André Jol : Policies for a UAP world
UAP Coalition Netherlands' André Jol addresses the question of UAP reporting and scientific assessment at the European Parliament
In the European Parliament, on March 20th, 2024, was held the “UAP EU Airspace: Reporting and Scientific Assessment” event. Introduction to the conference organised by MEP Francisco Guerreiro was provided by Andre Jol, a representative from the UAP Coalition Netherlands foundation and independent NGO (Non-Governmental Organisation) registered under Dutch law.
Andre Jol is a seasoned trained professional and chemical engineer in the field of water quality located in Utrecht, Netherlands. He has been working for 35+ years in monitoring, advising and evaluating policies and measures on climate change mitigation and adaptation at the European level. He’s currently the treasurer of the UAP Coalition Netherlands, which, according to their website, aims at representing “the interests of all professionals within aviation, armed forces and police who have experience with Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena. It is a unique organisation that brings together and represents these professionals (...). UAP Coalition Netherlands is run by a team of dedicated volunteer people who want to create a safer working environment for these professionals”.
Andre Jol added in his introductory speech that “the foundation promotes research, awareness, raising cooperation and regulations regarding UAP”.
Mr Jol emphasised that “it's essential to understand the significance of UAP and how they intersect with the safety of our airspace with our security and our collective consciousness”. He pointed out that over the years there has been an “increase in evidence based on a wide range of instrumental observations (infrared radar, photographs, videos, visual observations) by trained observers” such as “pilots, military personnel, airfield personnel, scientists”; and “civilians”. He took the example of the GEIPAN, the French official governmental organisation which collects and analyses data on UAP. The only officially recognised organisation as such in Europe, even though civilian organisations like this also exist and are active across Europe.
Andre noted that presentations from GEIPAN highlight that:
Most of the observations can be explained by, for example, aircraft, drones, satellites, planets, meteors, etc.
Category D represents 3% of the 3637 total observations that cannot be explained after investigation, i.e. 100 cases - a percentage which is consistent with many other international databases.
Jol continued by providing an overview of compelling statements from US authorities leaders to illustrate how the UAP topic has been growing and developing outside Europe.
Impactful statements from high level officials testifying UAP evidence:
Avril Haines (Former United States Deputy Director of the Central Intelligence Agency):
The bottom line is that we don't understand everything that we're seeing, and that's probably not surprising to anybody in many respects.
Bill Nelson (NASA Administrator):
They locked their radar onto it, they followed it, and then all of a sudden it would move and it had no exhaust, it had no plume. It had no visible wings or any kind of engines. So We don't know what it is, but it's something. That's why I'm announcing that NASA has appointed a NASA director of UAP research.
Kirsten Gillibrand (US Senator NY):
We want that error to stop. If an airman sees something that they cannot identify, we need to know what that is.
Barack Obama (former US President):
There's footage and records of objects in the skies that we don't know exactly what they are, we can't explain how they move, their trajectory. They did not have an easily explainable pattern.
Andre Carson (US Representative Indiana):
This topic is something that has been placed in the science fiction category. However, the occurrence of UAP near our military bases has been documented and poses a national security threat, especially since so much about them is virtually unknown.
Andre Jol commented on the recent progress made by the US in 2022 with the creation of a department inside the Pentagon, requested by the US Senate, collecting and analysing observations from US governmental professionals and regularly reporting on the results (AARO, the All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office). He cited Ryan Graves, US pilot, who also made a live intervention in the European Parliament to share his experience and insights on UAP and governmental developments.
On flight safety, Andre Jol asked: “Can we conclude that UAP poses a potential risk for flight safety? If a commercial pilot with passengers encounters a UAP this could lead to confusion, distraction, and potentially even a risk of accidents.”
Andre pragmatically highlighted a problem for the EU:
With 32,000 flights per day in the EU airspace, we feel it is necessary to address the topic. By understanding and addressing the European topic, we can enhance the safety and security of our skies.
Beyond flight safety, Jol pointed out that UAP present security concerns. They raise questions “in our airspace about surveillance, defence capabilities” and constitute “potential threats”. It is imperative that these issues are explored and addressed.”
Andre Jol then gave reality checks concerning China and Russia. “China has issued a shutdown order of UAP in at least one and possibly several provinces. They're using AI to research UAP data and they consider UAP to be a national threat and a flight safety issue. We also know that the Russian government is fully aware and doing research on this topic.”
When studying the 3% of non-explainable UAP, experts come with the following key specific characteristics named the five observables:
Positive lift (the ability to fly without apparent means of propulsion or lift)
Instantaneous acceleration (reaching very high rates of speed in a very short amount of time)
Hypersonic velocity (the ability to travel much faster than the speed of sound without a sonic boom, or other physical effects )
Trans medium travel (moving seamlessly through space, air and water)
Low observability (the ability to conceal oneself from visual and sensor observation).
Andre Jol concluded that UAP “represent a significant challenge to our current scientific knowledge and understanding” while more scientists start to take the topic more seriously, by “studying UAP there is the opportunity to push the boundaries of our understanding of physics, technology, and perhaps even the nature of our universe.”
UAP Coalition Netherlands, through the voice of Andre Jol highlights that, after 80 years of observations and reports, witnesses must be taken seriously. Stigma around “professionals from aviation armed forces law enforcement, but also citizens, who reported UAP sightings have faced scepticism, ridicule, or even proof of rational repercussions”. Andre mentioned quite a famous event in the Netherlands:
The Soesterberg case, which happened in 1979. Twelve Dutch military personnel saw a triangular shaped object around 45 metres, slowly flying over their airbase, which by the way was to join the airbase with the US. And to this day, the witnesses feel that they were not taken seriously.
This example illustrates how Mental Health in UAP witnesses remains a key issue of the phenomenon, for professionals and citizens. “Not being able to talk about encounters (and) even being ridiculed can certainly have a negative effect on the health of professionals. The importance of sharing experiences and emotions after such events is crucial for the well-being of these professionals.”
Allowing “psycho social support and creating an environment where professionals can freely share and process their experiences and emotions is really important”. Therefore, “it's crucial that policymakers do create an environment and the required legislative frameworks to allow witnesses to feel comfortable coming forward with their experiences and knowing that they will be heard, respected and supported.”
“We do hope that this historic event in the European Parliament will contribute to ending the stigma.”
Andre Jol concluded with 3 main recommendations and one path forward wish for the European Parliament:
The importance to raise awareness and educate policymakers, professional scientists, the media and the public about reality and the significance of UAP
The need to prioritise data collection on UAP through advanced monitoring, and to enhance multidisciplinary research : “By leveraging expertise, technological research, resources and international collaboration, we gain we can gain a deeper understanding of these phenomena”
The need to establish clear protocols and procedures for reporting. This includes channels for pilots and military personnel, and other trends observed to report sightings. He concludes: “lastly, we should include UAP explicitly in relevant EU legislation, for example, in aviation safety, and in space law.”
“All stakeholders within the EU have a responsibility to address this topic with seriousness, integrity and scientific rigour. By doing so we can all ensure the safety, security and the well-being of (the European) citizens.” concluded Andre Jol.
Full Transcript
First of all, I'd like to say I'm very honoured and privileged to be here and I'd like to thank very much Francisco Guerrero for organising this historic event. We from the UAP coalition Netherlands are an independent NGO. We represent the interests of professionals within aviation armed forces and police who did have an encounter with UAP (Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena). We also promote research, awareness, raising cooperation and regulations regarding UAP together with a dedicated team (of volunteers). So, it's essential to understand the significance of UAP and how they intersect with the safety of our airspace with our security and our collective consciousness.
So, let me first try to explain what are UAP. The most straightforward definition is “anything which is in space, air, on lands or in the sea that cannot be identified”. In the past, the term UFO (Unidentified Flying Object) was used. But now with more information becoming available, more sensors being online, we know these phenomena are also observed in other domains like the sea and therefore, the acronym and definition was changed. Over the years, there has been an increase in evidence based on a wide range of instrumental observations, for example, infrared radar, photographs, videos, but also visual observations by trained observers, meaning pilots, military personnel, airfield personnel, scientists, etc. And also civilians.
Near collisions involving military or commercial aircraft have actually been reported in the past. Many observations have also been done at military airfields, with storage facilities for nuclear weapons and at nuclear power plants. We feel this is therefore a really serious topic. In recent years, many trained observers like pilots, and people from the military have actually come forward with their experiences and their observations.
Now, what are we actually talking about?
I think about the slides from the organisation GEIPAN, which is the French official governmental organisation which collects data on UAP. Analyses from these reports are coming from the only officially recognised organisation as such in Europe. But of course, there are also many civilian organisations doing similar things. The main message here is first of all, that most of the observations can be explained by aircraft, drones, satellites, planets, meteors, etc. However, as you will see in Category D, there is a percentage of about 3%. And this is also the case in many other databases, in which such a fraction of observations cannot be explained. And this is the interesting part of UAP. As I said before, Edoardo Russo will talk much more about the history of UAP in Europe and outside of Europe.
Now the question, of course, is why should we care about UAP? Why are they important? And the other question is, are they really real?
Well, first, over the past 80 years, trained observers have been seeing things which were considered a fantasy. This does not appear to make sense, as we very much rely on the same professionals to be good observers in their professional capacities.
Now, secondly, I think it's interesting to hear what key leaders and key people, for example, in the US are actually saying about the topic of UAP. So I want to show you a short presentation where various people are speaking out.
(Oral testimonies played on video)
I think the bottom line is that we don't understand everything that we're seeing, and that's probably not surprising to anybody in many respects.
They locked their radar onto it, they followed it, and then all of a sudden it would move and it had no exhaust, it had no plume. It had no visible wings or any kind of engines. So We don't know what it is, but it's something. That's why I'm announcing that NASA has appointed a NASA director of UAP research.
“we want that error to stop. If an airman sees something that they cannot identify, we need to know what that is.”
There's footage and records of objects in the skies. We don't know exactly what they are, we can't explain how they move their trajectory. They did not have an easily explainable pattern.
This topic is something that has been placed in the science fiction category. However, the occurrence of UAVs near our military bases has been documented and poses a national security threat, especially since so much about them is virtually unknown.
Another development in the US has been that in 2022, the All Domain Anomaly Resolution office was started, which was explicitly established on the request of the US Senate. It's a department inside the Pentagon that collects and analyses UAP observations from US governmental professionals and regularly reports on the results. Now, there's a lot to say about these reports. I will not do that here. I believe that Speaker Ryan Graves will give some more insight from his own experiences as a pilot, but also will talk about how the interest in the topic in the US has been growing. And what are the reasons for US policy developments.
The next question is can we conclude that UAP poses a potential risk for flight safety. If a commercial pilot with passengers encountering a UAP this could lead to confusion, distraction, and potentially even a risk of accidents. With 32,000 flights per day in the EU airspace we feel it is necessary to address the topic. By understanding and addressing the European topic, we can enhance the safety and security of our skies. And Christian Van Heijst will give some of his experiences and also experiences from other pilots.
Another key aspect is the security concern. In this era of heightened political, geopolitical tensions and rapid technological developments, the presence of unidentified objects in our airspace raises questions about surveillance, Defense capabilities and potential threats. We feel it's imperative that these issues are explored and addressed. It's also interesting to note that China has issued a shutdown order of UAP in at least one and possibly several provinces. They're using AI to research UAP data and they consider UAP to be a national threat and to flight safety issues. We also know that the Russian government is aware of UAP and doing research on this topic.
The next question is what are the specific characteristics of this 3% of UAP, which is not explainable. What makes it unique?
Experts use the term the five observables
positive lift, that means they have the ability to fly without apparent means of propulsion or lift,
instantaneous acceleration. They can reach very high rates of speed in a very short amount of time,
hypersonic velocity, they're able to travel faster, very much faster than the speed of sound. With no sonic boom, or other physical effects.
trans medium travel, they seem to be able to seamlessly move through space, air and water,
low observability. They're able to conceal themselves from visual and sensor observation.
So this means that they represent a significant challenge to our current scientific knowledge and understanding. It's good to see that increasingly, scientists are coming forward who consider UAP to be real objects that need serious investigation. By studying UAP there is the opportunity to push the boundaries of our understanding of physics, technology, and perhaps even the nature of our universe. Beatriz Villarroel will of course say more about the research needs and also what's currently being done.
The last thing I'd like to talk about is the importance of taking UAP witnesses seriously. For more than 80 years, professionals from aviation armed forces law enforcement, but also citizens, who reported UAP sightings have faced scepticism, ridicule or even proof of rational repercussions. In this respect, I'd like to mention an example, which is quite famous in the Netherlands: the Soesterberg case, which happened in 1979. Twelve Dutch military personnel saw a triangular shaped object around 45 metres in diameter slowly flying over their airbase, which by the way was to join the airbase with the US. And to this day, the witnesses feel that they were not taken seriously.
This is from a documentary recently released by Brahma Rosa and showing in many cinemas in The Netherlands. “In Soesterberg, the Air Force ends all speculations. They come with their own explanation for the observation of the military. It was car lights that were reflected in the air by inversion. They just dismissed it. They said it was just a reflection in the air. It was this, it was that. That’s not possible. If so many people are standing around you, they should have taken it 100% seriously”.
So the stigma and not being able to talk about encounters or even being ridiculed can certainly have a negative effect on the health of professionals. The importance of sharing experiences and emotions after such events is crucial for the well being of these professionals. And therefore, we feel this is also true for UAP experiences.
Therefore, we feel psycho social support and creating an environment where professionals can freely share and process their experiences and emotions is really important. And in that respect, and it was already set by Francisco, we feel it's crucial that policymakers do create an environment and the required legislative frameworks to allow witnesses to feel comfortable coming forward with their experiences and knowing that they will be heard, respected and supported. We do hope that this historic event in the European Parliament will contribute to ending the stigma.
Finally, I’d like to talk a little bit about what could be done next. Firstly, we feel it's important to raise awareness and educate policymakers, professional scientists, the media and the public about reality and the significance of UAP. Secondly, we need to prioritise data collection on UAP through advanced monitoring, and we should enhance multidisciplinary research. By leveraging expertise, technological research, resources and international collaboration, we can gain a deeper understanding of these phenomena. Thirdly, we need to establish clear protocols and procedures for reporting. This includes channels for pilots, military personnel, and other trends observed to report sightings. And lastly, we should include up explicitly in relevant EU legislation, for example, in aviation safety, and in space law.
In the end, my last slide, we feel all stakeholders within the EU have a responsibility to address this topic with seriousness, integrity and scientific rigour. By doing so we can all ensure the safety, security and the well being of our citizens.
Thank you very much for your attention, and I'm looking forward to the discussion on the topic.
Review by Guillaume Fournier Airaud
This work is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0