Pentagon fueled UFO rumors for decades, WSJ reports
The US Pentagon and some military officers misled their own personnel and the public about the existence of UFOs for decades, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Waves of hype over extraterrestrial phenomena — and alleged government coverups — have rippled through recent history, especially during the Cold War.
Now, the Journal reports how US military officials used UFOs as cover for real secret military programs — and even as a 'bizarre hazing ritual.'
These efforts were uncovered by a Pentagon office established in 2022 to investigate reports of UFOs, but weren't publicly disclosed.
The sprawling disinformation campaigns have 'unleashed within the halls of the Pentagon itself a dangerous force,' giving rise to a 'paranoid mythology' that some senior officials believe to be true.
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Hegseth faces Congress for first time since Signal leaks and Marine deployment to Los Angeles
WASHINGTON -- WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is expected to field sharp questions from members of Congress about his tumultuous start as Pentagon chief, including his sharing of sensitive military details over a Signal chat, in three separate Capitol Hill hearings beginning Tuesday. Lawmakers also have made it clear they are unhappy that Hegseth has not provided details on the administration's first proposed defense budget, which President Donald Trump has said would total $1 trillion, a significant increase over the current spending level of more than $800 billion. It will be lawmakers' first chance to ask Hegseth about a myriad of other controversial spending by the Pentagon, including plans to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on security upgrades to turn a Qatari jet into Air Force One and to pour as much as $45 million into a parade recently added to the Army's 250th birthday bash, which happens to coincide with Trump's birthday on Saturday. Lawmakers may quiz Hegseth on the latest searing images coming out of the immigration raid protests in Los Angeles. Hegseth has deployed about 700 active-duty Marines to assist more than 4,100 National Guard troops in protecting federal buildings and personnel. But there are questions about what the troops will have to do and how much it will all cost. Under the Posse Comitatus Act, troops are prohibited from policing U.S. citizens on American soil. Invoking the Insurrection Act, which allows troops to do that, is incredibly rare, and it's not clear if Trump plans to do it. The commandant of the Marine Corps, Gen. Eric Smith, will be on Capitol Hill testifying at a separate budget hearing at the same time as Hegseth and is likely to face similar questions. Hegseth has spent vast amounts of time during his first five months in office promoting the social changes he's making at the Pentagon. He's been far less visible in the administration's more critical international security crises and negotiations involving Russia, Ukraine, Israel, Gaza and Iran. Most recently, Hegseth directed the renaming of a Navy ship that had honored Harvey Milk, a slain gay rights activist who served as a sailor during the Korean War. His spokesman, Sean Parnell, said the renaming was needed to ensure "the names attached to all DOD installations and assets are reflective of the commander-in-chief's priorities, our nation's history, and the warrior ethos.' Hegseth has posted numerous videos of his morning workouts with troops or of himself signing directives to purge diversity and equity programs and online content from the military. He has boasted of removing transgender service members from the force and firing so-called woke generals, many of whom were women. He was on the international stage about a week ago, addressing an annual national security conference in Asia about threats from China. But a trip to NATO headquarters last week was quick and quiet, and he deliberately skipped a gathering of about 50 allies and partners where they discussed ongoing support for Ukraine. Hegseth's hearing Tuesday before the House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee will be his first public appearance on Capitol Hill since he squeaked through his Senate confirmation with a tie-breaking vote. It was the closest vote of any Cabinet member. While he has talked a lot about making the military more lethal, it was his use of the unclassified, unsecured Signal messaging app that quickly caught public attention. Set up by then-national security adviser Mike Waltz, a group chat included Hegseth and other senior administration leaders and was used to share information about upcoming military strikes in Yemen. The chat became a public embarrassment because the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, Jeffrey Goldberg, was inadvertently added to it. Waltz took responsibility for the gaffe, but Hegseth was roundly criticized for sharing details about the military strikes in this chat and in another one that included his wife and brother. Multiple investigations are looking into his use of Signal. The Defense Department's acting inspector general has been looking into the initial chat at the request of the Republican and Democratic leaders of the Senate Armed Services Committee. The Pentagon's watchdog also is reviewing whether any of Hegseth's aides were asked to delete any Signal messages. While any number of those issues could come up at the House Armed Services Committee hearing Thursday, money issues are more likely to be the focus of the hearings Tuesday in the House and Wednesday before the Senate Appropriations Defense Subcommittee. Already defense leaders have been grilled in other hearings on the plans to retrofit the Qatari jet and the costs of the military parade. Trump has long wanted a parade, and Army leaders defended it as a good way to attract new recruits. Other questions may involve the costs of expanding the use of military forces to secure the southern border, the plans for the Golden Dome missile defense program, and how the department intends to fund modernization programs for drones and other critical weapons systems.
2 hours ago
Pentagon draws up rules on possible use of force by Marines deployed to LA protests
WASHINGTON -- The Pentagon was scrambling Monday to establish rules to guide U.S. Marines who could be faced with the rare and difficult prospect of using force against citizens on American soil, now that the Trump administration is deploying active duty troops to the immigration raid protests in Los Angeles. U.S. Northern Command said it is sending 700 Marines into the Los Angeles area to protect federal property and personnel, including federal immigration agents. The 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines are coming from Twentynine Palms, California, and will augment about 4,100 National Guard members already in LA or authorized to be deployed there to respond to the protests. The forces have been trained in deescalation, crowd control and standing rules for the use of force, Northern Command said. But the use of the active duty forces still raises difficult questions. The Marines are highly trained in combat and crisis response, with time in conflict zones like Syria and Afghanistan. But that is starkly different from the role they will face now: They could potentially be hit by protesters carrying gas canisters and have to quickly decide how to respond or face decisions about protecting an immigration enforcement agent from crowds. According to a U.S. official, troops will be armed with their normal service weapons but will not be carrying tear gas. They also will have protective equipment such as helmets, shields and gas masks. When troops are overseas, how they can respond to threats is outlined by the rules of engagement. At home, they are guided by standing rules for the use of force, which have to be set and agreed to by Northern Command, and then each Marine should receive a card explaining what they can and cannot do, another U.S. official said. For example, warning shots would be prohibited, according to use-of-force draft documents viewed by The Associated Press. Marines are directed to deescalate a situation whenever possible but also are authorized to act in self-defense, the documents say. The AP reviewed documents and interviewed nine U.S. officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss details not yet public, about the guidance being determined for the Marines. The Pentagon also is working on a memo with clarifying language for the Marines that will lay out the steps they can take to protect federal personnel and property. Those guidelines also will include specifics on the possibility that they could temporarily detain civilians if troops are under assault or to prevent harm, the first U.S. official said. Those measures could involve detaining civilians until they can be turned over to law enforcement. Having the Marines deploy to protect federal buildings allows them to be used without invoking the Insurrection Act, one U.S. official said. The Insurrection Act allows the president to direct federal troops to conduct law enforcement functions in national emergencies. But the use of that act is extremely rare. Officials said that has not yet been done in this case and that it's not clear it will be done. President George H.W. Bush used the Insurrection Act to respond to riots in Los Angeles in 1992 after the acquittal of white police officers who were videotaped beating Black motorist Rodney King. If their role expands if the violence escalates, it is not clear under what legal authority they would be able to engage, said Elizabeth Goitein, a senior director of the Liberty and National Security Program at the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU Law. 'If in fact those Marines are laying hands on civilians, doing searches, then you have pretty powerful legal concerns,' Goitein said. 'No statutory authority Trump has invoked so far permits this.' Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth tweeted late Saturday that he was considering deploying the Marines to respond to the unrest after getting advice earlier in the day from Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, according to one of the U.S. officials. Still, the tweet, which was posted to Hegseth's personal X account and not to his official government account, caught many inside the Pentagon by surprise. As late as Monday, the military's highest offices were still considering the potential ramifications. But the Marine Corps were asking broader questions, too: Do they send more senior, experienced personnel so as not to put newer, less experienced troops at risk of potentially making a judgment call on whether to use force against a civilian? What's lawful under a domestic deployment — where troops may end up in a policing role — is governed by the Fourth Amendment in the U.S. Constitution, which forbids seizure of persons, including temporarily restraining them, unless it could be considered reasonable under the circumstances.
Boston Globe
3 hours ago
- Boston Globe
Canada commits billions in military spending to meet NATO target
But even if Canada is able to finally hit the 2 percent threshold, that is not likely to be enough to satisfy the United States or other NATO allies. Mark Rutte, NATO's secretary general, speaking in London on Monday, called on the alliance's members to make a 'quantum leap in our collective defense' by committing to significantly higher spending targets. Rutte wants members to commit to spending 5 percent of their gross domestic products on military and defense-related activities. Trump has called for a similar spending target. Advertisement Proposals for increased spending are likely to dominate the NATO summit meeting in The Hague this month, though Rutte has not set a timeline for his increased spending plan. Carney, speaking in Toronto, said that new geopolitical threats, advances in technology, and the fraying of Canada's alliance with the United States demanded an accelerated spending schedule. 'We stood shoulder to shoulder with the Americans throughout the Cold War and in the decades that followed, as the United States played a dominant role on the world stage,' he said. 'Today, that dominance is a thing of the past.' Advertisement 'It is time for Canada to chart its own path,' he added, 'and to assert itself on the international stage.' While Carney promised to increase spending by billions of Canadian dollars, he did not specify where the funds would come from. Government officials spoke mostly in broad terms about how the money would be used. Canada's economy is heavily dependent on exports to the United States, and Trump's tariffs have targeted key industries, including autos and steel. Some economists have warned that Canada could face a recession if the tariffs persist. Carney also said the country would no longer rely as extensively on American defense contractors to supply its armed forces, underscoring Canada's strained relations with the United States and focus on shifting away from its neighbor. The Canadian government said it would immediately add 9.3 billion Canadian dollars (about $6.8 billion) to its defense budget. That will raise total defense-related spending this year to CA$62.7 billion, slightly higher than the 2 percent NATO target. To get there, the government included CA$2.5 billion in spending related to 'defense and security' for other departments, including the Canadian coast guard, an unarmed civilian agency which is under the department of fisheries. Carney's spending pledge was welcomed by defense analysts. 'This is a long-overdue announcement,' said Margaret McCuaig-Johnston, a senior fellow at the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Ottawa. 'This significant commitment is remarkable given how quickly they're going to have to move to make 2 percent by the end of the fiscal year.' But, she added, Carney will have to add further budget increases to fund all of the programs he is promising. Advertisement Carney laid out a long shopping list for the military, including 'new submarines, aircraft, ships, armed vehicles, and artillery.' He also said the military would add drones and sensors to monitor the seafloor in the Arctic, a vast region of the country that is becoming a source of competition among global powers such as Russia and China. But Canadian officials said that this year most of the spending would go toward things like increasing the pay and the benefits of armed forces members to help ease a severe recruitment crisis, and repairing broken equipment. Carney also said that money would be directed toward much-needed improvements, noting that three of the Royal Canadian Navy's four diesel submarines were not seaworthy. 'We will repair and maintain our ships, our aircraft, and infrastructure that for too long we allowed to rust and deteriorate,' the prime minister said. Other spending will focus on artificial intelligence and computer systems, as well as ammunition production within the country. Carney also said that Canada would look to buy more goods domestically or from allies other than the United States to equip its military. 'We should no longer send three-quarters of our defense capital spending to America,' he said. Carney said Monday that details about how the country's military needs would be financed would be revealed when a budget was released in the fall. 'Our fundamental goal in all of this is to protect Canadians,' he told reporters, 'not to satisfy NATO accountants.' This article originally appeared in
