US top defense official confirms government reports of more than 400 UFOs
There has been a large rise in purported sightings of UFOs since the release of a report last year documenting the phenomena.
UFOs or, to put it the modern way, Unidentified Aerial Projecticles (UAP), are back in the spotlight. Congress has been discussing the matter this week, despite more pressing issues like the huge inflationary pressures on many Americans.
The meeting follows a report from last year which admitted to being unable to explain nearly every UAP sighting. The report released in June 2021 said that the US government couldn’t explain 143 of the 144 cases of UAP reported by military planes between 2004 and 2021.
Since then, the database has increased to more than 400 sightings. The Office of Naval Intelligence wants to encourgae more people to report UAP sightings and the deputy director of naval intelligence, Scott W. Bray, says that people have become more comfortable in sharing their encounters.
“The stigma has been reduced,” Bray said.
At the first meeting in Congress surrounding UAPs in 50 years, officials sought to break a stigma around reporting sightings, saying that they were a crucial part of national security. Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff said that reports of these objects “need to be understood as a national security matter.
“There is something there, measurable by multiple instruments, and yet it seems to move in directions that are inconsistent with what we know of physics or science more broadly,” said Schiff, who added that these reports “pose questions of tremendous interest.”
What was shown at the meeting in Congress?
Two videos of UAPs were shown at the hearing, though one was immediately debunked by Bray. In the other, a round object can be seen hurtling passed a military jet for a split second.
Some of the juiciest information remains secret and was shown at a closed meeting on Tuesday, away from the prying eyes of the public.
There are hopes from members of Congress, as well as UFO enthusiasts, that the meeting will prompt further intrigue into UAPs in future. While the Pentagon has established a UAP office named the Airborne Object Identification and Management Synchronization Group (AOIMSG), some want its scope expanded and more money diverted to it. Instead of extraterrestrial discoveries, moreso it is suggested it be used to monitor if Russia and China are involved in the mysteries.
“One of Congress’s concerns is that the executive branch, the administration, both parties, have been sweeping concerns about UAPs under the rug by focusing on events that can be explained, and avoiding them that cannot be explained,” Andre Carson, a Democratic congressman from Indiana said.