Hundreds of UFO sightings have been reported in the US in recent months, according to a senior Pentagon official.
Sean Kirkpatrick, director of the Pentagon office established to investigate potential UFO sightings, told CNN that his office received approximately 800 reports of unidentified objects as of this past April, up from 650 reports in August 2022.
He said nearly all of the reports relate to objects seen in the air, with only one being a maritime sighting.
Mr Kirkpatrick said there is potential for “hundreds, if not thousands” more reports in the future.
While about half of the objects sighted are determined to be “mundane things” such as balloons or drones, Mr Kirkpatrick warned that some may be the result of America’s adversaries trying to spy on the nation.
“There are some indicators that are concerning that may be attributed to foreign activity, and we are investigating those very hard,” he said.
He added that between two and four per cent of reports are truly anomalous and require further investigation. Meanwhile, “a very small percentage” of reports have “interesting” signatures, such as high-speed travel or “unknown morphologie,” he said.
His revelations come after the Pentagon released a report on unidentified aerial phenomena which found that most sightings are reported close to restricted military airspace – likely a result of additional sensors and radars around the facilities.
The report concluded that such object sightings may pose a safety issue for flights.
An ‘unidentified aerial phenomena’, commonly referred to as a UFO, is shown on a TV monitor during a House hearing— (EPA)
However, the report also found the increase in sightings can be accounted for by the Federal Aviation Administration, which monitors airspace around US airports, beginning to provide information to the Pentagon.
Nonetheless, the uptick in sightings is still somewhat a cause for concern for Mr Kirkpatrick’s office. “Although none of these UAP reports have been positively attributed to foreign activities, these cases continue to be investigated,” he said.
“There are ways to hide in our noise that always concern me,” he added, referring to the extraneous readings picked up by US radars and other sensors. “I am worried from a national security perspective.”
His concerns come after a Chinese spy balloon was shot down in February off the coast of South Carolina.
The balloon caused concern after it flew into US airspace, where it remained for a week.
The Pentagon later found the balloon did not collect any intelligence information. However, the Pentagon said the balloon had “intelligence collection capabilities”.
A Chinese spy balloon was shot down in February off the coast of South Carolina— (Chad Fish)
The report also comes at a time when public interest in UFOs is growing rapidly. A July hearing in Congress on the matter drew significant attention from the public after veteran and former member of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency David Grusch testified during a congressional hearing that the US government is in possession of “intact” craft of “non-human origin” from UAP crash sites.
But Mr Kirkpatrick dismissed these claims, telling CNN Mr Grusch has “no evidence that suggests anything extraterrestrial in nature”.
“If anybody thinks that they know where those things are, they should be coming to talk to us,” he added. “That’s why we have set up this entire architecture for people to securely come in and talk to us.”
Meanwhile, public interest in UFOs was stirred up again in September when self-described UFO expert Jaime Maussan testified in front of the Mexican Congress that he had discovered two “non-human” corpses that are not part of “our terrestrial evolution”.
Mr Maussan’s claims have not been proven and he has previously been associated with claims of discoveries that have later been debunked.
Remains of an allegedly ‘non-human’ being is seen on display in a box during a briefing on unidentified flying objects— (REUTERS)
A formal office to investigate reports of UAPs, which Mr Kirkpatrick heads up, was established under the Biden administration.
As the office continues to grow, the Pentagon is preparing for a flood of new reports as it readies two new portals for members of the public to report sightings.
Current or former government employees and contractors will also soon be able to report historical sightings, while members of the public will be able to report new sightings.
The portal for historical sightings is set to open sometime in the next month or so, Mr Kirkpatrick told CNN, while the portal for new sightings is still several months away.
