Opinion: The strange objects in US airspace may be an even bigger problem than we thought

[jacob scott]

Editor’s Note: Editor’s Note: Peter Bergen is CNN’s national security
analyst, a vice president at New America, and a professor of practice at
Arizona State University. The views expressed in this commentary are his
own. View more opinion on CNN.

CNN
—
Last month, the US Office of the Director of National Intelligence
released a report about “Unidentified Aerial Phenomena” — in plain
English, unidentified flying objects or UFOs.

The US military on February 4 shot down a Chinese spy balloon (which
Beijing said was a weather balloon), followed by the downing of two
unidentified flying objects on Friday and Saturday in US and Canadian
airspace, which Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer told ABC were likely
also balloons.

Then on Sunday, the US military shot down a fourth flying object, this
time over Lake Huron in Michigan.

In the wake of those actions, the report by America’s intelligence
community is worth examining since it may shed some light on what is
happening here.

January’s UFO report had a striking finding: The number of UFO sightings
significantly increased between March 2021 and August 2022, during which
time 247 new sightings were reported, mostly by US Navy and Air Force
pilots and personnel. That’s almost double the 144 UFO sightings reported
in the 17-year period between 2004 to 2021.

The report suggested that the increase may be because there is less
“stigma” associated with reporting UFO sightings, now that the Pentagon is
actively pushing service personnel to report any “anomalies” seen in the
sky.

Indeed, in July, the Pentagon established a new entity, the All-domain
Anomaly Resolution Office, to investigate credible sightings of UFOs by
the US military and intelligence community.

This is part of a relatively new push by Congress and the Pentagon to make
sense of more than 500 credible UFO sightings over the past couple of
decades.

The report by the US intelligence community found that a large number of
those sightings, 163, were balloons or “balloon-like entities,” while 26
were unmanned aircraft systems, i.e., drones. An unspecified number of
sightings were “attributable to sensor irregularities or variances, such
as operator or equipment error.”

There were 171 unidentified object sightings, however, for which no
explanation was found, and some of those objects “demonstrated unusual
flight characteristics or performance capabilities.”

The report also noted that UFO sightings “continue to occur in restricted
or sensitive airspace, highlighting possible concerns for safety of
flight.” It added that the sightings could point to “adversary collection
activity,” suggesting that UFOs found around sensitive US military
installations could be a foreign power spying on them.

There is undoubtedly much more to learn about those 171 UFO sightings,
which still have no good explanations. Are they the work of a foreign
power probing US air defenses? Are they relatively innocuous, such as
errant balloons?

Congress should convene hearings to get to the bottom of this. The public
has a right to understand why objects are flying around in American
airspace that the Pentagon and the US intelligence community can’t
identify.

<https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/12/opinions/china-military-ufo-shoot-down-
spy-balloon-bergen/index.html>

[Kym Horsell]

A summary of the 3AF-sponsored conf on UFO science is available here

<https://www.3af.fr/agenda/3af-sigma2-webinar-1-on-uap-optical-observables-2270>

While maybe a surprise to English-speaking scientists, the
research and acceptance of the phenomena are well-established in
other countries countries.
(The AI's characterise those countries keeping UFO's secret as alsmost exclusively with a history of fossil fuel development & production).

Some comments from speakers addressed the reports of UFO's held in
secret by one or more countries. Scientists said if extreme secrecy
was relaxed it would be both of benefit for scientists trying to
confirm their theories about how UFO's appear and operate, as well as
make available existing work on possible new propulsion systems to
help various militaries get the craft operating, given various parties
may be having trouble understanding what they had.

The conf also included lots of details of how "shape changing" UFO's
may work, as well as recent unusual sightings by various govts and
militaries around the world including a detailed analysis of the
non-mundane "rubber ducky" sighting.

--
A vast array of our most sophisticated sensors, including space-based
platforms, have been utilized by different agencies, typically in
triplicate, to observe and accurately identify the out-of-this-world
nature, performance, and design of these anomalous machines, which are
then determined not to be of earthly origin.
-- Jonathan Grey, NASIC intel officer, Wright Patterson AFB, 06 Jun 2023

Astronomers, Scientists, and Experts Convene in Paris, France, to Study
Aerial Mysteries
The Debrief, 21 Jun 2023
A recent conference in Paris, France, brought together leading
scientists to delve into the study of unidentified aerial phenomena
(UAP), exploring optical observables and striving for a unified
approach to identify and understand these mysterious aerial objects.
On June 16th, the French Aeronautical and Astronautical Association's
UAP technical committee, "Sigma 2," held its first international
conference on Unidentified Aerial Phenomena. Designed to give an
overview of the ongoing scientific research regarding Unidentified
Aerial Phenomena, the day-long event centered around optical
observables, the different ways and methods to record UAP and specific
optical signatures that can be used to help identify them.
Sigma 2's Chairman Luc Dini began by reminding the audience that,
despite recent debates, UAP were indeed real phenomena that can be
recorded, specifically with cameras from ultraviolet to infrared
spectrum. He then listed the various ongoing scientific efforts
regarding UAP and explained the goal of the conference: to find the
common denominator between optical signatures of UAP to better identify
them.

Senator Admits UFO Whistleblower Report Tracks With Official Briefing
Hosted on MSN, 21 Jun 2023 15:44Z
Senator Admits UFO Whistleblower Report Tracks With Official Briefing
Senator Josh Hawley said a recent UFO whistleblower's report is
"pretty close" to information he received in a briefing after the ...
[Pretty embarrassing. The Pentagon had denied most of Grusch's story
about captured tech and dead bodies; now it turns out they had told
Senators much the same stuff in secret briefings].

Coming to a Rooftop Near You: A UFO-Spotting Spycam
The Daily Beast, 17 Jun 2023 07:11Z
Worse for Fox Mulder-style true believers, no one's even looking for
extraterrestrials near Earth--at least not with any real ...
[Bzzt! Some people are searching for movement in the images from space
telescopes. Something seems to be going on out there:
<kym.massbus.org/UFO/TESS/movie2023Apr05c.avi> or
<kym.massbus.org/UFO/TESS/movie2023Apr07.avi>.
Interestingly, the "something" seems to be highly correlated with people
seeing things in the sky over N America over the next several days.
Don't worry -- the data shows our govts have had this all secretly under
control for the at least the past 80 years].

UFO expert claims that the south pole is a 'air traffic control' for aliens
Indy 100 on MSN, 15 Jun 2023 09:28Z
You may have been hearing a lot about UFOs lately, and that's largely thanks
to Ufologist Dr. Steven Greer who has been ...
[Whacky? Not a fan of Greer but some evidence for the claim. Some
science bases in Antarctica are "on top of" regions where local
conditions highly correlate with UFO sightings over N Am in the
following days. One such US base seems to have been moved without much
explanation 20+ years ago perhaps because of the local "traffic"].

Vegas UFO mystery deepens as cops install cameras at home where residents
reported seeing 'aliens'
Hosted on MSN, 14 Jun 2023 13:24Z
But I can tell you right now. Cops don't come out and put up expensive video
equipment up like that -- and they certainly wouldn't for someone calling in
a report about a UFO.' During the initial 911 ...

US military granted unimpeded access to key Papua New Guinea defence
facilities in new security agreement
ABC News, 14 Jun 2023 10:23Z
The United States military is being given "unimpeded access" to key PNG
defence facilities, including the joint PNG-Australia Lombrum Naval Base on
Manus Island, as part of a sweeping Defence Cooperation Agreement.
[Look at the hot spots on some of the maps: there's one in the Coral Sea
associated with certain UFO and humanoid sightings].