UAPs "should be among our highest priorities," Rubio says; not necessarily "aliens, extraterrestrial"

Senate Intelligence Committee Co-chair Marco Rubio speaks with congressional press corps in basement of the US Capitol. Photo: Matt Laslo

Who?

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) — Vice-chair, Senate Intelligence Committee

LISTEN: Laslo & Rubio

Ask a Pol asks:

Recently, Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Mike Rounds (R-SD), Tim Kaine (D-VA) and Mark Kelly (D-AZ) have voiced concerns to top Pentagon brass and/or Ask a Pol about this persistent problem of intrusion over US airspace...

Key Rubio: 

“People always want to immediately default to, y’know, aliens, extraterrestrial, but the fact of the matter is if there are things flying overhead in our country that aren't supposed to be there and they aren’t ours, that should be among our highest priorities,” Sen. Marco Rubio exclusively tells Ask a Pol. 

AARO’s duty:

“Everyone's interested in the look-back and all those other things,” Rubio tells us. “But the most important thing is determining a process for reporting unidentified aircraft, primarily for purposes of preventing strategic surprise.”

EXTENDED SCRUM: Laslo, Rubio & Press Corps (on TikTok)

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ICYMI — Ask a Pol’s exclusive w/ Rep. Jared Moskowitz

Moskowitz: “[Reid, Schumer, Rubio] — these are not insignificant senators” following UAPs

Below find a rough transcript of Ask a Pol’s exclusive interview with Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), slightly edited for clarity.

TRANSCRIPT: Sen. Marco Rubio

Matt Laslo: “Spoken to Timothy Phillips yet? Over at AARO, [Sean] Kirkpatrick's replacement?

Rubio shakes head no.

ML: “Do you have any — what have you thought about that declassified report they put out? Like, what is AARO doing these days?”

Marco Rubio: “Theoretically, they’re supposed to determine — I mean, everyone's interested in the look-back and all those other things, but the most important thing is determining a process for reporting unidentified aircraft, primarily for purposes of preventing strategic surprise. So I hope that's what they continue to focus on, because that's what they're supposed to be focused on.”

ML: “But then talking to [Sen. Kirsten] Gillibrand, [Sen. Mike] Rounds, [Sen. Tim] Kaine complains about it over Langley. Like, they just say they were supposed to— [Sen.] Mark Kelly was complaining about it last week — this persistent problem of intrusion over US airspace...”

ICYMI — Ask a Pol’s exclusive w/ SASC Chair Reed

SASC Chair Reed says "multiple sightings &...UAPs crossing into secure space over military installations” since May

MR: “Yeah, it's a very serious problem. People always want to immediately default to, y’know, aliens and extraterrestrial, but the fact of the matter is if there are things flying overhead in our country that aren't supposed to be there and they aren’t ours, that should be among our highest priorities. That's really what we're trying to address here.”

ML: “Yeah? Thanks.”

Reporter: “Sir, do you anticipate any changes to the House TikTok bill and the newest version that looks expected to come over?”

MR: “I don't know what they're going to add to it over there...”

That TikTok measure was signed into law by President Joe Biden earlier today.

Matt Laslo’s a veteran congressional correspondent, new media prof. & founder of Ask a Pol — a new, people-powered press corps.

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