The highly-anticipated Pentagon investigation into countless UFO sightings by U.S. Navy personnel, going back as far as 2004, is finally here. Sadly, it hardly offers any answers and only raises more questions.
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence has unclassified the report, a 9-page briefing that sums up the findings of an investigation into 144 sightings of UAPs (unidentified aerial phenomena, or UFOs, as us regular folks call them). You can find the full report at the bottom of the page, but you’d better be prepared for severe disappointment, if you go into it expecting light to shine brightly on troubling questions.
There is no answer for all these questions, just more questions. Of the 144 sightings, the report only offers a clear explanation for one: it was a deflating balloon. The other 143 UAPs remain unidentified and could have been anything from misreports, sensor errors or actual sightings of aircraft belonging to secret U.S. entities or third-party nations, like Russia or China. In other words, any one of those theories thrown into conversation until now could still be true.
The word “alien” doesn’t appear in the report, and that’s not unexpected. A senior U.S. official tells CNN that the investigation did not lead to the conclusion that the UAPs, despite the strange flight patterns and behaviors, were of extraterrestrial origin. That said, officials will “go wherever the data takes [them].”
While the investigation did not provide any satisfying answers, its merit lies in establishing that the UAPs caught on camera are “physical objects.” Whether alien or earth-made, these are aircraft that can apparently defy the law of physics, are transmedium capable, and can avoid all types of detection by U.S. Navy equipment. As such, they pose a national security and safety risk, and should be investigated further.
The report further outlines steps towards better documentation and investigation of such sightings in the future. The Pentagon has said that the study of UFOs (UAPs) will be formalized, through the creation of a formal mission for the UAP Task Force (UAPTF).
There is no answer for all these questions, just more questions. Of the 144 sightings, the report only offers a clear explanation for one: it was a deflating balloon. The other 143 UAPs remain unidentified and could have been anything from misreports, sensor errors or actual sightings of aircraft belonging to secret U.S. entities or third-party nations, like Russia or China. In other words, any one of those theories thrown into conversation until now could still be true.
The word “alien” doesn’t appear in the report, and that’s not unexpected. A senior U.S. official tells CNN that the investigation did not lead to the conclusion that the UAPs, despite the strange flight patterns and behaviors, were of extraterrestrial origin. That said, officials will “go wherever the data takes [them].”
While the investigation did not provide any satisfying answers, its merit lies in establishing that the UAPs caught on camera are “physical objects.” Whether alien or earth-made, these are aircraft that can apparently defy the law of physics, are transmedium capable, and can avoid all types of detection by U.S. Navy equipment. As such, they pose a national security and safety risk, and should be investigated further.
The report further outlines steps towards better documentation and investigation of such sightings in the future. The Pentagon has said that the study of UFOs (UAPs) will be formalized, through the creation of a formal mission for the UAP Task Force (UAPTF).