Topline
A new U.S. intelligence office tasked with investigating UFOs reviewed hundreds of new instances of sightings over the past two years, many of which remain unexplained and pose a potential threat to national security, according to a report released Thursday.
UFO sightings reported by the U.S. military have increased significantly, according to a new report.
Key Facts
The report from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence said 247 new sightings have been flagged since March 2021—the cut-off date for an earlier report—while 119 additional sightings from before March 2021 have also been investigated.
This brings the total number of cases the intelligence community has reviewed over the past few years to 510—a significant spike from the 144 they had investigated before March 2021.
Many of the newly reported sightings were explained by balloons, drones or “clutter” such as birds or plastic bags, but 171 were marked “uncharacterized and unattributed.”
The report primarily credits “a concentrated effort to destigmatize the topic” of UFOs for the massive spike in sightings, along with increased awareness that UFO encounters may pose risks as both a “flight hazard and potential adversarial activity.”
Most of the new sightings came from military pilots or operators, according to the report.
What We Don’t Know
The report did not speculate what the unidentified UFOs might be, but a preliminary 2021 report named several potential sources, including clutter, advanced foreign technology and secret U.S. technology, along with a broad category of “other” causes. There is no evidence the origin is extraterrestrial.
Key Background
UFO research for years was considered a fringe area of study at best, with most academics and much of the general public regarding it as a form of pseudoscience. But the stigma has died down recently, especially as anecdotal reports of unexplained sightings by members of the military led lawmakers of both major parties to label the issue a national security concern. The All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office was established last year under the National Defense Authorization Act with the goal of studying UFOs and identifying potential risks, succeeding the Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force of the Office of Naval Intelligence. The legislation also requires the new office to review records dating back to 1945 to determine whether any federal government or contractor UFO programs existed that may have shielded information from Congress and the White House.
What To Watch For
NASA launched its own UFO study last year. Its report is due to be released in July.
Further Reading
NASA Launches Study On UFOs (Forbes)
Year Of The UFO Continues: Pentagon Launches Program To Investigate Sightings (Forbes)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/nicholasreimann/2023/01/12/ufo-sightings-just-skyrocketed-feds-say-heres-why/