Ever since the 1947 Roswell event, the Military has been suspected to cover up UFO sightings. There had been many conspiracy theories surrounding the Military’s involvement when it comes to UFOs. Whether or not the government is hiding vital information from the masses, it remains unknown.
It’s no wonder why video footages and so-called evidences are easily covered up with a logical explanation. Explanations that sometimes sound more ridiculous than the truth.
Unidentified Flying Objects are just that: Unidentified. When something unusual can be seen in the sky, they fall into the UFO category. Their origin is still a debate, but UFOs have always been associated with aliens. Simply because, the structure of these crafts and how they move in the sky are out of this world.
Ironically, the US government through the Pentagon funded a program to investigate these UFOs. The Advanced Aviation Threat Identification Program or AATIP operated secretly from 2007 – 2012. The program was studying and investigating UFO reports and sightings. However, the program was shut down in 2012. After 5 years, it was disclosed to the public last December 16, 2017. After its termination, some people who got involved in AATIP released statements about what went on in the duration of the program. Some were convinced that these extraterrestrials are out there; but that the US government didn’t take the program seriously. The AATIP was able to produce so many documents about their investigation but there was no conclusive evidence. Funding was transferred to programs that were deemed more important.
The aims of the program are still in operation under a different non-profit organization independent of the US government. The AATIP was headed by Luis Elizondo who has been very supportive about the idea of aliens visiting earth. In an interview with CNN last year, Elizondo claimed that there is still a lot that we don’t know. He stated that the purpose of the program was to study these unknown crafts and the potential threat that they pose to our world.
During the interview, a video footage released by the Department of Defense was also shown. This encounter occurred in 2004 over the Pacific Ocean. It was a video of a UFO witnessed by two Navy Pilots. In the center was what appeared to be a glowing saucer-like object. The two pilots can be heard talking and describing the flight of the object. One pilot remarked that it was going against the wind. After a few seconds, the UFO started to slowly rotate. It was clear that both men were in awe of what they witnessed.
The Pentagon funded the AATIP with $22M for those 5 years. It only means that the Department of Defense took the program seriously. People, specially the UFO enthusiasts, can assume that this alone proves the knowledge and involvement of the government concern of extraterrestrial life forms. That there may be a truth in those conspiracy theories all along.
Others remain skeptical. Seth Shostak of SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) thinks it ridiculous that these beings would often visit earth to do nothing. He believes that the number of light years alone would take possibly generatons to come to our solar system. We credit them with advanced technology but why make that expense to show up on earth and visit us?
Known UFO skeptics such as Philip J. Klass had proven that a lot of these sightings are hoaxes: manipulated photos and accounts that are more subjective than factual. Others have logical explanations that turn out to be mundane.
Some of the unexplainable sightings usually come from military personnel. Pilots who are experts in the sky should know better when something odd is detected by their radars. When a soldier or pilot is witness to such an event, it would be harder for the military and the government to dispute these claims. What could be more damning is a video evidence recorded by military equipment such as the footage from 2004. And that is only one of many more.
Ever since Roswell,an onslaught of UFO’s have appeared in our skies. The government’s revelation of a defunct defense research program in the last year suggests that these sightings, fake or real, have been taken seriously.
Interesting links:
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/16/us/politics/pentagon-program-ufo-harry-reid.html
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/5173269/pentagon-x-files-chief-aliens-have-visited-earth/
