US intelligence agencies report hundreds of new UFO sightings

In total, as of August last year, there were 510 “unidentified aerial phenomena” observed in protected airspace or near sensitive US facilities, according to the Director of National Intelligence’s report to the US Congress.

According to Politico, 366 of these objects have been seen since the preliminary assessment was published in 2021, an increase attributed to “reduced stigma” regarding reporting and a better understanding of the threats to intelligence and security that these phenomena can pose.

According to the report, more than half of these new sightings, most of which were made by Navy and Air Force pilots, show “unremarkable characteristics”: 26 were characterized as unmanned aerial vehicles; 163 were labeled as balloons or “balloon-like objects”; and six were described as “erratic”.

However, 171 sightings remain, some of which “appear to have demonstrated unusual flight characteristics or operational capabilities,” the report said. Few other details about these unidentified objects were provided, although the report noted that no American aircraft had ever encountered a UFO, and sightings of them had so far not caused any adverse health effects.

The 12-page report, which does not state when each of the sightings occurred, is an unclassified summary of the classified version that was presented to Congress, Politico notes.

This is the latest in a growing congressional campaign in recent years to get the US military and spy agencies to take sightings of unidentified aerial phenomena more seriously and better coordinate efforts to study them as a potential national security threat.

Some senior US officials have said in recent weeks that they have so far found no evidence that the unidentified vehicles are of extraterrestrial origin or indicate the existence of a non-human being. But they insist that they keep an open mind.

“We have not seen anything that could … lead us to believe that any of the objects we have seen are of alien origin,” US Deputy Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security Ronald Moultrie told reporters at a briefing ahead of the release of the report. “If we find something like that, we will look at it, analyze it and take appropriate action.”

The Pentagon’s newly created Office of Anomalies in All Areas (AARO), which was authorized by Congress last year, serves as the focal point for the nationwide investigation.

“As a physicist, I have to stick to the scientific method and I will follow this data and science wherever it goes,” Director of Management Sean Kirkpatrick said in a statement.

But officials also insist they are only at the beginning of a full-scale effort – involving numerous military and civilian agencies and government contractors – to study UFOs.

The US National Intelligence Agency report also follows the passage of the National Defense and Intelligence Act for Fiscal Year 2023, which devotes 34 pages to aerial phenomena and mandates a number of additional steps for the Pentagon and intelligence agencies.

“We want to make sure that service members and other service members, when they provide data, information, and video footage, can accurately provide that information without compromising their careers and being fired or ignored in any way,” says Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) , Member of the Armed Forces and Intelligence Committees.

The new defense bill also requires the AARO to provide historical data on government UFO action efforts dating back to 1945 within 18 months.

“It will be a real research project, if you will, in the archives and backwards in time,” notes Sean Kirkpatrick.

Senior Pentagon officials also insist they intend to try to unearth any hidden secrets about UFOs.

“We’re going back and trying to understand all the disparate programs that this department had,” says Undersecretary Ronald Moultrie.

The recently signed law also provides for an intelligence collection and analysis plan to study the characteristics, origins and intentions of flying objects.

Kirkpatrick said the Pentagon office is developing “a targeted data collection campaign using both traditional and non-traditional sources and sensors.”

This includes building a team of experts from the Department of Defense, NASA, the CIA and other agencies, as well as from the private sector.

“More data will help build a more complete picture and help resolve anomalous phenomena,” says Sean Kirkpatrick.

NASA is also stepping up its efforts to assist in the overall investigation. In October, the space agency launched an independent research group that includes leading scientists, computer scientists, oceanographers, space industry leaders and others. One of the challenges is to determine if any of its satellites or other space sensors have picked up any UFO activity.