(WSYM) — A lot is happening fast in the federal government. Leaders in the United States had to come to agreement on how to distribute vaccines, how to get the American people through the remaining months of the pandemic, and still attend to the normal business of creating the legislation that keeps the country funded.
That business was handled Sunday, when President Trump signed the $2.3 trillion COVID-19 relief and federal funding bill, but there was one odd item, included as a “committee comment” attached to the annual intelligence authorization act, which was rolled into the 5,593 page bill. By order of the Senate, the bill includes language that “directs the [director of national intelligence] … to submit a report within 180 days of the date of enactment of the Act, to the congressional intelligence and armed services committees on unidentified aerial phenomena.”
In plain words, the Pentagon has 180 days to turn over all information it has on UFOs.
It’s hard to imagine many other times in American history where that fact could be overshadowed by bigger news. However, between the debate over how much money should go to households, the various looming deadlines on agreement and the ongoing contests of election results, there hasn’t been much bandwidth for this item.
Estimating what information from that report, if any, will make its way to the American people is a challenge. In part that’s because there is little else to compare this order to in terms of precedent.
Still, beyond everything we already know to expect and everything else that will crop up between now and 180 days from now, there is one more piece of news that will make the start of 2021 interesting.
