Aliens, flying saucers and sightings: a brief history of UFOs in the United States

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(CNN) - UFOs are real! Just ask the United States Navy.

U.S. Navy He has just recognized that three clips of declassified military images released between 2017 and 2018 are actually “unidentified aerial phenomena” (UAP). They are his words, not ours.

The UAPs are only a fraction of the raids that Navy training camps see, Navy spokesman Joe Gradisher told CNN. Which, of course, raises the question: are we really alone?

U.S. Navy just confirmed that these UFO videos are real

Belief in extraterrestrial encounters has long been a prominent feature of American life. A 1997 CNN / Time survey on the 50th anniversary of the Roswell incident found that 80% of Americans think that the government conceals knowledge of the existence of extraterrestrial life forms.

There are thousands and thousands of UFO sightings reported, but in light of the recent US Navy UAP recognition, here is a look at some of the closest third-type encounters in the United States.

Blue Book Project

Many of the claims of well-known aliens come from the Blue Book Project, the name of the US government program responsible for investigating UFO reports from 1948 to 1969.

At that time, Air Force personnel observed 12,618 reported UFO sightings and said 701 remain "unidentified."

But in the end, the project concluded: "No UFO reported, investigated and evaluated by the Air Force has given any indication of threat to our national security." The program also concluded that "unidentified" sightings were not advanced technology or extraterrestrial vehicles, according to the National Archives fact sheet.

The project was closed in 1969 due to its cost, the National Archives said.

"Since the Blue Book Project was closed, nothing has happened that indicates that the Air Force should resume UFO investigation," the archives said.

Roswell

Alien-dressed groups tour downtown Roswell, New Mexico, in July 2000 while participating in the annual UFO Encounter.

The city of Roswell in New Mexico became the abbreviation for encounters with aliens in 1947 after reports that a flying object crashed into a field.

The Roswell Army Airfield initially said a "flying disc" had been recovered, but a second press release clarified that the object was from a weather balloon. Since then, several alleged witnesses have said they saw the military remove the flying disc and the bodies of aliens.

Decades later, many Americans are skeptical of the government’s claim that it was a weather balloon. In that 1997 CNN / Time survey, almost two-thirds of respondents said they believed a UFO crashed in a field in that incident.

"We had a flying saucer in our possession," former Army Public Affairs Officer Walter Haut said in 1997.

Roswell, now home to the Roswell UFO Museum, remains an important destination for aliens enthusiasts seeking more evidence of their beliefs.

Area 51

Considered for a long time as the place where the U.S. government stores and hides extraterrestrial bodies and UFOs, the mysteriously named place in Nevada has been the focus of extraterrestrial conspiracies for decades.

The area has long been a focus of public interest for citizens and presidents alike. John Podesta, chief of staff of President Bill Clinton, said his former boss "had asked for information on some of these things and, in particular, information on what was happening in Area 51."

What is Area 51 and why does it cause such fascination? What we know and don't know

Area 51 has been a leading reference in pop culture and made a notable appearance in the alien invasion movie "Independence Day."

In 2013, the CIA declassified documents that officially recognized for the first time that Area 51 was a secret military site located a short distance northwest of Las Vegas.

But instead of housing flying saucers or extraterrestrial life, Area 51 was used to test the U-2 and OXCART aerial surveillance programs, according to the documents. The need for secrecy was to keep information about the Soviets, instead of covering up an alien encounter, they said.

UFOs and nuclear weapons

In 2010, seven former United States Air Force staff members described their personal encounters with UFO sightings at nuclear weapons facilities in incidents in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s.

Three of the former Air Force officers said UFOs hovered over nuclear missile silos around the Malmstrom Base of the Montana Air Force in 1967, causing problems with the military base. Robert Salas, a former Air Force captain, said one of his guards told him about a bright red object about 30 feet (9.1 meters) in diameter that hangs over the main door of the facility.

“And just when [I called my commander], our missiles began to enter what is called a non-activity condition, or they could not be launched. Essentially, they were deactivated while this object was still hovering over our site, ”said Salas.

Salas said he did not personally witness the UFO. But Robert Hastings, author and UFO researcher who organized the press conference, said the story series showed that aliens had a particular interest in nuclear weapons.

"I think, these gentlemen believe, that this planet is being visited by beings from another world, who for any reason have been interested in the nuclear arms race that began at the end of World War II," said Hastings.

Phoenix Lights incident

In March 1997, several Arizona residents said they witnessed a large flying object in the sky near Phoenix. Ten years later, former Arizona governor Fife Symington wrote on CNN about previous experience at an event in which several UFO sightings and incidents were discussed.

“I witnessed a huge delta-shaped ship that silently sails over Squaw Peak, a mountain range in Phoenix, Arizona. It was really impressive. I was absolutely stunned because I was turning west looking for the distant Phoenix Lights, ”Symington wrote. “To my surprise, this appearance arose; this excessively long, dramatically large and very distinctive with some huge lights traveling through the sky of Arizona. ”

Symington, a former Air Force officer, said it didn't look like a man-made object. And he dismissed the Air Force’s claim that the object was high-altitude flares.

“I was never happy with the dumb explanation of the Air Force. There may well have been military flares in the sky that night, but what I and hundreds of others saw had nothing to do with it, ”he wrote.

Symington thanked those who talked about their mysterious meetings and asked the United States Government to be more open about what really happened.

“We want the government to stop publishing stories that perpetuate the myth that all UFOs can be explained in conventional terms, with their feet on the ground. Investigations must be reopened, documents must be opened and the idea of ​​an open dialogue can no longer be rejected, ”he wrote.

A version of this piece first appeared in 2017.

UFO sighting