Pentagon confirms running UFO investigation programme

WasHiNGTON: The Pentagon acknowledged that its longsecret UFO investigation programme ended in 2012, when US defence officials shifted attention and funding to other priorities.

But as to whether the Advanced Aviation Threat Identification Program has continued to investigate UFO sightings since its funding ended five years ago could rank as an unexplained phenomenon.

The New York Times reported on Saturday that the hushhush programme, tasked with investigating sightings of unidentified flying objects, or UFOs, ran from 2007 to 2012 with US$22mil (RM89mil) in annual funding secretly tucked away in US Defense Department budgets worth hundreds of billions of dollars.

Its initial funding came largely at the request of former Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid, the Nevada Democrat long known for his enthusiasm for space phenomena.

Yet according to its backers, the programme remains in existence and officials continue to investigate UFO episodes brought to their attention by service members, the newspaper said.

The Pentagon openly acknowledged the fate of the programme in response to a Reuters query.

“The Advanced Aviation Threat Identification Program ended in the 2012 time frame,” Pentagon spokesman Laura Ochoa said.

“It was determined that there were other, higher priority issues that merited funding and it was in the best interest of the Defense Department to make a change.”

But the Pentagon was less clear about whether the UFO programme continues to hover somewhere in the vast universe of the US defence establishment.

“The department takes seriously all threats and potential threats to our people, our assets, and our mission and takes action whenever credible information is developed,” Ochoa said.