Aliens and civilisations beyond Earth: Pentagon report adds to UFO enigma

Report references 144 incidents since 2004 where US service personnel reported close encounters with unidentifiable aerial objects

The absence of evidence is not the evidence of absence, goes a legal saw. So, are there aliens zipping around Earth in high-tech flying vehicles, and have they been doing so for decades?  We have no concrete evidence of this, but it can’t be ruled out.

The Pentagon’s just released unclassified report on UFOs (unidentified flying objects) or UAPs (unidentified aerial phenomenon), as the US military refers to them, adds to the mystery.

The nine-page report references 144 incidents starting 2004, where US service personnel (mainly naval pilots) reported close encounters with aerial objects that they couldn’t identify. There are stills and video footage of several incidents. In many cases, there were multiple witnesses. YouTube contains authentic footage as well as interviews with some of the witnesses.

In 80 incidents, the UAPs registered on one or more sensor systems, along with visual observations. Military aircraft also processed radio frequency energy associated with UAP sightings. This guarantees the UAPs were physical objects of some description. Optical sensors give an idea of size, shape and structure, while radio frequency observations provide accurate velocity and range data.

Just one of those 144 incidents has been explained – it was a large balloon that looked weird since it was rapidly deflating. In 18 incidents, observers reported unusual UAP movement patterns or flight characteristics. Some UAPs appeared to remain stationary in high winds, move against the wind, manoeuver abruptly or move at speed without discernible means of propulsion. The objects also lacked visible flight-control surfaces (meaning wings, tails, etc). In 11 cases, the UAPs nearly caused accidents.

The incidents were taken seriously. They were reported by individuals, who were sane and presumably sober as well as used to cutting-edge technology. They were perceived to pose a threat to flight safety and security. In some cases, the objects appeared clustered over sensitive military installations, or assets like naval ships and aircraft.

The report, however, doesn’t identify a single aerial object as being of alien origin. Nor has the US ever admitted to actual physical possession of any UAP. The report instead suggests there is probably “no single explanation” and offers several possible ones. These are “airborne clutter”, natural atmospheric phenomena, US government or industry research programmes developing secret weapons, “foreign adversary systems”, or something else – an “Other” category. “Clutter” includes birds, balloons, recreational drones, or debris such as plastic bags. Atmospheric phenomena may include ice crystals, moisture and thermal fluctuations that register on some infrared and radar systems.

Unofficially, senior Pentagon officials have said there is insufficient data to determine if these UAPs are advanced human technology, strange atmospheric phenomena, or extra-terrestrial. So that “Other” category must include alien tech, however unlikely it seems.

Reports of UFOs have been around since the late 1940s. Area 51 – a US air force base in the New Mexico desert – is supposedly the epicentre of various black research programmes. According to some theories, it also contains the remnants of one or several alien vehicles, and the bodies of aliens.

The report lacks detail, apart from being written in cautious bureaucratese. One piece of data that could be useful is how many UAPs were investigated and explained satisfactorily in the same period. Another would be similar reports from other defence establishments.

Is there life elsewhere? Almost certainly, and it could even be of a familiar type. There are likely to be millions, if not billions, of planets that are Earth-like in size, with similar atmospheres, access to solar energy, gravities, etc.

Are there technologically advanced alien civilisations? Quite possibly. The famous Drake Equation suggests, given the vast number of stars and planets, even if one in a million planets develops life, and one in a million species develops intelligence, that could still result in a large number of technically advanced alien civilisations.

But while space contains vast arrays of stars and planets, it also contains a lot of, well, space, and it’s expanding. Meaning, distances are growing. Unless there is a way to travel a great deal faster than light, and that means throwing all we know about physics out of the window, it would take millennia to come to Earth even from the closest stars. It’s improbable a technologically advanced civilisation would exist, and be close enough, to have sent UAPs to check out Earth.

The release of the report will not silence alien theorists. Indeed, they will see their case strengthened by 143 unexplained incidents. The non-believers will also see their case as strengthened by the absence of any concrete evidence of alien involvement.

Let’s recall another old saw: Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. It would be against the odds for aliens to have been checking Earth out for eight-odd decades, without being definitively discovered and identified. Other explanations, however improbable they could seem, are more likely to fit what we know about UAPs.