Page 18 - The 'X' Chronicles Newspaper - May / June 2019

18 Navy Plans to Document UFO Sightings

Navy Plans to Document about a bizarre aircraft that appeared to Mountain View, California.
accelerate quickly, even though it had no "It will make everybody happy because
UFO Sightings, But Keep recognizable means of propulsion. These it sounds like a move toward transparency,"

aircraft, which looked like blobs on the video, Shostak told Live Science.
Them Confidential could allegedly drive thousands of feet in an With this announcement, the Navy
instant. benefits not only because it will formally
By Laura Geggel By creating this new program, the Navy investigate these strange sightings, which may
hopes to destigmatize any reporting associated well be reconnaissance or enemy aircraft from
with incidents that involve UFOs, which could, other nations; the Navy is also winning a nod
Extraterrestrials, take note: The U.S. Navy plans
after all, be militarized aircraft from other parts from the roughly two-thirds of Americans who
to set up an official reporting and investigative
system that will monitor reports from its pilots of the world. think that the government isn't divulging
about unidentified flying objects. "There have been a number of reports of everything it knows about extraterrestrials and
But while this "X-Files"-worthy unauthorized and/or unidentified aircraft UFOs, said Shostak, citing a 2002 study on
entering various military-controlled ranges and attitudes about aliens.
operation sounds newsy, don't expect to hear
designated air space in recent years," the Navy That said, the government probably isn't
details about it anytime soon. The Navy doesn't
told Politico, which broke the story. "For safety formalizing this program because it's looking for
intend to make the data public, citing the
and security concerns, the Navy and the [U.S. E.T.
privileged and classified information that these
Air Force] takes these reports very seriously and "The military is interested in this stuff
reports usually include, according to The
investigates each and every report." not because they think that Klingons are sailing
Washington Post. In fact, beyond the
announcement that the Navy is setting up this The public may get a whiff of these in the skies, but I think because maybe they
UFO-reporting procedure, "no release of incidents eventually, although the details may be think the Chinese or the Russians are sailing
information to the general public is expected," scarce. For instance, perhaps unclassified parts, through the skies," Shostak said. []
broad overviews or statistics about the number
Gradisher said.
of sightings could be released, Luis Elizondo, an
The upcoming procedure comes in the
intelligence officer who ran AATIP before
wake of other government-related UFO news. In
leaving the Pentagon, told The Washington Post.
late 2017, word came out that the Pentagon had
"If it remains strictly within classified
a secret "UFO" office that spent $22 million
channels, then the 'right person' may not actually
over five years to study strange and threatening
aeronautical events. Although funding for the get the information," Elizondo said. "The right
venture, called the Advanced Aerospace Threat person doesn't necessarily mean a military
Identification Program (AATIP), ended in 2012, leader. It can be a lawmaker. It can be a whole
host of different individuals."
the program didn't entirely stop, according to
The government is making a smart move
those reports.
by announcing its intentions to formally
When news of AATIP became public in
document and analyze these UFOs, said Seth
2017, the Defense Department released two
Shostak, a senior astronomer at the Search for
declassified videos, which showed pilots talking
Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) Institute in