A Pentagon study released on Friday said that it had found no evidence of aliens or extraterrestrial intelligence in its examination of reported sightings of UFOs over the course of the last 80 years.
It was a conclusion consistent with past US government efforts to assess the accuracy of claims that have captivated public attention for decades.
The study from the Defence Department’s All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office analysed US government investigations since 1945 of reported sightings of unidentified anomalous phenomena, more popularly known as UFOs.
It found no evidence that any of them were signs of alien life, or that the US government and private companies had reverse-engineered extraterrestrial technology and were hiding it.
“All investigative efforts, at all levels of classification, concluded that most sightings were ordinary objects and phenomena and the result of misidentification,” said the report, which was mandated by Congress.
Another volume of the report focused on more recent research will be out later.
“To date, AARO has found no verifiable evidence or claims that the US government or private companies have access to or have been reverse engineering extraterrestrial technology,” spokesman Maj Gen Pat Ryder said at a briefing.
“AARO found no evidence that any US government investigation, academic-sponsored research or official review panel has confirmed that any sighting of a UAP represented Extra Terrestrial technology.”
Officials have endeavoured to find answers to legions of reported UFO sightings over the years, but so far have not identified any actual evidence of extraterrestrial life.
While some cases remain unexplained, in almost every instance the reports were fabricated or had more mundane explanations.
US intelligence finds no evidence of alien spacecraft in UFO videos
Others stemmed from confusion over top-secret government programmes around aerial drones and satellites that had nothing to do with aliens.
The Pentagon established the office and launched the review in response to a fresh surge of interest in alien sightings that was prompted by the recent release of mysterious videos taken by naval aviators.
They showed objects flying at high speed and moving in ways that defied explanations.
The report did not, however, explain those sightings.
A 2021 government report that reviewed 144 sightings of aircraft or other devices apparently flying at mysterious speeds or trajectories found no extraterrestrial links, but drew few other conclusions and called for better data collection.
