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organization. The meaning and implications of these two lines, especially the second one, are well worth considering. Line one is actually not surprising, since a great deal is known about longstanding Russian research and military interest in the UFO phenomenon. In line two, the statement "I am aware" means that the writer is stating a fact: the informal group exists. An "informal group" is one which provides nothing in writing and leaves no records behind, one that escapes oversight by House or Senate committees, and might be set up this way because its work runs counter to established policy. It could be part of a SAP. As defined by Nick Pope, "an informal group would be a loose network of individuals, perhaps in a number of different agencies, coming together to discuss a particular issue, but without formal terms of reference." The second half of this sentence begins with "it is possible"—unlike "I am aware," this phrase is not stating a fact, but only a possibility. This too is actually quite revealing. One must question why this intelligence officer could not get more information about the nature of this group from his closest ally. He has not been told much at all about the nature of the "informal group" and was not able to determine whether this reflected any more of a "formal" structure, something properly constituted. This attests to the highly secret, deeply buried nature of the informal group. If indeed this interpretation is correct, and I have every reason to believe that it is, this document references a secret group within the U.S. intelligence world actively studying UFOs. It is a much more important piece of paper than any new case reports released recently by the MoD, which have received all the attention. The as to the missing words, which 1 om 4 I approached Nick Pope hoping to receive some clues, some hidden message. But he is too much of a pro ever to be caught off guard. He acknowledges that he helped his DIS colleague with the drafting of the proposal for the UFO study, and can recall which two countries were redacted from the document. I asked him about my assessment of the two missing words, and whether he could respond in any way to it. "No comment" was his reply. This material, though intriguingly suggestive, is in no way definitive. Taking a step back, we must reflect once again on what we actually know, in order to move forward. Caution, or even understatement, must be the name of the game when dealing with the unaccepted subject of UFOs. The reality of what we do know is extraordinary enough. For many, the process of discernment is not easy. Conspiracy theorists and the television media have fueled an intricate, rumor-based mythology around the idea of a cover-up, leading some to write off the whole subject of UFOs as inane science fiction, and others to swallow every morsel offered. Those in the middle have no way of sorting out the in the US intelligence community and it is possible that this reflects a more formal remain classified.