UFO Cover-Up? Ex-Pentagon Chief, Now at DOE’s Oak Ridge, Attacks Rep. Luna
Sean Kirkpatrick’s smear isn’t just personal — it’s a warning shot from a system built on conflicts of interest and contempt for oversight.
Note: This essay builds on my ongoing reporting about AARO and Pentagon UFO secrecy. With Rep. Anna Paulina Luna now targeted by former AARO Director Sean Kirkpatrick, the stakes for congressional oversight have never been clearer.
A Shocking Attack on Congress
Note: The following quotes were provided by former AARO director Sean Kirkpatrick to video editor Steven Greenstreet of the New York Post.
“If Luna and her ‘Lunatics’ want to continue to parade charlatans and grifters in front of an audience to satisfy her need for playhouse politics, then the American people should demand accountability of all the wasted taxpayer money and Congressional time she has derailed from more serious issues facing this country.” — Sean Kirkpatrick
“It’s a disgrace to the Congress and the U.S. government and only serves to provide reality TV.” — Sean Kirkpatrick
That’s not just scorn—it’s contempt for Congress itself.
Luna’s Response
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna’s office fired back immediately. Her communications director, David Leatherwood, issued a blistering statement:
“Kirkpatrick is an irrelevant little man who is a known documented liar, has blocked the release of information, and tried to discredit witnesses… It seems to me that he’s suffering more from small man complex and sometime his BIG emotions get the best of him… We will continue to pray for the recovery of Mr. Kirkpatrick and his tiny ego and his journey to deal with his mental health.” — David Leatherwood, communications director for Rep. Anna Paulina Luna
The clash is sharp, but it’s about more than rhetoric. It raises deeper questions about why a former Pentagon insider, now comfortably positioned at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory, feels compelled to insult Congress instead of answering oversight.
The AARO Report: Investigation Without Investigators
Kirkpatrick’s parting gift before leaving government was the Historical Record of U.S. Government Involvement with UAP, released in March 2024. The report’s headline claims?
“No U.S. government investigation has confirmed any sighting of a UAP represented extraterrestrial technology.”
And:
“Most sightings were misidentifications.”
It also dismissed crash retrieval and reverse-engineering allegations as “circular reporting.”
But here’s the problem: AARO had no 1811 investigative authority — no power to subpoena, no power to compel testimony, no power to break into tightly held special access programs. At best, Kirkpatrick could ask politely to be “read in.” If gatekeepers refused, there was nothing he could do.
Yet he delivered conclusions as if definitive. That’s not science — that’s spin.
FOIA Emails: Pentagon Stage-Management
Newly obtained FOIA emails published by The Black Vault show just how carefully the Pentagon choreographed the rollout of AARO’s report.
Pentagon spokesperson Susan Gough restricted media access to just a handful of invited journalists.
Requests from Scientific American, the Washington Examiner, and Finland’s national broadcaster YLE were denied.
The Pentagon downplayed ODNI’s oversight role, even though by law AARO was required to report to both DoD and ODNI.
And in classified congressional briefings, AARO officials were pressed about KONA BLUE, a proposed special access program linked to “non-human biologics.” Pentagon officials now claim it never moved beyond the proposal stage — but the fact it was even raised underscores how much remains hidden.
That’s not transparency. That’s narrative control.
Conflicts of Interest and Battelle’s Long Shadow
Kirkpatrick’s post-government career only deepens the questions. After leaving AARO, he became Chief Technology Officer for Defense and Intelligence at Oak Ridge National Laboratory — operated by UT-Battelle, a contractor that also provided advisors and analysis support to AARO during his tenure.
Federal law (18 U.S.C. § 207) bars senior officials from negotiating or accepting jobs with entities directly involved in matters they oversaw. On top of that, he reportedly continued serving as an unpaid advisor to AARO, potentially violating the Antideficiency Act.
And Battelle is no neutral player. The institute has a long, tangled history with the UAP issue, stretching back to the 1950s when it worked with the Air Force on Project Blue Book and material analysis. Over the years, Battelle has repeatedly resurfaced in connection with UAP secrecy.
That makes Kirkpatrick’s move to Oak Ridge look less like coincidence and more like continuity — part of a decades-long pattern of institutions managing the UFO narrative from behind the scenes.
Why It Matters
Kirkpatrick’s insults weren’t just aimed at Rep. Luna. They were aimed at Congress itself. They send a message: sit down, shut up, and don’t ask questions.
Oversight is not optional — it’s the foundation of democracy.
If AARO’s report was stage-managed, if conflicts of interest shaped its leadership, and if whistleblowers were sidelined by design, then lawmakers must demand accountability.
Congress should:
Subpoena the documents.
Call Susan Gough and Dr. Kirkpatrick to testify under oath.
Press DOE and Oak Ridge on Kirkpatrick’s role.
Enforce the principle that classification cannot be used to hide embarrassment.
The American people deserve better than a Pentagon narrative crafted in secret and delivered with insults. They deserve transparency. They deserve the truth.
If you agree that Congress deserves answers, share this piece and subscribe for future investigations. Together, we can hold power accountable.
The congressmen and women investigating the UFO/UAP topic need to change directions and follow a different path: instead of talking with people who've had "sightings" they need to question those who likely have inside information. And I don't mean only their friendly allies: I'm talking about those individuals who would never want to testify. Within thirty minutes of online research tor refresh my memory, I could come up with a dozen names of almost certain insiders that have been known (at least to those who have been in this field for a long time) for many years.
Kirkpatrick and others have always used the extraterrestrial term as an escape route.
Think about it...Technically, even a being who claims it's extraterrestrial could be lying.
Or if it says nothing, who really knows? Could be crypto, could be time traveler, could be consciousness trickster...
No one talks about this enough, but again, it's the governments escape route. Has been for decades.