U.S. Intelligence Community Releases UFO Report: ‘These Are Things That Physically Exist’

The report acknowledged the skepticism and stigma that often surrounds the subject of UFOs.

July 01, 2021
A UFO spotted by a U.S. Navy jet. [via AP Images/Department of Defense]

A UFO spotted by a U.S. Navy jet. [via AP Images/Department of Defense]

A UFO spotted by a U.S. Navy jet. [via AP Images/Department of Defense]

By: Aaron Rasmussen

The United States intelligence community recently released an unclassified report to Congress detailing some key findings related to the review of 144 UAP — or unidentified aerial phenomena, also known as UFOs — that occurred between 2004 and 2021.

The UAPTF, or Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force, said they “focused on reports that involved UAP largely witnessed firsthand by military aviators and that were collected from systems we considered to be reliable.”

The report acknowledged the skepticism and stigma that often surrounds the subject of UFOs.

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“Narratives from aviators in the operational community and analysts from the military and [intelligent community] describe disparagement associated with observing UAP, reporting it, or attempting to discuss it with colleagues,” the report states. “Although the effects of these stigmas have lessened as senior members of the scientific, policy, military, and intelligence communities engage on the topic seriously in public, reputational risk may keep many observers silent, complicating scientific pursuit of the topic.”

According to the report, it wasn’t until March 2019 that the Navy even had a standardized method for reporting UFO sightings. Over a year and a half later, November 2020, the Air Force then formally adopted the procedure.

The report states an analysis of data showed possible explanations of UAP can be broken down into one of five “potentially explanatory categories”: airborne clutter, natural atmospheric phenomena, USG or U.S. industry developmental programs, foreign adversary systems, and a catchall “other” bin.

The report details how in 18 incidents studied, UAPs exhibited especially unusual and puzzling movement patterns or flight characteristics.

“Some UAP appeared to remain stationary in winds aloft, move against the wind, maneuver abruptly, or move at considerable speed, without discernible means of propulsion,” the report notes.

Except for one particular instance when a UAP was determined to be a deflating balloon, the origins of the other 143 incidents remain mysteries. The report, however, makes a point to verify that “these are things that physically exist.”

So while the intelligence community could not confirm UAPs prove the existence of visitors from distant galaxies, they were also unable to rule out the possibility.

“We currently lack sufficient information in our dataset to attribute incidents to specific explanations,” the report explains, concluding, “We may require additional scientific knowledge to successfully collect on, analyze and characterize some of them.”

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