As a longtime UFO enthusiast, I have tried to keep track of the UFO beat. In recent years, this task has become slightly more interesting, as UFOs — now also known as UAP (for “unidentified aerial phenomena”) — are increasingly getting serious, mainstream, public attention, including from Congress and the executive branch.
One possible explanation for this attention is simple: an increase in the number of sightings. A recent study from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence concluded as much. Per the Wall Street Journal:
Reported sightings of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena, known popularly as UFOs, have climbed significantly in the past two years, and almost half the new sightings remain unexplained, U.S. spy agencies and the Pentagon said in a report released Thursday.
The study led by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence said the number of UAP sightings—often by Navy and Air Force pilots—stands at 510, with 366 of those reports coming in since March 2021. Slightly more than half of the objects are likely unmanned aircraft, balloons or airborne debris, according to analysis by a new Pentagon office focused on the issue, but 171 remain “uncharacterized and unattributed,” the report said.
One government official involved with the investigations poured a small — but not dispositive — amount of cold water on the proceedings:
At a Pentagon briefing in December, Ronald Moultrie, undersecretary of defense for intelligence and security, said none of the reported sightings indicate extraterrestrial life. “I have not seen anything in those holdings to date that would suggest that there has been an alien visitation, an alien crash or anything like that,” Mr. Moultrie said.
Well, okay. Fine. But whatever they are — or might be — it’s worth trying to find out.