A declassified document (no longer classified) shows an increase in the number of reports of unidentified aerial phenomena within the military, in the United States.
In a document sent to the American Congress at the beginning of 2023, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) takes stock of the UFO reports gathered in recent years. That is, unidentified flying objects (or “unidentified aerial phenomena” in a more modern lexical form).
The ODNI has received no less than 366 UFO reports, transmitted within the military, since the beginning of 2021… compared to 144 from 2003 to 2021. This indicates a rather massive increase in the sightings reported to the Pentagon. Do not panic: this is in no way the result of an alien invasion and the document provides some explanations.
“A better understanding of possible threats”
Of the 366 reports, 171 are “uncharacterized” and “unattributed”. These phenomena or objects present unusual flight characteristics or performance requiring further analysis “, indicates the document. Some of these phenomena may be related to errors on navigation devices, for example.
For other reports:
- 26 are defined as drones (or similar devices);
- 163 come from stratospheric balloons (or similar meteorological objects);
- 6 are attributed to birds, weather phenomena, plastic bags or other flying debris.
In any case, no phenomenon seems to be linked, according to the document, to collisions, to health hazards or… to an extra-terrestrial origin.
As for the accumulation of the number of reports, the document indicates that ” this is partly due to a better understanding of possible threats than UAPs [phénomènes aériens non identifiés] may represent, either as flight safety risks or as potential adversary collection platforms, and in part due to the reduced stigma around reporting UAPs “. In a statement, the US Minister of Defense effectively recalls ” take seriously these reports.
At the same time, the increase in the ratios increases opportunities to apply rigorous analysis and resolve observations “.
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