Pentagon officials say there have been more than 20 UFO sightings in a 12-month period that need further analysis.
While the majority of reports were explained away by everyday objects, some have left officials stumped.
But don’t get too excited – this doesn’t mean an alien invasion is close by.
The findings were published in a report a day after US officials took to Congress for the second-ever ‘unidentified aerial phenomenon’ (UAP) hearing.
The term UAP is now used in place of UFO in an attempt to remove stigma and is popular among government officials.
People mistook satellites and birds for UFOs (Planet Observer/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
In 2022, the Pentagon created the All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) to track UAP reports.
The Pentagon’s new review covered 757 cases from around the world that were reported to US authorities from May 1 2023, to June 1 2024.
The great majority of the reported incidents occurred in airspace, but 49 occurred at altitudes estimated to be at least 100 kilometres (62 miles), which is considered space.
The total includes 272 incidents that occurred before that time period but had not been previously reported.
Among these reports are 21 that AARO director Jon Kosloski said are ‘true anomalies’ and warrant further investigation.
Signs of extraterrestrial life is yet to be found, the report claims (KTSDesign/Science Photo Library/Getty Images)
Although experts said there is no indication any of the cases they looked into have unearthly origins.
“It is important to underscore that, to date, AARO has discovered no evidence of extraterrestrial beings, activity, or technology,” the authors of the report explained.
The explanations for those that have been identified, though, would certainly burst any conspiracy theorist’s bubble.
Investigators found explanations for nearly 300 UAP sightings, and in many cases, the unknown objects were found to be balloons, birds, aircraft, drones or satellites.
How boring!
People have been mistaking twinkling chains of satellites in the night sky for UFOs, with people taking to Reddit over the years to discuss their sightings.
The almost 7,000 small satellites are positioned just 340 miles above the Earth’s surface level – so it’s no wonder they’re so easily spotted.
Starlink uses small low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites to beam high-speed internet access to customers across 100 countries, including the US, UK and Australia.
SpaceX said it hopes to have more than 40,000 LEO satellites in orbit.
The headquarters of the United States Department of Defense, along with several other national security agencies, will be questioned by the House Intelligence Committee’s Counterterrorism, Counterintelligence, and Counterproliferation Subcommittee.
The public hearing, which is the first on alien life in more than 50 years, aims to find answers on reports of mysterious aircrafts violating protected airspace.
Pixabay
Panel chair Representative André Carson said in a statement ahead of the session: “The American people expect and deserve their leaders in government and intelligence to seriously evaluate and respond to any potential national security risks — especially those we do not fully understand.
“Since coming to Congress, I’ve been focused on the issue of unidentified aerial phenomena as both a national security threat and an interest of great importance to the American public.”
Congressman Adam Schiff, chairman of the US intelligence committee, said: “This will give the public an opportunity to hear directly from leaders in the intelligence community on one of the greatest mysteries of our time.”
He added that the hearing would ‘break the cycle of excessive secrecy and speculation with truth and transparency’.
Pixabay
The Pentagon’s top intelligence official, Ronald Moultrie, is set to testify before the panel alongside Scott Bray, the deputy director of naval intelligence.
The hearing comes five months after the National Defense Authorisation Act required the military to establish a permanent UFO research office and take a series of other steps to collect and investigate reports of ‘unidentified aerial phenomena’.
The US released a report in June 2021 cataloguing 144 cases of ‘unidentified aerial phenomena’ (UAP) over the past 17 years, 18 in which observers ‘reported unusual UAP movement patterns or flight characteristics’.
In 2017, America’s very own X-Files-esque team was revealed by The New York Times: up until 2012, $22 million in defence funding went to the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP).
Three years later, amid leaks and speculation, the Pentagon officially released three declassified videos of UFOs – no aliens, but an emphasis on ‘unidentified’.
Meanwhile, it is reported that more than 250 extra-terrestrials are believed to have visited Britain in 2021, according to the Daily Star.
The British UFO Research Association [BUFORA] alleged that there were 259 ‘alien’ sightings last year and included claims of ‘unexplained phenomena’ such as little green men, spaceships and abductions.
BUFORA, which is dedicated to investigating alien sightings in the UK, provides witness support groups and counselling for people who say they have encountered other life forces.
And, it’s not Roswell, if that’s what you are thinking.
The small town in Japan is claiming to be an epicentre for extra-terrestrial life after 452 UFO discoveries were reported in only the last 12 months, according to the town’s UFO laboratory.
With less than 5,000 residences calling the town home – the area is bursting at the seams with all kinds of space paraphernalia, from ‘fragments from crashed spaceships’ to alien statues.
The hub of all things alien, quite literally, has been identified as Lino-machi, which is located in the Date District in Fukushima.
The area receives hundreds of reports every year, with many believers claiming that the town is a ‘hotspot’ for extra-terrestrials who happen upon our planet.
Due to the town’s small population, there aren’t many lights, which locals declare is a huge attraction for aliens looking for a spot to crash.
Residents also seem to be completely welcoming of their reported alien friends, with a whole host of monuments erected in their honour, alongside has a viewing tower for sky watching.
Taking it one step further, the town has created an entire tourism industry out of the reports, including a museum, known as the UFO Furenai Kan, which is said to contain an array of classified CIA documents and research.
The majority of the supposed sightings have been reported from the nearby Senganmori mountain last year, leading many space-savvy tourists to trek there to see what they can find themselves.
According to the museum’s director, Toshio Kanno, the Fukushima area is no stranger to a multitude of puzzling occurrences with strange events allegedly taking place there for centuries now.
As per The Sun, Kanno explained: “Senganmori has been surrounded by myths and legends since ancient times, owing to its strong magnetic field.”
While the first reported sighting was registered decades ago back in 1970, it was only until 1992 that the national government’s regional development project led to the construction of the UFO Fureai Kan.
The museum boss then went on to say that this was the exact moment when a ‘town development centred around the theme of UFOs began’.
He added: “As part of our efforts to transform the town into a ‘UFO village’, we concentrated on developing a range of UFO-related products, including souvenirs and gourmet foods.”
What do you make of it?
The sightings aren’t just the odd one here or there either, as an official described them as ‘frequent and continuous’.
In the congressional meeting, which is the first in 50 years, two videos were played with believed UFO sightings. Over 400 reports of sightings by US military are now being investigated.
At the beginning of the meeting, a US naval official stated that UFO sightings have been common on military ranges since the 2000s. The sightings of UFOs are also called Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP) in official reports, and comes after leaked videos from the US Navy appear to show unexplainable objects.
Deputy Director of Naval Intelligence Scott Bray told members of the US House Intelligence Committee’s subcommittee on Counterterrorism, Counterintelligence, and Counterproliferation that more than 140 UFO sightings since 2004 could not be explained, and and were not tricks of light or sensors.
He said: “It’s clear that many of the sightings are physical objects, based on the data that we have.”
Pixabay
He clarified that most of the sightings fall into one of five categories; airborne clutter, national atmospheric phenomena, US industry development programs, foreign adversaries, or ‘other’.
US intelligence official Ronald S Moultrie added: “We have very fleeting data on these objects.”
Also in the meeting, videos were shown to demonstrate the difficulties in displaying and identifying objects. One of the clips appeared to show green triangles flying over a US warship and a second video showed a similar incident.
A further clip taken from a US Navy warplane’s cockpit showed a ‘spherical’ silver object flying in the sky in a very brief piece of footage. Bray confirmed to the committee meeting that the object is still unexplained.
He added that there have been 11 near misses with unidentified objects, but currently no collisions. Mr Bray also added the US hasn’t attempted communication with or fired any weapons at the objects.
The meeting also heard how records now indicate there have been 400 unexplained sightings, which is an increase from the 144 recorded in last year’s Pentagon report.
Unsplash
Mr Moultire explained: ‘We know that our service members have encountered unidentified aerial phenomena, and because UAP pose potential flight safety and general security risks, we are committed to a focused effort to determine their origins.”
The meeting held today is the first in 50 years, and has been called specifically to focus on the emerging issue of UFO sightings. US Congressman Andre Carson chaired the meeting alongside US Congressman Adam Schiff, and in opening remarks said there needs to be more openness in reporting sightings like these.
He said: “UAPs are unexplained, it’s true. But they are real.”
