Pentagon receives hundreds of new UFO reports but no proof of alien life since creating All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office

A new Pentagon office set up to track reports of unidentified flying objects (UFOs) has received hundreds of new reports, but no evidence of alien life yet, according to the agency’s leadership.

The All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) was set up in July and tasked with tracking unidentified objects in the sky, underwater or in space – and as well as objects that can move from one domain to the next.

The office was established following more than a year of attention on UFOs that military pilots have observed but sometimes been reluctant to report due to 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 lots more reporting”, Anomaly Office director Sean Kirkpatrick said.

When asked to quantify the amount, Mr Kirkpatrick said “several hundreds”.

An updated report from the director of national intelligence that would provide specific figures on new reports received since 2021 was expected by the end of the year, the officials said.

The office was set up to examine whether there is extra-terrestrial life, but its creation was also prompted by because of the security risks posed by so many encounters with unknown flying objects by military installations or military aircraft.

Any unauthorised system ‘a threat to safety’

This May, the US congress held its first hearing in more than half a century on the topic, with several members expressing concern that, whether or not the objects were alien or potentially unknown technology being flown by China, Russia or another potential adversary, the unknown created a security risk.

“We have not seen anything, and we’re still very early on, that would lead us to believe that any of the objects that we have seen are of alien origin,” Ronald Moultrie, undersecretary of defence for intelligence and security, said.

“Any unauthorised system in our airspace we deem as a threat to safety.”

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The office is also working on ways to improve its ability to identify unknown objects, such as by recalibrating sensors that may be focused just on known adversary aircraft or drone signatures, Mr Moultrie said.

One reason for the hundreds of additional reports coming in may be the outreach the department has done to destigmatise reporting potential encounters.

Each service has also established its own reporting processes, Mr Kirkpatrick said.

Intelligence officials working to rule out new technology

Beyond unidentifiable objects, there is a lot of new technology — such as future stealth bombers and stealth fighters, drones and hypersonic missiles being fielded by both the US and China — that could be mistaken for a UFO.

Mr Kirkpatrick said the new office had been coordinating with the Pentagon and the US intelligence community to get the signatures of US technology in order to rule out those aircraft or drones.

“We are setting up very clear mechanisms … to ensure that we weed those out and identify those fairly early on,” Mr Kirkpatrick said.

AP