Pentagon receives 'several hundreds' of new UFO reports

A new Pentagon office set up to track reports of unidentified flying objects or UFOs has received "several hundreds" of new reports but no evidence so far of alien life, the agency's leadership said.

In June 2021, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence reported that between 2004 and 2021, there were 144 such encounters, 80 of which were captured on multiple sensors.

Since then, "we've had lots more reporting," said anomaly office director Sean Kirkpatrick on Friday.

When asked to quantify the amount, Kirkpatrick said, "several hundreds."

The All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) was set up in July and is responsible for not only tracking unidentified objects in the sky but also underwater or in space — or potentially an object that has the ability to move from one domain to the next.

The officials said an updated report from the Director of National Intelligence that will provide specific figures on new reports received since 2021 is expected by the end of the year.

The office was set up not only to examine whether there’s extraterrestrial life but also because of the security risk posed by so many encounters with unknown flying objects by military installations or military aircraft.

READ MORE: NASA convenes team to study mysterious flying objects

Congress hearing

This May, Congress held its first hearing in more than half a century on the topic, with multiple members expressing concern that whether or not the objects are alien or potentially new, unknown technology being flown by China, Russia or another potential adversary, the unknown creates a security risk.

So far, "we have not seen anything, and we're still very early on, that would lead us to believe that any of the objects that we have seen are of alien origin," said Ronald Moultrie, undersecretary of defence for intelligence and security.

"Any unauthorised system in our airspace we deem as a threat to safety."

The office is also working on ways to improve its ability to identify unknown objects, such as by recalibrating sensors that may be focused just on known adversary aircraft or drone signatures, Moultrie said.

One reason for the hundreds of additional reports coming in may be the outreach the department has done to destigmatise reporting potential encounters.

Each service has also established its own reporting processes, Kirkpatrick said.

READ MORE: US holds first public hearing on UFOs in 50 years

'Blue' programmes

Beyond unidentifiable objects, there’s a lot of new technology — such as future stealth bombers and stealth fighters, drones and hypersonic missiles being fielded by both the US and China — that could be mistaken for a UFO.

Kirkpatrick said the new office has been coordinating with the Pentagon and the US intelligence community to get the signatures of US technology in order to rule out those aircraft or drones.

"We are setting up very clear mechanisms with our blue programnes, both our DOD and IC programmes, to de-conflict any observations that come in with blue activities, and ensure that we weed those out and identify those fairly early on," Kirkpatrick said, referring to the "blue" US aircraft programmes in operation by the Pentagon or intelligence agencies.

READ MORE: Pentagon to open new office to probe UFOs