23.06.2021
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Expert says world must push for investigations after ‘disturbing’ UFO report
A FORMER military official is joining the ranks of those calling for deeper investigations into the “disturbing” UFO sightings detailed in the Pentagon’s report.
Nick Pope, a former official at the Ministry of Defence, told The Sun that the report’s leaked conclusions are “intriguing and disturbing”.
He also called for the US and Britain to look into the possibility that the UFO sightings could be attributable to hypersonic technology testing by China and Russia, and to “assess the current level of technology these nations possess when it comes to aircraft, missiles, and drones.”
Intelligence officials briefed on the Pentagon report said that they have found “no evidence” that the flying objects are alien spacecraft, but their source remains unknown.
A classified version of the highly-anticipated Pentagon report was made available to senior administration officials on Thursday.
A declassified version is expected to be released to Congress by June 25, which is expected to contain everything the US Government knows about UAPs, The Washington Post reports.
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UFO EXPERT CITES CORRELATION BETWEEN UFO’S AND NUCLEAR POWER
Gary Heseltine, the vice president of the new International Coalition for Extraterrestrial Research (ICER), told The Sun Online there is a common correlation between UFO sightings and the world’s nuclear capabilities – and said the strange encounters could be an attempt to send humanity a message.
“There is a massive correlation between UFOs being seen near nuclear facilities, whether it’s nuclear aircraft carriers, nuclear submarines, nuclear weapon storage areas, power plants,” Mr Heseltine said.
“This would seem to indicate that it’s as if they’re saying ‘we don’t like nuclear weapons’ so they show up.
“Maybe they realise we could destroy this beautiful planet.”
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EXPERT SAYS INVESTIGATIONS INTO UFOs NEED TO BE RAMPED UP
The world must ramp up its investigations into UFOs as the Pentagon’s “disturbing” report appears unable to rule out that foreign hypersonic technology could be behind the sightings, an expert claims.
Intelligence officials cannot explain what dozens of reported sightings are but have appeared to rule out that the vast majority were not American military or other government technology.
The report is likely to conclude that the sightings do not show evidence of alien spacecraft, according to the New York Times.
Skeptics within the UFO community think the aerial phenomena could’ve been sent by Russia or China amid fears that Moscow may have ramped up their testing of hypersonic technology.
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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENCE WAS REQUIRED TO PRODUCE A REPORT ABOUT AERIAL PHENOMENA
In December 2020, legislation passed by Congress required the Department of Defense and the National Intelligence Director to produce a report about “Unidentified Aerial Phenomena” within six months.
The request came after revelations in 2017 that the Pentagon was researching a series of unexplained intrusions into military airspace, including mysterious objects captured on video stalking US Navy ships.
Steve Bassett, the executive director of the Paradigm Research Group, previously told The Sun the release of information about extra-terrestrial encounters may be the “most profound” moment in the history of mankind.
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MYSTERIOUS FLYING OBJECTS WAS PREVIOUSLY REPORTED
Over recent months, several clips of classified Navy footage have been released that show mysterious flying objects hovering around military ships.
Most recently, footage emerged that showed a UFO buzzing around a US stealth ship near San Diego in 2004.
Commander Dave Fravor and Lt. Commander Alex Dietrich recalled the moment they saw an “unsettling” UFO that looked like a “Tic-Tac”.
The pilots were training with a strike group flying over the Pacific Ocean when they saw the strange object.
And, an unusual orb was also caught stalking the USS Omaha in July 2019
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WHAT DOES BARACK OBAMA THINK OF UFOs?
Barack Obama spoke about UFOs on The Late Late Show With James Corden last month.
He said: “What is true, and I’m actually being serious here, is that there is footage and records of objects in the skies that we don’t know exactly what they are.”
The former president said that “new religions would pop up” if alien life was confirmed.
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PREVIOUS UFOS SPOTTED CONTAINS ADVANCED TECH
Retired US Navy Chief Master-at-Arms, Sean Cahil, recently warned that the UFOs spotted likely possess technology that the US could not defend itself against.
He told CNN: “The technology that we witnessed with the Tic-Tac was something we would not have been able to defend our forces against at the time.
An unclassified version of the findings is set to be released to Congress by June 25.
The report is expected to contain everything the Government knows about “Unidentified Aerial Phenomena”.
It will examine if UAPs constitute a threat to US airspace, according to Deadline.
It’s expected that recommendations for further UFO research and funding will be included within the dossier.
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SENATOR SAYS THE UFO REPORT SHOULD BE INITIAL EFFORT TO LOOK INTO FLYING OBJECTS
Senator Marco Rubio said the government report should be only the beginning of the US effort to look into mysterious flying objects.
He said: “Men and women we have entrusted with the defense of our country are reporting encounters with unidentified aircraft with superior capabilities.
“We cannot allow the stigma of UFOs to keep us from seriously investigating this. The forthcoming report is one step in that process, but it will not be the last.”
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A “NEW” COLD WAR IS UNDERWAY, CONSULTANT SAYS
Dr. David Clarke, who was a consultant for the release of the MOD’s UFO files at the National Archives between 2008-13, says a “new” Cold War is already underway.
He told The Sun: “They [hypersonic drones and unmanned aerial vehicles] are exactly what a lot of these things that can’t be explained clearly are.
“There’s a new Cold War being fought undercover that’s not receiving a lot of attention. The Chinese and Russians and Americans have developed some incredible technology – almost sort of science-fiction-like.
“We’re not talking about the fighter jets that used to dominate everything in the Cold War. The new Cold War is unmanned aerial vehicles.”
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UFO REPORT DESCRIBED AS “INTRIGUING”
Nick Pope, a former official at the Ministry of Defence, branded the report’s leaked conclusions “intriguing and disturbing”.
He told The Sun: “The possibility that some of what’s been going on might be attributable to Russia or China is disturbing.”
“[The] US and British spy chiefs need to step up their efforts to assess the current level of technology these nations possess when it comes to aircraft, missiles, and drones – particularly with regard to hypersonic technology,” Pope added.
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SIGHTINGS DON’T SHOW EVIDENCE OF ALIEN SPACECRAFT
Intelligence officials cannot explain what dozens of reported sightings are but have appeared to rule out that the vast majority were not American military or other government technology.
The report is likely to conclude that the sightings do not show evidence of alien spacecraft, according to the New York Times.
Skeptics within the UFO community think the aerial phenomena could’ve been sent by Russia or China amid fears that Moscow may have ramped up their testing of hypersonic technology.
Officials fear the US will be lagging behind its rivals as hypersonic missiles can travel about 4,000 miles per hour – making them almost impossible to intercept, MailOnline reports.
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WHAT IS THE ‘TIC-TAC’ VIDEO?
The Tic-Tac UFO video shows an unidentified object being pursued by fighter planes.
And, numerous San Diego-based US warships were reportedly visited by strange vessels from above.
The USS Kidd, a Navy destroyer, was using night vision cameras and spotted several mysterious flashing objects in the skies, according to footage the Pentagon revealed to The Sun.
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OBAMA SAYS UFO SIGHTINGS COULD SPARK ‘NEW RELIGIONS’
Obama was questioned about whether he believes undeniable proof of aliens would change his politics during a podcast interview with The Ezra Klein show this week.
“New religions would pop up,” the former president said should alien life be confirmed.
“But no doubt there would be immediate arguments about like, well, we need to spend a lot more money on weapons systems to defend ourselves.
“And who knows what kind of arguments we get into,” the former president added.
“We’re good at manufacturing arguments for each other.”
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WHEN WILL THE UNCLASSIFIED REPORT COME OUT?
It’s thought that the unclassified document could arrive as early as June 1.
It will examine if unidentified aerial phenomena constitute a threat to US airspace, Deadline reports.
The report is unlikely to conclude that highly advanced extraterrestrials are the cause but it may not rule them out.
It’s expected that recommendations for further UFO research and funding will be included within the dossier.
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PENTAGON SPOKESPERSON CONFIRMS UFO VIDEOS
Pentagon spokesperson Susan Gough said of US Navy UFO videos: “I can confirm that the referenced photos and videos were taken by Navy personnel.
“The UAPTF has included these incidents in their ongoing examinations.
“As we have said before, to maintain operations security and to avoid disclosing information that may be useful to potential adversaries, DOD does not discuss publicly the details of either the observations or the examinations of reported incursions into our training ranges or designated airspace, including those incursions initially designated as UAP.”
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US NAVY FILMED UFO’S IN SHOCKING FOOTAGE
Startling footage captured by a US Navy destroyer using night vision cameras appears to show several mysterious flashing objects in the skies.
The film was leaked to Jeremy Corbell, a film director in the US, who made the documentary Bob Lazar: Area 51 & Flying Saucers, and George Knapp, a Las Vegas KLAS TV news anchor.
Pentagon officials also confirmed the images were taken by US Navy personnel – but did not comment on the nature of the footage.
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WHAT IS THE ‘TIC-TAC’ VIDEO?
Pentagon officials last year took the unprecedented step to release a trio of remarkable videos which showed “encounters” with UFOs.
Perhaps the most striking was a video known as the “Tic Tac.”
Commander Dave Fravor and Lt. Commander Alex Dietrich were training with a strike group approximately 100 miles southwest of San Diego.
They were each flying F/A-18F fighter aircraft when they said they saw an anomalous object flying in their vicinity.
Dietrich said: “It was unidentified, and that’s why it was so unsettling to us because we weren’t expecting it. We couldn’t classify it.”
And, numerous San Diego-based US warships were reportedly visited by strange vessels from above.
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WHY DID CONGRESS REQUEST THE REPORT?
Back in December 2020, legislation passed by Congress required the Department of Defense and the National Intelligence Director to produce a report about “Unidentified Aerial Phenomena” within six months.
The unclassified report is expected to be released in June, 2021.
The request came after revelations in 2017 that the Pentagon was researching a series of unexplained intrusions into military airspace, including mysterious objects captured on video stalking US Navy ships.
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WHAT WILL BE IN THE UNCLASSIFIED REPORT?
The unclassified report is expected to contain everything the Government knows about “Unidentified Aerial Phenomena.”
It will examine if UAPs constitute a threat to US airspace, according to Deadline.
It’s expected that recommendations for further UFO research and funding will be included within the dossier.
Pentagon officials last year took the unprecedented step to release a trio of remarkable videos which showed “encounters” with UFOs.
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ARE UFO’S COMING FROM UNDER THE SEA?
Gary Heseltine, the vice president of the new International Coalition for Extraterrestrial Research (ICER), told The Sun Online recent videos showing encounters between the US Navy and UFOs along with a Pentagon investigation are game changers that pave the way to finally explain the unexplained.
“UFOs are often seen coming in and out of water so suspect that in our deepest oceans and trenches we may well have alien bases,” Mr Heseltine said.
“That sounds crazy but if you think about it we only know 5 per cent of ocean, we know more about the surface of the moon or Mars than our own oceans – so that would seem to me why UFOs are seen regularly coming in and out of water.”
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REPORT DOES NOT RULE OUT ALIEN SPACECRAFT
The report does rule out any alien spacecraft, the Times reported.
Those who worked closely with the report told the Times the majority of the 120 sightings made by members of the US Navy over a span of the last 20 years were not American military or other government technology.
The majority of the report will be presented publicly to Congress on June 25.
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PILOT WHO SAW UFO FELT ‘THREATENED’
Lt. Commander Alex Dietrich was training with a strike group approximately 100 miles south-west of San Diego when she and another pilot spotted the mysterious object.
The former fighter pilot said she felt under threat from the mysterious object.
“I felt the vulnerability of not having anything to defend ourselves. And then I felt confused when it disappeared,” she said.
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REPORT MAY NOT SATISFY UFO FANS
Sources told ABC News the highly-anticipated report may not satisfy UFO aficionados.
“The protection of methodologies is an important part of how the UAP Task Force operates.
“This is an intelligence-driven effort, and in intelligence matters, you always try to protect the sources and methods used in order to prevent potential adversaries from getting an idea of how we learn things.”
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WHEN WILL THE UNCLASSIFIED REPORT BE PRESENTED?
US intelligence agencies will present the unclassified UAP report to Congress on June 29, within the 180-day deadline laid out legislation in effect from January 1.
The memo is being prepared by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the UAP Task Force, which was established last September to probe military encounters with UAPs.
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IS HYPERSONIC TECHNOLOGY BEHIND UFO SIGHTINGS?
Skeptics within the UFO community think the aerial phenomena could’ve been sent by Russia or China amid fears that Moscow may have ramped up their testing of hypersonic technology.
Officials fear the US will be lagging behind its rivals as hypersonic missiles can travel about 4,000 miles per hour – making them almost impossible to intercept, MailOnline reports.
Nick Pope, a former official at the Ministry of Defence, branded the report’s leaked conclusions “intriguing and disturbing”.
He told The Sun: “The possibility that some of what’s been going on might be attributable to Russia or China is disturbing, and US and British spy chiefs need to step up their efforts to assess the current level of technology these nations possess when it comes to aircraft, missiles, and drones – particularly with regard to hypersonic technology.”
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UFO MEMO RELEASE COULD BE ‘MOST PROFOUND’ MOMENT IN HUMANITY’S HISTORY
Steve Bassett, the executive director of the Paradigm Research Group, previously told The Sun the release of information about extra-terrestrial encounters may be the “most profound” moment in the history of mankind.
Back in December 2020, legislation passed by Congress required the Department of Defense and the National Intelligence Director to produce a report about “Unidentified Aerial Phenomena” within six months.
The request came after revelations in 2017 that the Pentagon was researching a series of unexplained intrusions into military airspace, including mysterious objects captured on video stalking US Navy ships.
- Quelle: Times News Express
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Update: 24.06.2021
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UFO astronomer Nick Santsev colliding with Earth: “I seriously suspect they are so careless.”
At least one expert is skeptical, as the public is eagerly awaiting US government reports containing declassified information about alleged UFO encounters.
Astronomer Nick Santsev of Texas A & M University has been involved in space research for almost 50 years, and the report includes evidence that the UFO alternative, an unidentified flying object (UAP), has been “clearly resolved.” I suspect it may be.
“Most UAP images and videos are usually out of focus,” Santsev added in a recent college announcement, adding that “it’s not optimistic that there is extraordinary evidence that there is no natural explanation for what is seen.” No, “he said.
Nick Suntzeff, an astronomer at the University of Texas A & M, states that most “evidence” of UFOs can be explained by out-of-focus cameras and witnesses who misjudgment the size and speed of objects. Photo: A still image of a video released in May 2021 that shows a UFO making a humming noise on a US stealth ship near San Diego.
In a question and answer session with Texas A & M, Santsev discussed footage of the “Triangle” UAP posted online and confirmed by the Navy in April, stating that other objects in the video would also appear as triangles.
“This means that the camera was out of focus and there was a camera pupil. [shutter] It was a triangle, “said Santsev. “This is an out-of-focus video taken with an infrared camera.”
Expert analysis has also shown that additional objects reflect the position of stars near Jupiter and Taurus, Suntzeff said.
“Also, this UFO flashes like a commercial aircraft,” he added. “It was shot off the coast of Los Angeles, where there is a lot of air traffic.”
In many cases, it is the planet Venus that glitters in the night sky that the excited audience swears to be a UFO. Photo: Image labeled “Gimbal” from a 2015 Pentagon video. It shows that an unexplained object is high in the clouds.
Santsev criticized the Navy for not confirming with astronomers before releasing the video. Because I was able to quickly show that this was an out-of-focus image.
Another viral video from UAP from 2004 shows what a former Navy pilot Cmdr is. David Flavor called it a “white tic tac” that violates the laws of physics.
“The problem here is that you don’t know how far it is,” Santsev said. “If it was on the sea, the apparent movement is likely to be due to an airplane rather than an object.” A phenomenon called parallax.
“You can often find an answer like this,” Suntzeff said of the alleged alien spacecraft.
“Often there is a simple but boring answer.”
Even military personnel report that UFOs are of a certain size and are moving at a certain speed, but “if you don’t know what an object is, know how far it is or how big it is. You can’t, “Suntzeff said.
Astronomer Nick Santsev of the University of Texas A & M suspects that the government’s imminent UFO report may “clearly resolve” the existence of extraterrestrials or spacecraft.
In many cases, he said, the excited audience swore to be a UFO only on the planet Venus, which glitters in the night sky.
He also doesn’t believe much in the long-standing conspiracy theory that the US government has a spaceship that collided with Earth on the ice in Area 51, and even the bodies of aliens.
“If so, this is the best secret ever,” Santsev said. “Our government isn’t good at keeping secrets, and this can be a nuisance.”
And intelligent civilizations that could travel thousands of light-years to Earth do more than just hit rockets, he added. “I seriously suspect they would be so careless if they could travel that distance.”
Suntzeff, who graduated with a degree in mathematics from Stanford University, where he built the school’s student observatory, earned a PhD. Majored in Astronomy and Astrophysics at the University of California, Santa Cruz.
In the 1980s, he worked at the University of Washington’s Faculty of Astronomy and the Carnegie Science Center Observatory, where he moved to Chile to do groundbreaking research on supernovae.
Most recently, he was Deputy Director of Science at the National Optical Observatory of the United States and Vice President of the American Astronomical Society.
‘Tic Tac’ UFO: On November 14, 2004, a U.S. Navy pilot made visual contact with an object.
On November 14, 2004, at least six Super Hornet pilots made visual or instrumental contact with the UFO.
The encounter documented in numerous interviews with direct witnesses remained a mystery, and the incredible speed and movement of the object led to speculation that it was of extraterrestrial origin.
The original FLIR video from the USS Nimitz encounter was leaked online as early as 2007.
According to witnesses, video clips were widely distributed on the Navy’s intranet and used to communicate between carrier group vessels. An unknown sailor in the group may have leaked it first.
When the Pentagon confirmed its authenticity in 2017, the clip became one of the most advertised evidence in the UFO community.
In January, former Navy aviator Chad Underwood, who shot the famous leaked video clip, broke silence in an interview with New York Magazine.
Former Navy aviator Chad Underwood, who shot the famous leaked video clip, broke silence in an interview with New York Magazine in January.
He said a rectangular wingless “Tic Tac” -shaped object was found off the coast of Mexico above the Pacific Ocean.
He also revealed that the Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruiser USS Princeton, part of the aircraft carrier Strike Group 11, was intermittently tracking mysterious aircraft with advanced AN / SPY-1B passive radar for about two weeks. I made it.
The radar contact was so unexplained that I shut down and restarted the system and checked for bugs, but the operator continued to track the unknown aircraft.
Then on November 14, Commander David Flavor says he was flying on the F / A-18F Super Hornet. The object appeared to disappear when it went underwater, surfaced, and tried to approach it. It.
When Flavor landed on Nimitz’s deck, Underwood was preparing to take off on his own training run.
Flavor talked to Underwood about the strange encounter and urged Underwood to keep his eyes open.
He remembers how he suddenly saw Blip on radar before tracking it with a FLIR camera.
Underwood was flying on the F / A-18F Super Hornet as part of the USS Nimitz (above) aircraft carrier group when he encountered an “unidentified aerial phenomenon.”
“The most noticeable thing for me was how unstable it was,” Underwood told the magazine.
“And I mean’unstable’that the changes in altitude, airspeed, and aspect were quite different from what I had ever encountered before flying against other aerial targets. Means “
Underwood said the object did not follow the laws of physics and descended from an altitude of 50,000 feet to 100 feet in seconds, “impossible.” He added that there were no signs of engine heat plume or propulsion.
However, the pilot refuses to guess if the object is an alien spacecraft.
“It’s not my job, but I saw something, and it also, through my eyes, both my commander, Dave Flavor, and the commander of the Marine Corps Hornet Squadron there. Was seen by.
Sanzev cannot rule out that our planet was visited by creatures from other planets. “But we need clear evidence,” he said. ‘For example, a clear photo. So far, there is no such evidence. “
The Director of National Intelligence must submit the report by June 25. This report will be open to the public.
A May poll found that nearly two-thirds of all Americans believed that extraterrestrial life was present, and that the US government did not tell the complete truth to the public.
In April 2020, the Pentagon declassified three videos previously recognized as genuine by the Navy, capturing what pilots recorded on video sensors during training flights in 2004 and 2015.
The two clips were first published by the New York Times in 2017, and the third by To The Stars Academy, a group specializing in unexplained phenomena founded by Blink-182 guitarist Tom DeLonge in 2018. ..
UFO astronomer Nick Santsev colliding with Earth: “I seriously suspect they are so careless.”
Source link UFO astronomer Nick Santsev colliding with Earth: “I seriously suspect they are so careless.”
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What to Expect From Pentagon's UFO Report
Congress late last year instructed the director of national intelligence to provide “a detailed analysis of unidentified aerial phenomena data” from multiple agencies
The blob, captured on distant, fuzzy video by Navy pilots, seems to skitter just above the ocean waves at improbable speed, with no discernible means of propulsion or lift. “Oh my gosh, man,” one aviator says to another as they laugh at the oddity. “What ... is it?”
Is it a bird? A plane? Super drone? An extraterrestrial something?
The U.S. government has been taking a hard look at unidentified flying objects like this one. A report summarizing what the U.S. knows about “unidentified aerial phenomena” — better known as UFOs — is expected to be made public as early as Friday.
There won't be an alien unmasking. Two officials briefed on the report say it found no extraterrestrial link to the sightings reported and captured on video. The report won't rule out a link to another country, according to the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to discuss it.
While the broad conclusions have now been reported, the full report may still present a broader picture of what the government knows. The anticipation surrounding the report shows how a topic normally confined to science fiction and a small, often dismissed group of researchers has hit the mainstream.
Worried about national security threats from adversaries, lawmakers ordered an investigation and public accounting of phenomena that the government has been loath to talk about for generations.
“There is stuff flying in our airspace,” Republican Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, one of the senators who pressed for the probe, recently told Fox News. “We don't know what it is. We need to find out.”
Congress late last year instructed the director of national intelligence to provide “a detailed analysis of unidentified aerial phenomena data” from multiple agencies and report in 180 days. That time is about up. The intelligence office wouldn't say this past week when the full document will be out.
The bill passed by Congress asks the intelligence director for “any incidents or patterns that indicate a potential adversary may have achieved breakthrough aerospace capabilities that could put United States strategic or conventional forces at risk.”
The chief concern is whether hostile countries are fielding aerial technology so advanced and weird that it befuddles and threatens the world's largest military power. But when lawmakers talk about it, they tend to leave themselves a little wiggle room in case it's something else — whether more prosaic than a military rival or, you know, more cosmic.
“Right now there are a lot of unanswered questions,” Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff of California told NBC earlier this month. "If other nations have capabilities that we don’t know of, we want to find out. If there's some explanation other than that, we want to learn that, too.”
Luis Elizondo, former head of the Pentagon's Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program, said he didn't believe that the sightings were of a foreign power's technology in part because it would have been nearly impossible to keep that secret. Elizondo has accused the Defense Department of trying to discredit him and says there's much more information that the U.S. has kept classified.
“We live in an incredible universe,” Elizondo said. “There’s all sorts of hypotheses that suggest that the three dimensional universe which we live in isn’t quite so easy to explain.”
But Michael Shermer, editor of Skeptic magazine, is skeptical.
The science historian, a longtime analyst of UFO theories and other phenomena, said he’s seen too many blurry images of supposed alien encounters to be convinced by still more blurry footage of blobs from airplanes. This is a time, he notes, when several billion people worldwide have smartphones that take crisp images and satellites precisely render detail on the ground.
“Show me the body, show me the spacecraft, or show me the really high quality videos and photographs,” he said in an interview. “And I’ll believe.”
Mick West, a prominent researcher of unexplained phenomena and debunker of conspiracy theories, said it was right for the government to investigate and report on the potential national security implications of sightings captured in now-declassified videos.
ouldn’t identify.
One was the video clip of the aviators tracking the blob above the ocean off the U.S. coast in 2015, dubbed Gofast. In another from that year, labeled Gimbal, an unexplained object is tracked as it soars high along the clouds, traveling against the wind. “There's a whole fleet of them,” one naval aviator tells another, though only one indistinct object is shown. “It's rotating.”
In 2019, the Navy announced it would create a formal process for its pilots to report unidentified aerial phenomena, or UAPs. Last August, the Defense Department created a task force dedicated to the matter. The mission was to “detect, analyze and catalog UAPs” that could endanger the U.S.
In an era of increasingly sophisticated drone aircraft, now seen as a risk to sensitive domestic military sites such as nuclear missile bases, the focus has been more on foreign rivals than on any supposed visitors from another planet. Yet the formation of the task force stood as a rare acknowledgment from the government that UFOs posed a potential national security concern.
More recently, a story on CBS’ “60 Minutes” featured the declassified videos and raised questions about what intelligence the U.S. government has.
Rubio, top Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee and its former chairman, said it is important for investigators to follow up on the reports of its pilots and make the findings public. “I am going off what our military men and their radars and their eyesight is telling them,” Rubio said. “There are multiple highly trained, highly competent people."
Yet things in the sky are very often not what they seem. Shermer rattles off examples of how phenomena that appear otherworldly may be tediously of this Earth.
“Ninety to 95% of all UFO sightings," he said, “can be explained as weather balloons, flares, sky lanterns, planes flying in formation, secret military aircraft, birds reflecting the sun, planes reflecting the sun, blimps, helicopters, the planets Venus or Mars, meteors or meteorite space junk, satellites, swamp gas ... ball lightning, ice crystals reflecting light off clouds, lights on the ground or lights reflected on a cockpit window, temperature inversions, punch clouds.”
“For any of these things to be real, we need something more than these grainy videos and blurry photographs,” he said.
"We need really some hard evidence, extraordinary evidence, because this would be one of the most extraordinary claims ever if it was true.”
Still, in the city of Roswell, the site of the 1947 crash, UFO enthusiasts and city leaders are eagerly awaiting the report's release, hoping it sparks tourism in town that's been grappling with the pandemic economy.
“We are anxiously awaiting what the report says,” said Juanita Jennings, the city’s public affairs director. “And I believe most of the visitors that we see come through Roswell are also anxiously awaiting, because we have visitors that come here from all over the world.”