OK! It’s time to take UFOs seriously
Unexplained aerial objects will be studied by a new government office
Of all the year’s political drama, the most surprising may be the US government’s actions on unidentified aerial phenomena, or UAPs — better known as UFOs.
The opening act came in June, when the Pentagon and the director of national intelligence delivered an astonishing report to Congress addressing UAPs. Most of these phenomena turn out to have prosaic explanations — such as weather balloons, space debris and atmospheric effects in the sky — with a small percentage exhibiting unusual flight characteristics that suggest advanced technology.
The June report, however, found the opposite: It could account for only one of the 144 UAP sightings between 2004 and 2021 that it examined, including 80 observed with multiple sensors such as high-tech military radar and infrared cameras mounted on warplanes.
Take one of the most memorable sightings, caught on infrared camera in 2004. Navy pilots flying from the USS Nimitz spotted a 40- foot white object resembling a Tic Tac mint levitating erratically above the waters off the California coast. As the pilots approached, the Tic Tac — despite lacking wings or any sign of propulsion — rose to meet them midair before speeding instantly away, vanishing. The report did not conclude what the Tic Tac or any other UAPs are, and it could not attribute them to secret technology developed by the US or any adversaries.
Now Congress wants answers. In November, Sen Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) authored legislation creating an office to study UAPs government-wide and report to Congress.
Gillibrand and a bipartisan bloc of lawmakers steered legislation through Congress — attached as an amendment to the annual defence bill, sent to President Biden’s desk to be signed into law — that establishes a new office to study UAPs.
The move represents the most significant public progress yet to understand UAPs.
UAPs intersect with topics as wide-ranging as aerospace technology, national security and potential health effects on individuals exposed to these craft. No single agency has the multidisciplinary know- how or legal authority to tackle all these questions. For example, the Pentagon unit’s intended focus on military airspace would ignore the Federal Aviation Administration and civilian flight safety.
A comprehensive strategy from Congress is needed. The office created by the Gillibrand amendment accordingly will take a broad approach by investigating UAPs across jurisdictional lines, prioritising areas of scientific study and requiring various agencies to collaborate — not only the Defense Department and the Federal Aviation Administration but also the Energy Department, intelligence community, NASA and others. It will develop a science plan to investigate striking physical characteristics of UAPs ( like their speed) and potentially replicate any advanced UAP technologies. And the new office will seek to understand the global nature of these phenomena, directing outreach to foreign allies.
Now that legislators have marshaled action on UAPs, they need to make sure the new office does not become shrouded in secrecy.