitoring very very closely as we have done in a previous reality check the threat from foreign adversaries to our own technology in space. It's a huge issue and if and when, god forbid, a next war is fought, it will be fought in space and we have to be ready for that. And frankly, that's why Space Force matters. Okay, I just have to say it. This is a viewer.

Oh, I think my friends at NewsNation have put this in for fun. Ross covers very serious and urgent matters, but I have to fight my fan and girl crush with tooth and nail in order to focus on the reporting instead of getting lost in these eyes. Oh, there I feel better now. Well, I'm glad I'm making somebody happy. Thank you very very much for those flattering comments.

As a uh 60 plus year old man, it's nice to have comments like that and thank you for giving me a good laugh. That's all from Reality Check this week. Lovely to be able to engage with you again. Looking forward to telling you more about mysterious and interesting stuff in the very near future. Thanks for watching.

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