Pentagon Review finds no evidence of alien cover-up
In the 1960s, secret test flights of advanced government spy planes generated UFO sightings. More recently, government and commercial drones, new types of satellites, and wandering weather balloons have led to a renaissance of unusual sightings.
But according to a new report, none of these sightings involved alien spacecraft.
A new Congressionally mandated Pentagon report found no evidence that the government covered up knowledge of alien technology and said there was no evidence that any UFO sighting represented an alien visit to Earth.
The document is the most sweeping rebuttal the Pentagon has issued in recent years to refute claims that it has information about alien visits or technology. But amid widespread distrust of the government, the report is unlikely to calm a growing obsession with aliens.
While many reports of what the government is now calling Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena remain unsolved, the new document clearly states that there is nothing to see. The Pentagon’s All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office concluded that if better quality data were available, “most of these cases could also be identified and resolved as common objects or phenomena.”
Because of that missing data, Pentagon officials in the past have often been reluctant to speak clearly about various incidents, saying they lack information to draw a conclusion. But in the absence of conclusions, conspiracy theories have flourished, even as scientists and independent researchers claimed that optical illusions, weather phenomena, scientific balloons or drones were reasonable causes of almost all unexplained incidents.
The report also disputes accounts from whistleblowers and former government officials who have said the United States is hiding evidence of aliens or extraterrestrial material from the public.
The Pentagon has tried to undermine such claims over time. Officials have told Congress that the government has no extraterrestrial material — let alone a spaceship — in its possession. The Pentagon and NASA have used basic trigonometry to show why published military videos don’t show anything extraordinary or alien.
Progress in debunking UFO misinformation has slowed due to several changes in the task force investigating the matter. Congress has charged the Pentagon’s current group, the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office, or AARO, with a historical review of the evidence.
The agency did not find “any empirical evidence” that reported sightings represent “off-world technology” or any secret program not reported to Congress, the report concludes.
Yet it is unlikely that the public will be convinced. Many people reject the government’s claims that there is nothing interesting going on in Pentagon videos that appear to show strange objects, citing accounts from Navy pilots that they have observed objects whose movements cannot be easily explained.
The new report notes that there was interest in UFOs in the past, especially in the 1950s, but that attention to unexplained sightings is greater today than ever before.
The Pentagon concludes cautiously and with precise language, writing that declining public trust in the government and the speed at which disinformation now spreads have made it more difficult to refute claims of alien visits.
Quote a 2021 Gallup poll, the Pentagon said exposure to the topic through “traditional and social media has increased the number of Americans who believe UFO sightings are of extraterrestrial origin.”
“Apart from hoaxes and forgeries, misinformation and misinformation are now more common and easier to spread than ever before, especially with today’s sophisticated photo, video and computer-generated imagery,” the report said. “Internet search algorithms and content recommendation algorithms serve to amplify individuals’ biases and prejudices as much as they serve to educate and inform.”
The report notes that in the 1950s, many UFO reports arose from public sightings or secret government programs. The report lists government programs, including the Manhattan Project and the secret development of the Air Force’s stealth drone, the RQ-170, that may have contributed to an increase in reports of unidentified objects or phenomena.
As part of the investigation, the Pentagon interviewed people who claimed to Congress that they had direct knowledge of a government cover-up and others who allegedly had supporting information.
A review of their accounts makes it clear that most reports on alien technology are second-hand at best. And none of the firsthand reports were corroborated by other witnesses.
Nevertheless, the Pentagon has investigated the claims and so far found nothing to support them. In contrast, it collected on-the-record rebuttals from other witnesses. The report states that the agency will continue to investigate further claims and report in a second part.
The Pentagon has also been looking into secret and sensitive government programs that whistleblowers have suggested were involved in investigating captured alien spacecraft.
The Pentagon concluded that while “many of these programs represent authentic, current and former sensitive national security programs,” none of them were involved in capturing or reverse-engineering alien technology.