Pentagon report says there are no UFOs or aliens but accepts popular beliefs will endure

Rebecca RommenMar 9, 2024, 20:53 IST

Business Insider

L: The Pentagon, Washington DC, USA - stock photo R: UFO in flight above urban park (Digital Composite) - stock photoDigital Vision./Ray Massey (Getty Images)

A Pentagon report denies government cover-up of extraterrestrial activity.
The report refutes claims of UFO sightings and supposed knowledge of alien existence.

The Pentagon released a report saying they'd found no evidence of UFO sightings or an alien cover-up.

The 63-page document represents the most extensive rebuttal by the Pentagon in recent years, addressing widespread suspicions of hidden information on extraterrestrial activity.

ARRO (All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office) issued the report to Congress under the 2023 National Defense Authorization Act. It details the government's records related to extraterrestrial phenomena since 1945.

AARO found no evidence confirming unidentified anomalous phenomenon (UAP) as extraterrestrial technology — most were ordinary objects or misidentified phenomena.AARO debunked various claims, including involvement in extraterrestrial experimentation and alleged intelligence documents.Reviewing one incident, AARO determined a sample from an alleged crashed spacecraft was a terrestrial alloy, not off-world technology.Claims of military officers witnessing extraterrestrial technology tests were also refuted in the review.It dismisses allegations of government involvement in capturing or reverse engineering alien technology, saying that sensitive government programs are unrelated to extraterrestrial matters.While acknowledging a surge in unusual observations, including those attributed to secret government flights and modern technology like drones and satellites, the report states that none of these sightings involved alien spacecraft.Despite conducting interviews with individuals claiming direct knowledge of a cover-up, the Pentagon found no corroborating evidence to support their claims.

Conspiracy theories complicate efforts to address public skepticism

Fan wears "I want to believe" UFO t-shirt in front of FOX's "The X-Files" UFO episode event featuring UFO model.Tommaso Boddi / Getty Images

The Pentagon concluded that most reports likely result from misidentification due to a lack of domain awareness.Despite efforts to counter claims of secrecy, the report acknowledges that public skepticism will inevitably persist.The lack of conclusive evidence has fueled conspiracy theories, complicating efforts to address popular beliefs about UFOs and aliens.The report affirms that previous efforts to debunk misinformation, including congressional testimonies and scientific analyses, have not swayed public opinion.Last year, the US military released combat drone footage of a mysterious object resembling a silver orb. The Pentagon said it wasn't aliens.At the time, the director of AARO told Congress they were reviewing more than 650 UAP incidents reported by US military personnel but none had yielded any evidence of extraterrestrial activity.In 2019, NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden tried to shut down conspiracy theories surrounding aliens. He said when he trawled through CIA databases, he couldn't find any evidence supporting claims of covert government involvement in extraterrestrial activity."Everybody wants to believe in conspiracy theories because it helps life make sense," he told Joe Rogan. "It helps us believe that somebody is in control, that somebody is calling the shots."

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Pentagon report says there are no UFOs or aliens but accepts popular beliefs will endure

Conspiracy theories complicate efforts to address public skepticism