- The Washington Post
VIVA – The head of the Pentagon office that is reviewing reported unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP - commonly known as UFOs, unidentified flying objects) told the United States Congress this week that is now reviewing more than 650 incidents.
But so far, none exhibited anything that was evidence of extraterrestrial activity or defied the known laws of physics.
Dr. Sean M. Kirkpatrick, the director of the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO), gave testimony to the US Senate's Committee on Armed Services on April 19, 2023, providing an update on their investigations into UAP that have been reported by military personnel.
Two new videos released at the open congressional hearing were shown to highlight how the recently established AARO can explain some incidents but not others.
"I want to underscore today that only a very small percentage of UAP reports display signatures that could reasonably be described as 'anomalous'," Kirkpatrick told the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities.
"The majority of unidentified objects reported to AARO demonstrate mundane characteristics of balloons, unmanned aerial systems, clutter, natural phenomena, or other readily explainable sources," he added.
Jet tempur AS menembak jatuh balon mata-mata China di perairan Carolina, AS
- Chad Fish via AP
One video, available on the Pentagon's website, shows an incident that occurred in the Middle East on 12 July 2022, where a ball-shaped object flew over what appears to be a military base and was captured on aerial footage by an MQ-9 drone. This object is still under investigation and remains unidentified.
The other video showed a view of an incident the Pentagon said occurred over South Asia on 15 January 2023. In this instance, a MQ-9 drone captured infrared video showing another MQ-9, while another object flew through the field of view.
In this case, after analysis and review of additional footage and information, the object was determined to be a commercial aircraft, "If you squint, it looks like an aircraft because it actually turns out to be an aircraft," he said.
Kirkpatrick said the 650 UAP incidents reported by military personnel is an increase from the 510 the US intelligence community reported in its previous UAP report released in January of this year.
Moreover, Kirkpatrick noted that most of the UAP reports from the military follow similar trendlines, with most occurring between 15,000 to 25,000 feet (4,572 to 7,620 meters) in altitude which is the controlled airspace for military aircraft.
For the unresolved sightings, the AARO experts feel the likely explanation is that the sightings are of technology created by US adversaries, not aliens.
What is needed, Kirkpatrick told, is due to a lack of available data that could help investigators conduct more thorough reviews.
"Without sufficient data, we are unable to reach defendable conclusions that meet the high scientific standards we set for resolution, and I will not close a case that we cannot defend the conclusions of," he explained.
Fifty-two percent of the reports involve objects described as "round or spheres." Most of the round objects range in size from 1 to 4 meters (3.3 to 13.1 feet) and are described as being "white, silver, or translucent metallic" with apparent velocities ranging from stationary to twice the speed of sound.
Kirkpatrick emphasized that his team has still not found any off-Earth explanations for the sightings.
"I should also state clearly for the record that in our research AARO has found no credible evidence thus far of extraterrestrial activity, off-world technology,
