The Truth is Emerging: What Governments Are Now Saying About UFOs (UAPs)

In July 2021, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) released its first-ever public report on UAPs, acknowledging 144 military encounters with unexplained aerial phenomena. Of these, 143 remained unexplained.

A follow-up March 2024 Pentagon report (read the full text here) made further waves by stating that “some UAPs exhibit flight characteristics beyond known technology.”

|  “We cannot rule out non-human intelligence,” the report concluded.

From Laughing Stock to Legitimate: How UAPs Entered the Mainstream

🔹 1. 2017 New York Times Bombshell

In December 2017, The New York Times published a groundbreaking article titled:

“Glowing Auras and ‘Black Money’: The Pentagon’s Mysterious UFO Program”

This article revealed that the U.S. Department of Defense had been secretly operating a program called the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP) since 2007, with a $22 million budget. It was led by Luis Elizondo, who later went public to push for transparency on UAPs.

🔗 Read the article

🔹 2. Leaked Navy Videos (2004–2015)

Three U.S. Navy videos, labeled “FLIR1,” “Gimbal,” and “GoFast”, captured military pilots encountering UAPs exhibiting impossible flight characteristics:

• Instant acceleration

• No visible propulsion

• No heat signature

• Ability to hover, then dart at hypersonic speeds

The videos were officially declassified and confirmed as authentic by the Pentagon in 2020.

🔗 See the videos on the U.S. Navy website

(AARO, NASA, and U.S. Intelligence Agencies)
Last major updates: March 2024 – February 2025

Over the past two years, both the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) and NASA have taken the lead in formalizing the U.S. government’s investigation of Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAPs). These efforts are part of a widening institutional push for scientific inquiry, public accountability, and national security assessment regarding the UAP issue.

Published by: U.S. Department of Defense
Full Title: “Report on the Historical Record of U.S. Government Involvement with Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena”
🔗 Read the full AARO report (PDF)

Key Takeaways:

• No verified evidence of extraterrestrial origin was found in over 70 years of government investigations, but dozens of incidents remain unexplained due to incomplete data or sensor anomalies.

• The U.S. has never recovered a confirmed alien spacecraft or “non-human biologics”, according to this report.

• Many UAP reports were linked to:

  • Spy drones or surveillance aircraft

  • Balloon debris

  • Sensor malfunctions or human error

BUT—Notably, the report did not deny:

• That advanced craft had been observed by credible military witnesses.

• That classified material exists which remains outside the purview of AARO.

• That retrieved “anomalous materials” (possibly exotic alloys) have been examined by defense contractors such as Battelle and Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works (information currently unconfirmed but under Congressional inquiry).

“We cannot rule out foreign adversary programs, but we are also not in a position to definitively attribute certain UAPs to known sources.”
— Dr. Sean Kirkpatrick, Director of AARO, March 2024

Lead: Dr. David Spergel (Astrophysicist, NASA Science Panel Chair)

🔗 NASA UAP Report Overview

Key Findings:

• NASA found no direct evidence of extraterrestrial technology—but emphasized that the current data is insufficient for firm conclusions.

• UAPs are a real phenomenon, observed across multiple sensor systems (visual, radar, infrared), and deserve scientific investigation.

• The report urged the removal of stigma around UAP research to promote open data sharing among military, intelligence, and civilian institutions.

NASA’s New UAP Strategy:

• Appointed a new Director of UAP Research (identity classified for security reasons).

• Proposes to use earth observation satellites, AI data analysis, and crowdsourced citizen science tools (like smartphone tracking apps) to gather new UAP data.

• Recommends open-access, peer-reviewed analysis of all UAP-related sensor data moving forward.

“The most important thing is that we treat this as a scientific problem. If we want answers, we need better data—not assumptions.”
— Dr. David Spergel, NASA UAP Panel Chair

Summary Comparison: AARO vs. NASA

The era of official silence and mockery toward Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAPs) has ended. For decades, citizens who reported sightings were laughed off, discredited, or ignored. Today, the message is dramatically different: governments acknowledge UAPs are real—and they don’t know what they are.

No More Denial: UAPs Are Real, Just Unresolved

Major U.S. agencies—including the Pentagon, NASA, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and even Canadian and European defense ministries—now publicly confirm that UAPs exist. While they have not officially concluded that these objects are extraterrestrial in origin, they have acknowledged them as unidentified, anomalous, and of unknown provenance.

“We are not dealing with weather balloons or conventional drones. These are objects with flight characteristics beyond our current understanding.”
— Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee

This is a seismic shift in public policy: where there was once secrecy and ridicule, there is now curiosity and disclosure.

Science Steps Up: NASA Leads the Call for Transparency

In a historic move, NASA joined the investigation in 2023, signaling that UAP research must no longer be the exclusive domain of military intelligence. Their goal is to turn the study of UAPs into mainstream science—driven by data, free from stigma, and accessible to the public.

• NASA’s UAP Study Panel has called for:

  • More data from civilian pilots and commercial satellites

  • Artificial intelligence tools to analyze video and radar data

  • Public participation through open science and citizen reporting tools

“The stigma has prevented good science. We’re here to change that.”
— Dr. David Spergel, Chair of NASA’s UAP Study

This marks the first time in history that a major space agency has publicly prioritized UAP research.

From Dismissive to Investigative: A Cultural Shift

Between 1947 and the early 2000s, public officials often brushed off UAP sightings with explanations like:

• “Venus”

• “Weather balloons”

• “Swamp gas”

Now, trained military observers, astronauts, airline pilots, and radar operators are backed by their governments when reporting these anomalies.

Governments and scientists are saying: we believe you—and we need to investigate.

Why This Matters: A Wake-Up Call for Humanity

UAPs aren’t just visual oddities. They’ve been tracked:

• Hovering near nuclear weapons sites

• Darting around U.S. Navy carrier groups

• Appearing over commercial airliners

• Entering and exiting the ocean without a splash (transmedium behavior)

And they’ve done all this:

• Without visible engines

• Without sonic booms

• Sometimes outmaneuvering fighter jets

These aren’t stories. These are military reports, radar logs, cockpit footage, and eyewitness accounts from career professionals.

Implications Go Far Beyond “Are They Aliens?”

Let’s set aside for a moment whether UAPs are of non-human origin. Even if they aren’t:

• What if a foreign adversary has developed tech decades beyond us?

• What if unknown atmospheric or physical phenomena are occurring regularly—and we’ve ignored them?

• What if we’ve missed the chance to understand a new layer of physics because we didn’t want to look?

These questions are not abstract—they touch on:

• National security

• Air safety

• Scientific discovery

• Global cooperation

“The question isn’t do they exist anymore—it’s what are they?”
— Dr. Sean Kirkpatrick, Director of AARO

That shift—from denial to investigation—is arguably one of the most consequential changes in modern government transparency.

A Turning Point in History?

The UAP phenomenon, now taken seriously by national governments and world-class scientific agencies, may turn out to be:

• The start of a technological awakening

• The path to interstellar understanding

• Or a wake-up call about gaps in our perception of reality

Whatever the answer, the door is now open, and we, as a society, are walking through it.

Though often overshadowed by the U.S. in media coverage of UAP disclosures, Canada has quietly been stepping up its own investigation into unidentified aerial phenomena—particularly in coordination with NORAD (North American Aerospace Defense Command).

🔹 Canada’s Historical Involvement

Canada has had a long-standing awareness of UAPs, with government documents referencing UFO reports going back to the 1950s. Some highlights include:

• Project Second Storey: A Cold War-era Royal Canadian Air Force project that tracked UFO sightings.

• Transport Canada’s CADORS System: Still today, pilots report UAPs to the Civil Aviation Daily Occurrence Reporting System (CADORS), a publicly accessible aviation database.

🔗 CADORS Database

🔹 February 2024: Canada’s UAP Report & Research Proposal

In early 2024, CTV News broke the story that Canada’s top government scientist had formally recommended the creation of an official, federally backed UAP research initiative.

Key points from the leaked document:

• Urged scientific collaboration with NORAD and NASA

• Highlighted the growing number of UAP sightings over Canadian airspace and Arctic routes

• Warned that foreign adversaries or unknown technologies could be operating undetected

🔗 CTV Coverage

🔹 NORAD’s Central Role in North American UAP Detection

NORAD, headquartered in Colorado Springs, is a binational U.S.-Canada command tasked with aerospace warning and control for North America.

In 2023–2025, NORAD has:

• Confirmed UAP tracking events over Alaska, Yukon, and northern Quebec

• Used F-22 Raptors and CF-18 Hornets to investigate unidentified high-altitude craft

• Responded to a series of incidents involving unidentified balloons and transmedium objects

Following the infamous Chinese balloon shootdown in 2023, NORAD upgraded its surveillance posture, now including:

• Arctic radar coverage

• High-altitude balloon tracking

• Integrated UAP detection systems tied to AARO

“Canada is no longer on the sidelines. We are part of the detection network and response architecture.”
— General Wayne Eyre, Chief of the Defence Staff (Canada), 2024

What Comes Next for Canada?

• Parliament has called for increased funding for civilian and military research into anomalous phenomena.

• A push is underway to create a Canadian version of AARO to independently assess UAP events over national airspace.

• Citizen science groups like Sky Canada Project have also begun organizing open-source skywatch data using high-resolution cameras, radar feeds, and AI filters.

Here’s a chronological summary of the major UAP-related events that have redefined the global discourse:

Source: Pentagon UAP Report, March 2024

Read the full report summary here

Commander David Fravor (US Navy)

• Pilot involved in the 2004 Tic Tac UAP encounter off the USS Nimitz

• Describes an object that defied known physics—no wings, no exhaust, radar jamming ability

“It accelerated from a hover to out of radar range in under a second.”

Ryan Graves (US Navy)

• Former Navy F/A-18 pilot who testified to “regular, near-daily UAP encounters” off the U.S. East Coast between 2014–2015

• Claims objects would appear in restricted airspace, hover, and maneuver dangerously close to military aircraft

“These are not rare or isolated. They’re observed frequently.”

Thanks to increasing bipartisan support in Congress, whistleblowers now have expanded legal protections:

• 2023 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) included provisions that:

  • Protect whistleblowers from retaliation

  • Mandate disclosure of non-earth origin material to Congress

  • Require the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) to investigate historical claims dating back to 1945

“It is now a felony to withhold UAP-related data from congressional inquiry.”
— Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, 2024

These individuals aren’t anonymous message board posters or backyard skywatchers. They are:

• Highly credentialed intelligence and military officials

• Operating under oath, legal protection, and oversight

• Risking careers, reputations, and personal safety to expose hidden truths

Whether or not every detail is accurate, the volume and consistency of claims from credible sources make it increasingly difficult to dismiss the possibility that governments may know more than they’ve publicly admitted.

Summary Table: Key Whistleblower Testimonies

How governments and media shaped public perception—and suppressed the truth—for over 75 years

For decades, reports of unidentified flying objects—now known as UAPs—were met with a uniform global response: ridicule, misdirection, and dismissal.

Governments and their aligned institutions worked not only to withhold information but to actively shape public perception, using mainstream media as a tool to discredit witnesses and maintain control over the narrative.

“The subject of UFOs is not taken seriously—not because the facts are unworthy of serious investigation, but because they have been actively marginalized.”
— Leslie Kean, investigative journalist, author of “UFOs: Generals, Pilots and Government Officials Go on the Record”

Declassified documents and Senate hearings in the 1970s revealed Operation Mockingbird, a covert CIA program that recruited journalists and editors to spread propaganda and control narratives during the Cold War.

• While not explicitly created for UFO suppression, Mockingbird’s structure and methods were used to marginalize sensitive topics like UAPs, mind control, and covert technology development.

• CIA documents from the late 1950s and 1960s explicitly discuss using the media to downplay UFO sightings.

“The Agency is to take every measure to debunk UFO reports, encouraging the media to ridicule witnesses.”
— CIA memo from 1953 Robertson Panel

🔗 Declassified CIA UFO documents archive

After a surge of credible UFO sightings in the late 1940s and early 1950s—including the famous 1947 Roswell incident and Washington D.C. radar blip encounters (1952)—the CIA convened the Robertson Panel.

Its conclusion?

• UFOs were not necessarily a threat, but public interest in them was.

• Recommended a “debunking campaign” using:

  • Television

  • Comic books

  • Mainstream newspapers

• Advocated for ridiculing the topic to “reduce public interest.”

This is arguably where intentional UAP disinformation truly began.

In July 1947, the U.S. Army issued a press release claiming it had recovered a “flying disc” near Roswell, New Mexico. Within 24 hours, the story changed: it was now just a “weather balloon.”

Decades later, documents and whistleblower accounts revealed:

• Multiple witnesses saw non-human bodies

• Debris was described as metallic, ultra-light, and unlike anything known

• The military sealed the area, silenced witnesses, and flew debris to classified facilities

The case was reinvestigated in 1994 by the U.S. Air Force, which issued a report again blaming “Project Mogul,” a secret balloon program—yet failed to explain witness testimony or the immediate reversal of the original press release.

🔗 USAF Roswell Report – “Case Closed” (1994)

Hollywood and television played a dual role—raising awareness while deflating seriousness.

• Shows like The X-Files and Ancient Aliens built public curiosity.

• But they also embedded UAPs in the realm of fantasy, making the topic easy to dismiss as science fiction.

Media gatekeeping further entrenched this. For decades:

• Major outlets refused to cover UAPs seriously

• Scientists and military pilots who reported sightings were mocked, ignored, or defunded

“The ridicule factor was engineered—it didn’t happen naturally.”
— Dr. Jacques Vallée, astrophysicist and UAP researcher

Several “experts” who appeared on TV and radio to debunk UFO claims were later revealed to have:

• Intelligence backgrounds

• Connections to defense contractors

• CIA affiliations

Notable figures promoted standard explanations like:

• Weather balloons

• Flocks of birds

• Atmospheric anomalies

Even mass sightings with radar confirmation were often dismissed on air without serious review.

• Phoenix Lights (1997):
  Thousands saw massive silent craft over Arizona. Governor Fife Symington mocked it with a staged press conference—only to later admit he saw the craft too.

• O’Hare UFO Sighting (2006):
  A UAP was seen hovering over Chicago’s O’Hare Airport by United Airlines employees. The FAA dismissed the event as a “weather anomaly,” and major networks failed to report it for weeks.

• WikiLeaks & FOIA Disclosures:
  Documents released by WikiLeaks and FOIA requests showed that:

  • High-level U.S. diplomats were discussing UFOs behind closed doors

  • Canadian officials had ongoing discussions about NORAD’s UAP tracking

  • Yet few major outlets covered these documents in depth

After The New York Times broke the AATIP story in 2017, public and institutional attitudes began shifting:

Understanding the history of suppression is crucial for moving forward:

• Decades of ridicule harmed scientific inquiry and silenced credible witnesses.

• Governments used perception management to control narratives and prevent public alarm.

• Only now—through bipartisan congressional support, whistleblower protections, and public demand—is the wall of secrecy starting to crack.

“We cannot overstate how much truth was buried beneath decades of fear, stigma, and media control.”
— Christopher Mellon, former Deputy Asst. Sec. of Defense for Intelligence

Why modern drone explanations fall short of explaining key UAP encounters

As reports of UAPs (Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena) have entered the mainstream, many skeptics and defense analysts have tried to attribute the sightings to drones—either domestic, foreign, or commercial.

While this may seem plausible in some cases, many well-documented UAP events, particularly those involving military sensor systems and trained observers, exhibit performance and characteristics that no known drone technology (as of 2025) can replicate.

Drones—whether military or commercial—can certainly explain:

• Hovering behavior

• High-speed maneuvers within certain limits

• Remote operation and stealth features

• Misidentification in low-visibility conditions

And yes, in some cases, drones have been confirmed as the cause of initial UAP alerts—especially near restricted military airspace. A 2020 U.S. Navy report noted that several swarming incidents near warships were ultimately attributed to Chinese-made commercial drones used for surveillance.

🔗 Source: DefenseScoop – Drone Incursions and UAP Confusion

Many UAP cases—especially those recorded by military pilots and multiple sensor systems—show performance beyond any known drone capability, even by the most advanced state actors (like China, Russia, or the U.S.).

Key Anomalous Characteristics Not Explained by Drones:

In the 2004 USS Nimitz “Tic Tac” encounter, pilot Cmdr. David Fravor witnessed an object:

• Hovering motionless with no visible means of propulsion

• Accelerating to disappear in less than a second

• Interacting with radar and jamming targeting systems

“This is not like anything we’ve ever seen. It had no wings, no rotors, no exhaust.”
— Cmdr. Fravor, testimony before U.S. Congress

• 📄 OFFICIAL GOVERNMENT SOURCES & REPORTS

  🏛️ U.S. Government & Intelligence Community

  • AARO Report (March 2024) – “Report on the Historical Record of U.S. Government Involvement with UAPs”
    📄 https://www.cbsnews.com/news/pentagon-ufo-uap-report-full-text-march-2024/

  • Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) UAP Report (June 2021)
    📄 https://www.dni.gov/files/ODNI/documents/assessments/Prelimary-Assessment-UAP-20210625.pdf

  • National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) 2023 Whistleblower Provisions
    📄 https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/7776

  • CIA FOIA Archives: UFO Collection
    📄 https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/collection/ufos-fact-or-fiction

  • U.S. Air Force Roswell Report (1994) – “Case Closed”
    📄 https://www.archives.gov/research/roswell-report

  • National Archives UAP FAQ
    📄 https://www.archives.gov/research/topics/uaps/faqs

  • U.S. Navy Declassified UAP Videos (FLIR1, Gimbal, GoFast)
    📄 https://www.navy.mil/Resources/Official-Documents/UFO-UAP-Videos/

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  🛰️ NASA

  • NASA UAP Report (September 2023)
    📄 https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-releases-independent-study-team-s-uap-report

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  🇨🇦 Canadian Government

  • CTV News: Canadian Government Scientist Proposes UAP Research Effort
    📄 https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/article/ufo-report-released-in-canada-top-government-scientist-proposes-official-research-effort/

  • Transport Canada CADORS (Civil Aviation Daily Occurrence Reporting System)
    📄 https://tc.canada.ca/en/aviation/canadian-civil-aviation-daily-occurrence-reporting-system-cadors

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  📢 CONGRESSIONAL HEARINGS & TESTIMONY

  • NPR: U.S. House Oversight Committee UAP Hearing (July 26, 2023)
    📄 https://www.npr.org/2023/07/27/1190390376/ufo-hearing-non-human-biologics-uaps

  • NewsNation: David Grusch Interview & Whistleblower Coverage
    📄 https://www.newsnationnow.com/space/ufo/us-government-recovered-non-human-biologics-whistleblower-says/

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  🧪 SCIENTIFIC & ACADEMIC SOURCES

  • Stanford University – Dr. Garry Nolan on UAP Research
    🎥 Interviews & Panel Discussions

  • Dr. Jacques Vallée – Astrophysicist and UAP Researcher
    📗 Book: The Invisible College: What a Group of Scientists Has Discovered About UFO Influence on the Human Race

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  📚 BOOKS & AUTHORITATIVE ACCOUNTS

  • Luis Elizondo – Imminent: Inside the Pentagon’s Hunt for UFOs
    📘 Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Imminent-Pentagons-Investigating-UFOs-Phenomena/dp/B0C33JL7P4

  • Leslie Kean – UFOs: Generals, Pilots and Government Officials Go on the Record
    📘 https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/203500/ufos-by-leslie-kean/

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  🗞️ JOURNALISM & INVESTIGATIVE REPORTING

  Major News Outlets

  • The New York Times (2017) – “Glowing Auras and ‘Black Money’”
    📄 https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/16/us/politics/pentagon-program-ufo-harry-reid.html

  • Washington Post (July 30, 2021) – “UFOs exist. They might come from beyond Earth. That’s no reason to panic.”
    📄 https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/07/30/ufos-exist-might-come-beyond-earth-us-said-will-that-encourage-conspiracy-theorists/

  • The Hill (Feb 27, 2024) – “True anomalies: The Pentagon finally admits it’s baffled by UFOs”
    📄 https://thehill.com/opinion/national-security/5024900-true-anomalies-pentagon-finally-admits-its-baffled-by-ufos/

  • Yahoo News (April 2023) – “Aliens are real, and the U.S. government officials know it”
    📄 https://www.yahoo.com/news/aliens-real-u-government-officials-215604190.html

  • CBS News – Full Text of March 2024 UAP Report
    📄 https://www.cbsnews.com/news/pentagon-ufo-uap-report-full-text-march-2024/

  • DefenseScoop – Advocates call for transparency on UAPs vs. drones
    📄 https://defensescoop.com/2025/03/31/uap-ufo-disclosure-advocates-transparency-drone-incursions/

  • Politico – U.S.-Canada NORAD Joint Surveillance on UAPs
    📄 https://www.politico.com/news/2023/02/14/canada-ufo-norad-00082603

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  🎥 INTERVIEWS & MEDIA APPEARANCES

  • Christopher Mellon on UAP Disclosure (multiple interviews via YouTube & podcasts)
    🎥 https://www.youtube.com/@ChristopherMellonOfficial

  • Luis Elizondo on The Joe Rogan Experience, 60 Minutes, and TTSA Events
    🎥 https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=luis+elizondo+interview

  • Ryan Graves – Testimony and podcast interviews
    🎥 Merge Podcast + YouTube appearances

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  🔍 ANALYSIS AND COMMENTARY

  • The Debrief – UAP journalism by Tim McMillan, Micah Hanks, and others
    📄 https://thedebrief.org/tag/uap/

  • The Black Vault – FOIA archive of UAP and government secrets
    📄 https://www.theblackvault.com/documentarchive/category/ufo-related/

  • The Writ by Éric Grenier – UAP polling data mentions
    📄 https://www.thewrit.ca/