US says UFO sightings likely secret military tests

Most sightings of UFOs were ordinary objects from Earth, report says. Pentagon officials accept that their research won’t quell popular beliefs about alien visitors. The proliferation of television programmes, books, movies, and the vast amount of internet and social media content centred on UAP-related topics most likely has influenced the public conversation on this topic. Pentagon report says public opinion has been swayed by pop culture.

Report is part of a broad public attempt by the US government to examine UFOs. The effort has included public meetings with Nasa officials and hearings in Congress. A Pentagon spokesperson said that officials had simply found no evidence of extra-terrestrial visitors. The AARO examined archives and classified files and reviewed all official government investigations dating back to 1945.

The report lists new technologies that researchers believe led to spikes in UAP reports in the 1950s and 60s. They included high-altitude balloons - one of which inspired waves of UFO speculation when it crashed near Roswell, New Mexico in 1947. More than half of UFO reports investigated at the time were determined to be US reconnaissance flights, according to an assessment by the Central Intelligence Agency. A number of secret research projects involved the development of aircraft that looked circular or saucer-shaped - matching the image of alien spacecraft in popular imagination.

UAP content in popular culture is more pervasive now than ever, according to the AARO. This is due to a lack of trust in the US government and the popularity of alien-related content online. The AARo has promised to issue a further report examining more recent rumours at a later date.

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