Welcome to The Hill's Defense & NatSec newsletter{beacon} Defense &National Security Defense &National Security   The Big Story  Pentagon UFO office gets more than 700 reportsThe All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) received 757 reports of Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP) from May 1, 2023, to June 1, 2024, a declassified report said just a day after a high-stakes hearing on the issue.© Getty The increase in cases is due to more engagement reporting rather than a surge in UAP activity, according to AARO.  AARO has 1,652 UAP cases to comb through and has only a small amount of them, which were attributed to birds, balloons or drones.  Still, AARO continues to claim there is no extra-terrestrial technology in the U.S. government.   “There are definitely anomalies, but we have not been able to draw the link to extra-terrestrial,” said Jon Kosloski, director of AARO.  The report follows a House Oversight and Accountability subcommittee hearing, which included claims the U.S. government is hiding information about alien tech.  Luis Elizondo, the former head of the now-defunct Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program that investigated UAPs, told the subcommittee that the U.S. was "seeking to hide the fact that we are not alone in the cosmos.”  “Advanced technologies not made by our government — or any other government — are monitoring sensitive military installations around the globe,” he said. “Furthermore, the U.S. is in possession of UAP technologies, as are some of our adversaries.”  Another witness, a journalist, claimed that Pentagon sources have told him about a secretive program that has high-quality images of UAPs.  And last year,  retired Maj. David Grusch, who was formerly part of the Pentagon’s UAP task force, alleged the U.S. had run a secret program to reverse-engineer nonhuman material from crash sites of UAP vessels.  But Pentagon deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh told reporters on Thursday that she was "not aware of any remains." "To date, the department has not discovered any verifiable evidence of extra-terrestrial beings, activity or technology," she said. AARO said there have been 18 UAP sightings near U.S. nuclear weapons sites, but so far there is no indication of foreign adversary involvement. "We have not been able to correlate any UAP activity to adversarial collection activities or advanced technologies,” said Kosloski. But he did explain there are a small number of UAPs with mysterious technology. “We don’t fully understand the phenomenon enough to say whether or not it’s breakthrough technology."  You can find much more on the topic here.  Welcome to The Hill’s Defense & National Security newsletter, I'm Brad Dress — your guide to the latest developments at the Pentagon, on Capitol Hill and beyond.  Did someone forward you this newsletter? Subscribe here.   Essential Reads  How policy will affect defense and national security now and inthe future:  NATO jets scrambled after Russian planes seen off Norway and over Baltic Sea ‘not adhering to international norms’Italian and Norwegian jets responded under NATO authority on Tuesday to multiple Russian aircraft “not adhering to international norms.” NATO Allied Air Command said on Thursday that Italy’s air force intercepted a Russian Coot-A over the Baltic Sea, and Norway’s air force “took off to identify multiple Russian aircraft flying in international airspace off the Norwegian Coast.” Russian aircraft have been detected and intercepted …  Full Story  Republican introduces bill to revoke normal trade relations with China The top Republican focused on U.S. competition with China introduced legislation on Thursday to end normal trade relations with Beijing. Rep. John Moolenaar (R-Mich), chair of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, proposed revoking China’s Permanent Normal Trade Relations (PNTR), a policy in place for more than two decades ...  Full Story   Spanberger ‘appalled’ at Gabbard nomination as Trump director of national intelligenceRep. Abigail Spanberger (D-Va.) said Wednesday she is “appalled” by President-elect Trump’s choice of former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (Hawaii) as the director of national intelligence (DNI). In a series of posts on the social platform X, Spanberger raised concerns about Gabbard’s nomination and urged her Republican colleagues to “speak out” against it. “As a former CIA case officer, I saw the men and women of the U.S. intelligence …  Full Story  Human Rights Watch accuses Israel of war crimes in Gaza Strip Human Rights Watch (HRW) accused Israel of war crimes in a sprawling new report that argues the Israeli military has forcibly displaced the Palestinian people in Gaza during the 13-month war against Hamas. The 154-page report, released Thursday, examined the displacement of 90 percent of the Palestinian population in Gaza, or more than 1.9 million people. It faulted Israel for “multiple acts of forced displacement” …  Full Story   On Our Radar  Upcoming things we're watching on our beat:  President Biden on Saturday will meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit in Lima, Peru.Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin leaves on Friday for a trip to  Australia, the Philippines, Laos and Fiji.   In Other News  Branch out with a different read from The Hill: What to know about Tulsi Gabbard: From Bernie backer to Trump intel nominee Tulsi Gabbard’s nomination to become President-elect Trump’s national intelligence director opens a new chapter in a whirlwind national political career that largely launched alongside the progressive Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).  Full Story   On Tap Tomorrow  Events in and around the defense world:  The Stimson Center unpacks the impact of the U.S. election on Iran with a 10 a.m. ET online event. The Wilson Center examines the Cold War and lessons for U.S. policy today during a 10 a.m. in-person event. George Washington University talks on elections in Europe and the U.S. and foreign policy for a 12:30 p.m. in-person discussion. The Center for Strategic and International Studies chats on how women, peace and security can counter Russia and China for a 10 a.m. virtual event. The Hudson Institute will discuss religious persecution in oppressive countries during a 2 p.m. in-person event.  What We're Reading  News we've flagged from other outlets: Biden asks Trump to work on Gaza deal (Axios) Zhuhai car attack: China clears memorial as government scrambles to respond (Reuters) Elon Musk met with Iran’s U.N. ambassador, Iranian officials say (New York Times)  Trending Today  Two key stories on The Hill right now: McCarthy says Gaetz won’t get confirmed: ‘Everyone knows that’ Former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) predicted Wednesday that former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), President-elect Trump’s pick for attorney general, … Read more Musk’s bold plans for ‘Department of Government Efficiency’ face roadblocks Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy are set to take the reins of the brand new “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE) under President-elect … Read more  Opinions in The Hill Op-eds related to defense & national security submitted to The Hill: Biden’s escalation paralysis has devastated UkraineIs it time for Trump to drain the swamp … in Iran?  To save Ukraine and avoid World War III, invite it into NATO before Trump takes office  You're all caught up. See you tomorrow!  Close Thank you for signing up! Subscribe to more newsletters here The latest in politics and policy. Direct to your inbox. Sign up for the Defense and National Security newsletter Subscribe