WASHINGTON – A new Pentagon office set up to monitor reports of unidentified flying objects received “several hundred” new reports, but no evidence so far of extraterrestrial life, the agency’s leadership told reporters on Friday.
The All Domains Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) was established in July and is responsible for not only tracking unidentified objects in the sky, but also underwater or in space – or potentially an object that has the ability to move from one domain to another. following.
The bureau was created after more than a year of paying attention to unidentified flying objects that military pilots have observed but have sometimes been reluctant to report for fear of stigma.
In June 2021, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence reported that between 2004 and 2021 there were 144 such encounters, 80 of which were captured on multiple sensors.
Since then, “we’ve had a lot more reports,” said Anomaly Bureau Director Sean Kirkpatrick. When asked to quantify the amount, kirkpatrick says “several hundred”.
An updated report from the director of national intelligence that will provide specific numbers on new reports received since 2021 is expected by the end of the year, the officials said.
The office was created not only to investigate the question of whether extraterrestrial life exists, but also because of the security risk posed by so many encounters with unknown flying objects by military installations or military aircraft.
Last May, Congress held its first hearing in more than half a century on the subject, with several members raising concerns about whether or not the objects were extraterrestrial or potentially new, unknown technology piloted by China, the Russia or another potential adversary, the unknown creates a security risk.
So far, “we haven’t seen anything, and it’s still very early days, that would lead us to believe that all of the objects we’ve seen are of extraterrestrial origin,” said Ronald Moultrie, undersecretary for the defense for intelligence. and security. “Any unauthorized system in our airspace that we consider a security threat.”
The bureau is also working on ways to improve its ability to identify unknown objects, such as recalibrating sensors that can be focused only on known signatures of opposing aircraft or drones, Moultrie said.
One of the reasons for the hundreds of additional reports coming in may be the outreach the department has done to de-stigmatize the reporting of potential encounters. Each service has also established its own reporting processes, Kirkpatrick said.
Beyond unidentifiable objects, there are many new technologies – such as future stealth bombers and fighters, drones and hypersonic missiles deployed by both the US and China – that could be mistaken for a UFO. . Kirkpatrick said the new office is coordinating with the Pentagon and the US intelligence community to obtain US technology signatures to rule out such planes or drones.
“We are putting in place very clear mechanisms with our blue programs, both our DOD and IC programs, to deconfront all the sightings that come with blue activities, and to make sure we weed them out and identify them early enough,” said said Kirkpatrick, referring to US “blue” aircraft programs implemented by the Pentagon or intelligence agencies.
The All Domains Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) was established in July and is responsible for not only tracking unidentified objects in the sky, but also underwater or in space – or potentially an object that has the ability to move from one domain to another. following.
The bureau was created after more than a year of paying attention to unidentified flying objects that military pilots have observed but have sometimes been reluctant to report for fear of stigma.
In June 2021, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence reported that between 2004 and 2021 there were 144 such encounters, 80 of which were captured on multiple sensors.
Since then, “we’ve had a lot more reports,” said Anomaly Bureau Director Sean Kirkpatrick. When asked to quantify the amount, kirkpatrick says “several hundred”.
An updated report from the director of national intelligence that will provide specific numbers on new reports received since 2021 is expected by the end of the year, the officials said.
The office was created not only to investigate the question of whether extraterrestrial life exists, but also because of the security risk posed by so many encounters with unknown flying objects by military installations or military aircraft.
Last May, Congress held its first hearing in more than half a century on the subject, with several members raising concerns about whether or not the objects were extraterrestrial or potentially new, unknown technology piloted by China, the Russia or another potential adversary, the unknown creates a security risk.
So far, “we haven’t seen anything, and it’s still very early days, that would lead us to believe that all of the objects we’ve seen are of extraterrestrial origin,” said Ronald Moultrie, undersecretary for the defense for intelligence. and security. “Any unauthorized system in our airspace that we consider a security threat.”
The bureau is also working on ways to improve its ability to identify unknown objects, such as recalibrating sensors that can be focused only on known signatures of opposing aircraft or drones, Moultrie said.
One of the reasons for the hundreds of additional reports coming in may be the outreach the department has done to de-stigmatize the reporting of potential encounters. Each service has also established its own reporting processes, Kirkpatrick said.
Beyond unidentifiable objects, there are many new technologies – such as future stealth bombers and fighters, drones and hypersonic missiles deployed by both the US and China – that could be mistaken for a UFO. . Kirkpatrick said the new office is coordinating with the Pentagon and the US intelligence community to obtain US technology signatures to rule out such planes or drones.
“We are putting in place very clear mechanisms with our blue programs, both our DOD and IC programs, to deconfront all the sightings that come with blue activities, and to make sure we weed them out and identify them early enough,” said said Kirkpatrick, referring to US “blue” aircraft programs implemented by the Pentagon or intelligence agencies.
