The Pentagon Office's head mentioned to the Congress on Wednesday that there are 650 unidentified flying objects (UFO) incidents being reviewed by the office. However, so far, none of these incidents exhibit any proof of extraterrestrial life or go against any known laws of physics.
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Pentagon Analyzes UFO Cases
Science Alert reports that Sean M. Kirkpatrick, who is the director of the AARO (All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office), gave testimony to the Committee on Armed Service of the US Senate on April 19. Kirkpatrick gave an update regarding their UFO investigations that military personnel had previously reported on.
As per Politico, Kirkpatrick explained that roughly half of the UFO reports have been prioritized to be further studied and be examined if there is sufficient data to resolve any case incident.
He cautions, however, that several cases remain open due to the shortage of concrete data. Kirkpatrick also estimated that roughly 20 to 30 cases are at the halfway point of the Pentagon's process of analysis, while a number of cases have been resolved and peer-reviewed.
He adds that he will not close a case if he is unable to defend its conclusion.
Two UFO videos were shown during the congressional hearing, as reported by CNN. The first clip demonstrated a small orb passing through a MQ-9 drone's camera screen. This was documented in Middle East in 2022. Kirkpatrick notes how this case remained open due to the lack of evidence beyond the footage.
The second footage was taken in South Asia earlier this 2023. A foreign object flew by a duo of MQ-9 drones. This included one drone that documented what seemed to be a propulsion trail. After the analysts looked into the video frame by frame, they determined that it was actually a shadow image.
Releasing the videos was done in order to stress how the AARO could shed light on certain incidents but not on others. Kirkpatrick notes that only a small ratio of UFO reports exhibit signatures of anomalous nature. Most reported objects demonstrate mundane features of clutter, balloons, aerial systems, natural phenomena, or other sources that can be readily explained.
Kirkpatrick adds that throughout their research, the AARO was not able to find any credible proof of extraterrestrial origins. This was the same for any physics-defying occurrences or out-of-this-world technologies.
UFO Sightings
According to Brittanica, UFOs are any optical phenomena or arial objects that observers are unable to readily identify. They have become a hot focus ever since the field of rocketry emerged after World War II. Initially, these sightings were assumed to be visitations of extraterrestrial life.
There have been several reported UFO sightings in history, with the earliest well-known one going as far back as 1947 in Washington. However, despite the many sightings and analysis, there has not been any conclusive proof that these UFOs have alien origins.
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