A still of one of three videos released by the Pentagon on Monday, April 27, 2020 showing “unidentified aerial phenomena” captured by U.S. Navy pilots during training flights in 2004 and 2015. “The aerial phenomena observed in the videos remain characterized as ‘unidentified,’ the Pentagon said in a statement.
U.S. Department of Defense
WASHINGTON – The top U.S. spy agency said Thursday 366 new cases of unidentified aerial phenomena have been reported to U.S. intelligence agencies since March 2021.
The 366 newly added reports join a catalog of 144 cases that were documented over the previous 17 years.
The total record of bizarre aerial activity now sits at 510.
The Office of Director of National Intelligence wrote in an unclassified 11-page report that multiple agencies found that the flying objects “demonstrated unusual flight characteristics or performance capabilities.”
The classified version of the report, which is required by the National Defense Authorization Act for the fiscal year 2022, was submitted to Congress.
The majority of the reports originated from U.S. Navy and U.S. Air Force aviators and operators who witnessed the unidentified aerial phenomena during the course of their service duties.
In 2020, the Pentagon formed a new task force to investigate UFO sightings that have been observed on several occasions by U.S. military aircraft.
The creation of the Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force, or UAPTF, continues an effort begun in recent years to investigate unexplained aerial incidents encountered by the U.S. military.
The U.S. Navy has previously led efforts to look into unidentified aerial phenomena since the service branch has reported several encounters involving their aircraft.
‘Look at that thing, dude! It’s rotating!’
In April of 2020, the Pentagon declassified three videos captured by U.S. Navy pilots that appear to show unidentified flying objects. Two of the videos contain U.S. service members commenting on how quickly the object moves while another speculates that the unidentifiable object could be a drone.Â
“Dude, this is a f–king drone, bro,” one pilot is heard saying. Another says “there’s a whole fleet of them.”
“They’re all going against the wind. The wind’s 120 knots to the west. Look at that thing, dude!” the first person says. “It’s rotating!”
At the time, then-President Donald Trump described the U.S. Navy footage as “a hell of a video” and told Reuters that he wonders “if it’s real.”
Two months later, the Senate Intelligence Committee voted that the Pentagon as well as intelligence community leaders should provide a public analysis of these encounters.