Still from April 28, 2020, “Unidentified Aerial Phenomena” video provided by the US Department of Defense (DoD/Handout)
A “growing number” of unidentified objects have been reported in the sky for 20 years, a Pentagon official told US elected officials on Tuesday, without going so far as to confirm the presence of extraterrestrial life.
For the first time in more than 50 years, the US Congress held a public hearing devoted to “unidentified aerial phenomena”.
“Since the early 2000s, we have observed an increasing number of unauthorized or unidentified objects,” said Scott Bray, deputy director of intelligence for the US Navy.
The official attributed the rise to “considerable efforts” by the US military to “de-stigmatize the act of reporting sightings” and technological advancement.
However, he indicated that he had detected nothing “that might suggest a non-terrestrial origin” for these phenomena. But also did not definitively rule out this possibility.
In June 2021, American intelligence had already claimed in a long-awaited report that there was no proof of the existence of extraterrestrials, while acknowledging that dozens of phenomena observed by military pilots might not be explained.
Some might be explained by the presence of drones or birds creating confusion in the radar systems of the American military. Others might stem from tests of military equipment or technologies carried out by other powers, such as China or Russia.
Scott Bray, deputy director of intelligence for the US Navy, during a public hearing on unidentified objects, in the US Congress, on May 17, 2022 in Washington (AFP / Jose Luis Magana)
The US military and intelligence are mainly trying to determine if these “unidentified aerial phenomena” can be linked to threats once morest the United States.
“Unidentified aerial phenomena constitute a potential threat to national security,” warned the elected Democrat André Carson, head of the parliamentary committee behind the hearing. “And they should be treated as such.”
