The Pentagon has officially released videos it says shows "unidentified" flying objects speeding through the sky to clear up questions that the previously leaked footage was real.
The three videos, taken by US Navy pilots during training flights in 2004 and 2015, have been the subject of eager speculation since they were published between December 2017 and March 2018 by To The Stars Academy of Arts and Sciences.
The videos have been officially released “to clear up any misconceptions by the public on whether or not the footage that has been circulating was real or whether or not there is more to the videos,” the Department of Defence said in a statement, which confirmed that “the aerial phenomena observed in the videos remain characterised as ‘unidentified'.”
“After a thorough review, the department has determined that the authorised release of these unclassified videos does not reveal any sensitive capabilities or systems, and does not impinge on any subsequent investigations of military air space incursions by unidentified aerial phenomena,” the statement said.
In two of the videos, US navy pilots can be heard speculating that the object may be a drone. A pilot who saw one of the unidentified objects in 2004, previously told CNN that it moved in an unusual way.
"As I got close to it ... it rapidly accelerated to the south, and disappeared in less than two seconds," said retired US Navy pilot David Fravor. "This was extremely abrupt, like a ping pong ball, bouncing off a wall. It would hit and go the other way," he said.
The Navy has since released formal guidelines for reporting UFO sightings.
Former Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, who launched a programme – since terminated – to study recordings of aerial encounters with unknown objects, tweeted on Monday to say the footage “only scratches the surface of research and materials available.”
“I’m glad the Pentagon is finally releasing this footage, but it only scratches the surface of research and materials available. The US needs to take a serious, scientific look at this and any potential national security implications. The American people deserve to be informed,” he said.
