U.S. military taking UFOs “very seriously,” creates new task force

After a shocking U.S. intelligence report detailing 144 UFO sightings, the Pentagon has created a new group to investigate 

The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) announced the creation of a new UFO task force on Wednesday to investigate the origins of unknown flying objects, and to determine if the sightings could pose a potential threat to national security. 

The new Airborne Object Identification and Management Synchronization Group (AOIMSG) “will synchronize efforts across the Department and the broader U.S. government to detect, identify and attribute objects of interests in Special Use Airspace (SUA), and to assess and mitigate any associated threats to safety of flight and national security,” the DoD said in a press release. 

"Incursions by any airborne object into our [Special Use Airspace] pose safety of flight and operations security concerns, and may pose national security challenges," the statement continues. "DoD takes reports of incursions — by any airborne object, identified or unidentified — very seriously, and investigates each one."

UFOs and aliens have long been the subject of conspiracy theories, but recent incidents and a new government report last June that verified a series of “unexplained aerial phenomena” has renewed interest. 

The report, released by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), revealed that 144 mysterious flying objects reported incidents had been investigated. One was identified as a “large, deflating balloon,” but the origins of others were unclear. Officials found no evidence the objects came from outer space or a foreign nation, but did acknowledge that the objects it had investigated were real. 

"From a safety of flight issue, we absolutely do believe that what we are seeing are not simply sensor artifacts. These are things that physically exist," a senior government official said at the time about the risk they posed to national security. Eleven encounters of near-misses with UFOs had been reported by military pilots. 

The report also touched on the social stigma of reporting UFOs among the armed forces, stating “reputational risk may keep observers silent, complicating scientific pursuit of the topic.”

The AOIMSG will be succeeding the U.S. Navy’s Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force, which released the June report and recommended the government improve the policies, training and tech required to better investigate and understand UFOs. 

In July, an opinion article published in the Wall Street Journal referenced a 2018 U.S. Navy patent application that revealed new technology suggesting the military was aiming to project holographic images resembling UFOs as a way to confuse fighter pilots during combat aviation. 

The article reported that Russia has made claims it started developing laser plasma and photon technology decades ago as a way to compete with President Reagan’s Strategic Defense Initiative program. 

“The laser plasma technology could explain why some captured images of UAP are grainy, why the mysterious “objects” move erratically at lightning speeds, and why pilots never see them launch or land. It would also explain why they keep appearing in restricted airspace during warplane exercises,” the article noted.