More than 350 reports of UFOs in the US since 2021 1:10
(CNN) --
UFOs are real!
Just ask the US government.
The United States has largely ignored reports of mysterious flying objects, but in recent years it has slowly begun to acknowledge UFO sightings, which the Pentagon refers to as unidentified aerial phenomena.
US reports more than 350 new UFO reports
But this is not something new.
In September 2019 the US Navy acknowledged that three clips of declassified military footage released between 2017 and 2018 are actually "unidentified aerial phenomena" (UAPs).
These are his words, not ours.
UAPs are only a fraction of the raids that Navy training grounds see, Navy spokesman Joe Gradisher told CNN.
Which, of course, begs the question: are we really alone?
What have the US Government and NASA said about UFOs?
Belief in alien encounters has long been a prominent feature of American life.
A 1997 CNN/Time poll on the 50th anniversary of the Roswell incident found that 80% of Americans think the government hides knowledge of the existence of extraterrestrial life forms.
There are thousands upon thousands of reported UFO sightings, but in light of the recent reconnaissance of US Navy UAPs, here's a look at some of the closest encounters of the third kind in America.
advertising
Project Blue Book
Many of the best-known alien claims come from Project Blue Book, the name of the US government program tasked with investigating UFO reports from 1948 to 1969.
At the time, Air Force personnel noted 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 a threat to our national security."
The program also concluded that the "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 Project Blue Book was closed, nothing has happened to indicate that the Air Force should resume UFO investigation," the files said.
roswell
Groups dressed as aliens walk through downtown Roswell, New Mexico, in July 2000 as they participate in the annual UFO Encounter.
The New Mexico town of Roswell became shorthand for alien encounters in 1947 after reports that a flying object crashed in a field.
The Roswell Army Air Field 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 frisbee and the bodies of the aliens.
Decades later, many Americans are skeptical of the government's claim that it was a weather balloon.
In that 1997 CNN/Time poll, nearly 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 a top destination for alien enthusiasts looking for more evidence of their beliefs.
Area 51
Long considered the place where the US government stores and hides alien bodies and UFOs, the mysteriously named location in Nevada has been the focus of alien conspiracies for decades.
The area has long been a focus of public interest for citizens and presidents alike.
John Podesta, President Bill Clinton's chief of staff, said his former boss "had asked for information on some of these things and, in particular, information on what was happening at Area 51."
What is Area 51 and why does it cause so much fascination? What we know and don't know
Area 51 has been a prominent pop culture reference and made a notable appearance in the alien invasion movie "Independence Day."
In 2013, the CIA declassified documents that officially acknowledged for the first time that Area 51 was a secret military site located a short drive northwest of Las Vegas.
But instead of hosting flying saucers or alien 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 from the Soviets, rather than cover up an alien encounter, they said.
UFOs and nuclear weapons
In 2010, seven former United States Air Force personnel 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 that UFOs hovered over nuclear missile silos around Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana in 1967, causing problems with the military base.
Robert Salas, a former Air Force captain, said one of his guards told him about a glowing red object about 30 feet (9.1 meters) in diameter looming over the front door of the facility.
"And just as [I called my commander], our missiles started to go into what's called a non-activity condition, or they couldn't launch. They essentially deactivated while this object was still hovering over our site," Salas said. .
Salas said he did not personally witness the UFO.
But Robert Hastings, an author and UFO researcher who organized the news conference, said the series of stories showed that aliens had a particular interest in nuclear weapons.
"I believe, these gentlemen believe, that this planet is being visited by beings from another world, who for whatever reason have become interested in the nuclear arms race that began at the end of World War II," Hastings said.
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 the experience leading up to an event in which various UFO sightings and incidents were discussed.
"I witnessed a huge delta-shaped ship silently sailing over Squaw Peak, a mountain range in Phoenix, Arizona. It was truly impressive. I was absolutely stunned as it was turning west looking for the distant Phoenix Lights," Symington wrote.
"To my surprise, this apparition emerged; this excessively long, dramatically large, and very distinctive thing with some huge lights was traveling across the Arizona sky."
Symington, a former Air Force officer, said it did not 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 Air Force's silly explanation. 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 spoke about his mysterious encounters and called on the US 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, down-to-earth terms. Investigations must be reopened, documents must be open and the idea of open dialogue no longer can be rejected," he wrote.
A version of this piece first appeared in 2017.
SightingUFOs