Over 650 Potential U.F.O. Cases are Being Tracked by U.S. Government, stated Pentagon

The director of the agency, which was established last year to focus on unusual sightings, informed that the United States government is scrutinising more than 650 potential events of so-called “unknown aerial phenomena,” popularly known as U.F.O.s.

The number of cases has increased from the 350 reports mentioned in an unclassified intelligence assessment on unusual aerial phenomena that was issued earlier this year, according to Sean Kirkpatrick, head of the Pentagon’s All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office, who testified before a Senate Armed Services subcommittee on Wednesday. “Of those around 650, we’ve prioritised about half of them to be of strangely significant value, and now we have to go through those,” said Kirkpatrick.

DoD’s All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office

The All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office, also known as AARO, is a department within the United States Office of the Secretary of Defense in charge of examining unidentified phenomena in the air, sea, space, or on land, commonly referred to as “unidentified aerial phenomena,” “unidentified anomalous phenomena,” or “U.A.P.”

The high-altitude Chinese surveillance balloon that sailed across U.S. airspace in February was one of the technologies Kirkpatrick’s office helped the Pentagon and security agency discover, as he explained to legislators in his presentation to lawmakers. 

Important disclosures by AARO

 Kirkpatrick showed the video of two declassified cases, one of which had been concluded and the other was still open. The first footage depicted a tiny ball passing past an MQ-9 drone’s camera in the Middle East in 2022. The drone’s camera tracked the object as it flitted across the sky and entered and exited the viewing area. Kirkpatrick clarified that the case remained open because there was no additional proof to the video. The goal, he added, was that if more information was collected on these incidents, patterns could show up to assist explain the unsolved cases. “It is going to be almost impossible to fully identify that, just based on that video,” he added. 

Two MQ-9 drones were seen flying an item in the second footage from South Asia taken earlier this year. One of the drones recorded video that appeared to show a propulsion trail behind the object, which Kirkpatrick said at the time was initially thought to be “truly anomalous.” However, he claimed that after dissecting the video frame by frame, his team came to the conclusion that it was a “shadow image.” He clarified that the heat signature detected by the infrared was actually from the engines of a passenger plane that was flying nearby the two MQ9 drones.

U.F.O. or classified advanced technologies of different nations?

The latest U.A.P. hearing that Congress has had in the past year was held on Thursday and was presided over by New York Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand. Congress has been putting pressure on the Pentagon to explain the mysterious sightings. Despite the public’s preoccupation with the possibility of U.F.O.s, Kirkpatrick emphasised once more that there is no indication of alien life in the occurrences. He added that there is currently no reliable proof of extraterrestrial activities, off-world technology, or anything that violates known laws of physics.

During a Senate Armed Services subcommittee hearing, Kirkpatrick was asked about the possibility of technological advances from foreign countries, notably Russia and China. He expressed concern that some of the reported cases could be indications of such advances and that these cases have been referred to the intelligence community for additional assessment. Kirkpatrick further suggested that these countries may be less risk-averse in their pursuit of technology growth and may be able to use these skills against the U.S. in intelligence collection or military operations. Despite the fact that he did not have evidence of such conduct in these specific circumstances, he did note several troubling indications.