Secrets, signals & stargazing: UFO files stall as space war heats up

The Cosmic Report rounds up a week of stalled UFO disclosures, escalating satellite wars, and a quieter return to stargazing. From Washington to low Earth orbit to a Devon pub garden, space is being fought over, and quietly observed.

If the disclosure narrative were a UFO itself, it’s currently stuttering, rather than shifting through galactic phases.

And that’s because this week the Pentagon missed an April 14th deadline to release over 45 videos, including spherical, cigar-shaped, and "Tic Tac"-like objects, predominantly seen by military personnel, in Iran and Syria, as well as the US.

Representative Anna Pulina Luna went for the jugular in condemning the Pentagon's quagmire of communication systems:

“Whoever's trying to be cute at the Pentagon is about to get rolled because a) that's not up to them; b) Pete would not undermine the president; and c) this stuff has been ordered for release. "And so we will be getting those files, whether or not they agree with us."

Luna, who is effectively being used by Congress as a bureaucratic hammer, might just be the catalyst this movement needs.

Starlink vs. Amazon: orbit wars

Governments might be stalling on space secrets, but at least private corporations are pretty clear in their intentions.

On April 15th, Amazon announced its acquisition of low-orbit satellite company Globalstar for a cool $11.57 billion. The goal is to connect millions of devices from space and offer satellite internet service similar to Elon Musk's own Starlink.

In fact, it represents something of a corporate space race, as Amazon will directly go into competition with Starlink, who largely have a monopoly in the space communications sphere.

Amazon is aiming to deploy around 3,200 satellites in low earth orbit by 2929.

Speaking on AJ Bell Markets & Money podcast interview, Dan Coatsworth investment analyst (of AJ Bell) said:

What’s certain is that the space race is heating up and big money is expected to be ploughed into this industry over the coming years.

A pint of starry wonder

Back down here on Earth, pub landlord Alan Boddington, 67, has set up his own space observatory out of the back of his pub, in Devon, southern UK.

Inspired by the night sky ever since Neil Armostrongs 1960 moon landing, Boddington has self-funded almost $40,000 into building the orbital annexe, as well as setting up his state-of-the-art telescopes.

Customers are able to see the milky way in all its glory, and if the skies are obscured with a cloud, well – then it’s a win-win situation.

“When a cloud comes over, you can pop into the pub, have a pint… then come back out,” he said.

As the drudgery of UFO disclosure, and corporate space enterprise churns on – maybe the best bet is to sink a cold one and look up into the night sky.