A string of UFO sightings by military personnel remain largely unexplained but could involve “breakthrough technologies” that pose a serious threat to U.S. national security, and much more data must be collected before any firm conclusions can be reached, the federal government said in a highly anticipated report released Friday.
The study by the Pentagon and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) is the most comprehensive government look at UFOs — referred to in the report as “unidentified aerial phenomena,” or UAP — in decades, though it hardly offers the concrete answers that many lawmakers, scientific researchers and paranormal enthusiasts had hoped for. The report also reportedly contains a classified portion that was delivered to Congress Friday afternoon. Lawmakers of both parties praised the fact that the government had conducted a serious investigation, but they stressed that it is “inconclusive” and that much more work must be done.
In the unclassified materials posted online by the ODNI, the government says that the dozens of UFO reports examined may have a host of explanations, ranging from airborne clutter to natural phenomena or perhaps “foreign adversary systems” such as high-tech weapons or aircraft fielded by China or Russia.
The study does not offer a firm conclusion on whether the unidentified craft could be of extraterrestrial origin and groups some of the UFO sightings into a category dubbed “other.” The government says it may require “additional scientific knowledge” to explain some of the objects in that category — an admission that surely will fuel rampant speculation among those who believe some of the craft are piloted by alien beings.
The study’s major takeaway, however, is that there are many more questions than answers.
“The limited amount of high-quality reporting on unidentified aerial phenomena hampers our ability to draw firm conclusions about the nature or intent of UAP,” the study reads.
“UAP clearly pose a safety of flight issue and may pose a challenge to U.S. national security,” it continues. “Safety concerns primarily center on aviators contending with an increasingly cluttered air domain. UAP would also represent a national security challenge if they are foreign adversary collection platforms or provide evidence a potential adversary has developed either a breakthrough or disruptive technology.”
The Pentagon quickly announced plans to streamline the collection and organization of data related to UFOs in the hopes of offering a clearer picture in the future.
“This plan will be developed in coordination with various DoD components, including the military departments and the combatant commands, and with ODNI and other interagency partners,” Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said. “The plan will establish procedures for synchronizing collection, reporting and analysis of UAP; provide recommendations for securing military test and training ranges; and identify requirements for the establishment and operation of a new follow-on DoD activity to lead the effort, including its alignment, resources, staffing, authorities, and a timeline for implementation.”
Pentagon officials echoed ODNI leaders in saying that some of the UAP may represent a serious national security threat. Indeed, the report says there is not an immediate explanation for some of the technologies that have been seen by U.S. personnel.
“Additional rigorous analyses are necessary by multiple teams or groups of technical experts to determine the nature and validity of these data. We are conducting further analysis to determine if breakthrough technologies were demonstrated,” the report says.
‘A first step’
Government researchers examined 144 UFO reports. Of those, 143 remain completely or partially unexplained. One reported UFO was determined to be a “large, deflating balloon,” the report said. They theorized that others could be birds, recreational drones, ice crystals, thermal fluctuations, or even simple plastic bags floating in the sky.
The release of the study follows public pressure by Congress and by a host of outside organizations that urged the most secretive arms of the federal government — most notably, the Defense Department and intelligence agencies — to reveal what they know about UFOs and the potential national security threats they might pose.
Last year, the Pentagon announced the formation of its Unidentified Aerial Phenomena [UAP] Task Force, designed to “detect, analyze and catalog UAPs that could potentially pose a threat to U.S. national security.” The public disclosure of that task force came on the heels of several leaked Navy videos showing military personnel encounters with unidentified craft.
The most recent footage, captured in 2019 by the USS Omaha, seems to show an unidentified object disappearing into the waters off the coast of California. The report examined that and a host of other alleged UFO sightings.
Key lawmakers said the study is a “first step” but by no means by the end of the story.
“For years, the men and women we trust to defend our country reported encounters with unidentified aircraft that had superior capabilities, and for years their concerns were often ignored and ridiculed,” said Sen. Marco Rubio, a Florida Republican who has been outspoken in pushing the government to release more information on UFOs.
“This report is an important first step in cataloging these incidents, but it is just a first step,” he said in a statement Friday. “The Defense Department and intelligence community have a lot of work to do before we can actually understand whether these aerial threats present a serious national security concern.”
Sen. Mark Warner, Virginia Democrat and chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said Friday’s report is merely the beginning.
“I was first briefed on these unidentified aerial phenomena nearly three years ago. Since then, the frequency of these incidents only appears to be increasing,” he said. “The United States must be able to understand and mitigate threats to our pilots, whether they’re from drones or weather balloons or adversary intelligence capabilities. Today’s rather inconclusive report only marks the beginning of efforts to understand and illuminate what is causing these risks to aviation in many areas around the country and the world.”