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posted by martyb on Thursday May 27 2021, @08:20PM   Printer-friendly
from the Close-Encounters-of-the-Federal-Kind dept.

Ex-official who revealed UFO project accuses Pentagon of 'disinformation' campaign

The former Pentagon official who went public about reports of UFOs has filed a complaint with the agency's inspector general claiming a coordinated campaign to discredit him for speaking out — including accusing a top official of threatening to tell people he was "crazy," according to documents reviewed by POLITICO.

Lue Elizondo, a career counterintelligence specialist who was assigned in 2008 to work for a Pentagon program that investigated reports of "unmanned aerial phenomena," filed the 64-page complaint to the independent watchdog on May 3 and has met several times with investigators, according to his legal team.

The claim that the government is trying to discredit him comes weeks before the director of national intelligence and the Pentagon are expected to deliver an unclassified report to Congress about UFOs and the government's strategy for investigating such encounters. The report is expected to include a detailed accounting of the agencies, personnel and surveillance systems that gather and analyze the data.

"What he is saying is there are certain individuals in the Defense Department who in fact were attacking him and lying about him publicly, using the color of authority of their offices to disparage him and discredit him and were interfering in his ability to seek and obtain gainful employment out in the world," said Daniel Sheehan, Elizondo's attorney. "And also threatening his security clearance."

Pentagon UFO videos.

Previously:


Original Submission

Related Stories

Pentagon's UFO Investigation Program Revealed 22 comments

Glowing Auras and 'Black Money': The Pentagon's Mysterious U.F.O. Program

In the $600 billion annual Defense Department budgets, the $22 million spent on the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program was almost impossible to find. Which was how the Pentagon wanted it. For years, the program investigated reports of unidentified flying objects, according to Defense Department officials, interviews with program participants and records obtained by The New York Times. It was run by a military intelligence official, Luis Elizondo, on the fifth floor of the Pentagon's C Ring, deep within the building's maze.

The Defense Department has never before acknowledged the existence of the program, which it says it shut down in 2012. But its backers say that, while the Pentagon ended funding for the effort at that time, the program remains in existence. For the past five years, they say, officials with the program have continued to investigate episodes brought to them by service members, while also carrying out their other Defense Department duties.

UFO Existence 'Proven Beyond Reasonable Doubt': Former Head Of Pentagon Program 65 comments

The existence of UFOs had been "proved beyond reasonable doubt," according the head of the secret Pentagon program that analyzed the mysterious aircrafts.

In an interview with British broadsheet The Telegraph published on Saturday, Luis Elizondo told the newspaper of the sightings, "In my opinion, if this was a court of law, we have reached the point of 'beyond reasonable doubt.'"

"I hate to use the term UFO but that's what we're looking at," he added. "I think it's pretty clear this is not us, and it's not anyone else, so no one has to ask questions where they're from."

Since 2007, Elizondo led the government program, the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program, investigating evidence of UFOs and alien life. It was shuttered in 2012.

Its existence was first reported by The New York Times last week.

Elizondo was not able to discuss specifics of the program, but told The Telegraph that there had been "lots" of UFO sightings and witnesses interviewed during the program's five years.

Investigators pinpointed geographical "hot spots" that were sometimes near nuclear facilities and power plants and observed trends among the aircrafts including lack of flight surfaces on the objects and extreme manoeuvrability, Elizondo told The Telegraph.

Previously: Pentagon's UFO Investigation Program Revealed


Original Submission

Newly-Released Video Shows 2015 U.S. Navy Sighting of UFO 72 comments

A group linked to Luis Elizondo, the former leader of the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program, as well as other former military and government officials, has released a video showing a 2015 UFO encounter involving U.S. Navy pilots:

A newly-released video which shows U.S. Navy pilots encountering an unidentified flying object (UFO) in 2015 has garnered calls for more research into what these mysterious objects could be. "What the f--- is that thing?" one pilot can be heard saying in the video. "Wow, what is that, man?" the pilot adds. "Look at that flying!"

The footage was released Friday by To the Stars Academy of Arts and Science (TTSA), a private scientific research and media group. It is led by Dr. Hal Puthoff, a NASA and U.S. Department of Defense adviser and James Semivan, a former U.S. Central Intelligence Agency service member. The clip is said to be "an authentic DoD video that captures the high-speed flight of an unidentified aircraft at low altitude" and "reveals a previously undisclosed Navy encounter that occurred off the East Coast in 2015," according to a statement from TTSA.

Editorial by Christopher Mellon, deputy assistant secretary of defense for intelligence in the Clinton and George W. Bush administrations

From my work with To the Stars Academy, which seeks to raise private funds to investigate incidents like the 2004 Nimitz encounter, I know they continue to occur, because we are being approached by military personnel who are concerned about national security and frustrated by how the Defense Department is handling such reports. I am also familiar with the evidence as a former Pentagon intelligence official and a consultant who began researching the issue after the Nimitz incident was brought to my attention. On several occasions, I have met with senior Pentagon officials, and at least one followed up and obtained briefings confirming incidents such as the Nimitz case. But nobody wants to be "the alien guy" in the national security bureaucracy; nobody wants to be ridiculed or sidelined for drawing attention to the issue. This is true up and down the chain of command, and it is a serious and recurring impediment to progress.

Also at USA Today and NextBigFuture.

Related: UFO Existence 'Proven Beyond Reasonable Doubt': Former Head Of Pentagon Program


Original Submission

The US Navy is Drafting New Rules to Report UFO Sightings 30 comments

The US Navy is drafting new rules to report UFO sightings

Are we alone in the universe? The question has been debated for ages. Most recently, US Navy pilots who think they spotted a UFO will be getting guidelines for logging what they've seen.

The US Navy began drafting the new forms after multiple sightings of highly advanced aircraft trespassing on military formations, Politico reported on Tuesday.

"Pilots are upset, and they're trying to help wake up a slumbering system," Chris Mellon, a former deputy assistant secretary of defense for intelligence and a staffer on the Senate Intelligence Committee, told The Washington Post. Mellon and other pilots reportedly think a new streamlined reporting system could make it more acceptable to report UFOS and ultimately remove the stigma.

The Navy and the United States Air Force said they're taking each report seriously.


Original Submission

US Navy Spokesman Acknowledges UFO Videos 44 comments

https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/8xw83b/the-navy-says-the-ufos-in-tom-delonges-videos-are-unidentified-aerial-phenomena

In official statements, the US Navy has for the first time officially stated that the three UFO videos made public by former Blink-182 singer Tom DeLonge's UFO research organization are footage of real "unknown" objects violating American airspace.

Navy spokesperson Joseph Gradisher told Motherboard that "the Navy considers the phenomena contained/depicted in those 3 videos as unidentified." Previously, the Navy never addressed the content of the videos. The terminology here is important: The UFO community is increasingly using the terminology "unidentified aerial phenomena" to discuss unknown objects in the sky.

John Greenwald, author and curator of The Black Vault, the largest civilian archive of declassified government documents, originally reported the news. Greenwald requested information in August from the Navy regarding the content of the three popular videos purporting to show anomalous aerial objects.

https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/59w3zq/tom-delonge-nytimes-ufo-aliens-comparison


Original Submission

The Pentagon Releases Official Footage of UFOs. No, Seriously! 37 comments

Pentagon Has Finally Declassified Those Grainy UFO Videos From The US Navy:

After years of speculation, defence officials have now declassified and released three grainy videos from the Navy that have been circulating online for a while now, causing all sorts of speculation.

The mysterious footage was captured using infrared cameras in November 2004 and January 2015, and leaked to the public a few years ago.

[...] "DOD is releasing the videos in order to clear up any misconceptions by the public on whether or not the footage that has been circulating was real, or whether or not there is more to the videos," the US Department of Defence said in a statement.

"The aerial phenomena observed in the videos remain characterised as 'unidentified'."

But that characterisation is not for a lack of trying. For five years, from 2008 through 2011, the Pentagon had a top-secret program investigating UFOs and the potential threats they could pose to aircraft and other aerial activities.

See the linked story for the videos.

Also on the Beeb, The Guardian, even The Daily Beast.

The Pentagon Has Continued to Investigate UFOs Under Renamed Program 81 comments

No Longer in Shadows, Pentagon's U.F.O. Unit Will Make Some Findings Public (archive)

Despite Pentagon statements that it disbanded a once-covert program to investigate unidentified flying objects, the effort remains underway — renamed and tucked inside the Office of Naval Intelligence, where officials continue to study mystifying encounters between military pilots and unidentified aerial vehicles.

Pentagon officials will not discuss the program, which is not classified but deals with classified matters. Yet it appeared last month in a Senate committee report outlining spending on the nation's intelligence agencies for the coming year. The report said the program, the Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon Task Force, was "to standardize collection and reporting" on sightings of unexplained aerial vehicles, and was to report at least some of its findings to the public within 180 days after passage of the intelligence authorization act.

While retired officials involved with the effort — including Harry Reid, the former Senate majority leader — hope the program will seek evidence of vehicles from other worlds, its main focus is on discovering whether another nation, especially any potential adversary, is using breakout aviation technology that could threaten the United States.

The lede has been buried for your protection. Do not RTFA.

Previously: Pentagon's UFO Investigation Program Revealed
UFO Existence 'Proven Beyond Reasonable Doubt': Former Head Of Pentagon Program
Newly-Released Video Shows 2015 U.S. Navy Sighting of UFO
The US Navy is Drafting New Rules to Report UFO Sightings
US Navy Spokesman Acknowledges UFO Videos
The Pentagon Releases Official Footage of UFOs. No, Seriously!


Original Submission

You Can Now Easily Download All CIA UFO Documents to Date 20 comments

You Can Now Easily Download All CIA UFO Documents to Date:

In anticipation of the government’s official UFO report coming in less than six months thanks to the COVID-19 omnibus bill, you can now download all of the publicly available CIA documentation on UFOs.

The Black Vault, a clearinghouse for declassified documents, has released a downloadable document archive filled with PDFs containing CIA files on Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP), the government's preferred term. . Some of the reports date all the way back to the 1980s, and according to the site's founder, John Greenewald Jr., the spy agency claims this is all of its documents on UAPs.

[...] “Around 20 years ago, I had fought for years to get additional UFO records released from the CIA,” Greenewald said in an email to Motherboard. “It was like pulling teeth! I went around and around with them to try and do so, finally achieving it. I received a large box, of a couple thousand pages, and I had to scan them in one page at a time.”

[...] “Plain and simple, the public has a right to know!” Greenewald said. “When I began researching nearly 25 years ago at the age of 15, I knew there was something to this topic. Not because of viral internet hoaxes. Not because of back door meetings wherein I can’t tell you who, but I promise it was mind-blowing information. No, none of that. It was simply because of the evidence that I got straight from the CIA. And the NSA. And the Air Force. And the DIA. I feel I am achieving what I set out to do. Easy access, to important material, for people to make up their own minds on what is going on.”


Original Submission

We're Not Saying It's Aliens: Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Report Available on June 25 38 comments

U.S. Finds No Evidence of Alien Technology in Flying Objects, but Can't Rule It Out, Either (archive)

American intelligence officials have found no evidence that aerial phenomena witnessed by Navy pilots in recent years are alien spacecraft, but they still cannot explain the unusual movements that have mystified scientists and the military, according to senior administration officials briefed on the findings of a highly anticipated government report.

The report determines that a vast majority of more than 120 incidents over the past two decades did not originate from any American military or other advanced U.S. government technology, the officials said. That determination would appear to eliminate the possibility that Navy pilots who reported seeing unexplained aircraft might have encountered programs the government meant to keep secret.

But that is about the only conclusive finding in the classified intelligence report, the officials said. And while a forthcoming unclassified version, expected to be released to Congress by June 25, will present few other firm conclusions, senior officials briefed on the intelligence conceded that the very ambiguity of the findings meant the government could not definitively rule out theories that the phenomena observed by military pilots might be alien spacecraft.

[...] The report concedes that much about the observed phenomena remains difficult to explain, including their acceleration, as well as ability to change direction and submerge. One possible explanation — that the phenomena could be weather balloons or other research balloons — does not hold up in all cases, the officials said, because of changes in wind speed at the times of some of the interactions.

[...] Many of the more than 120 incidents examined in the report are from Navy personnel, officials said. The report also examined incidents involving foreign militaries over the last two decades. Intelligence officials believe at least some of the aerial phenomena could have been experimental technology from a rival power, most likely Russia or China.

Also at The Hill and CNN.

Previously: Ex-Official Who Revealed UFO Project Accuses Pentagon of "Disinformation" Campaign


Original Submission

Preliminary Assessment: Unidentified Aerial Phenomena 21 comments

Preliminary Assessment: Unidentified Aerial Phenomena

This preliminary report is provided by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) in response to the provision in Senate Report 116-233, accompanying the Intelligence Authorization Act (IAA) for Fiscal Year 2021, that the DNI, in consultation with the Secretary of Defense (SECDEF), is to submit an intelligence assessment of the threat posed by unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP) and the progress the Department of Defense Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force (UAPTF) has made in understanding this threat.

This report provides an overview for policymakers of the challenges associated with characterizing the potential threat posed by UAP while also providing a means to develop relevant processes, policies, technologies, and training for the U.S. military and other U.S. Government (USG) personnel if and when they encounter UAP, so as to enhance the Intelligence Community's (IC) ability to understand the threat. The Director, UAPTF, is the accountable official for ensuring the timely collection and consolidation of data on UAP. The dataset described in this report is currently limited primarily to U.S. Government reporting of incidents occurring from November 2004 to March 2021. Data continues to be collected and analyzed.

ODNI prepared this report for the Congressional Intelligence and Armed Services Committees. UAPTF and the ODNI National Intelligence Manager for Aviation drafted this report, with input from USD(I&S), DIA, FBI, NRO, NGA, NSA, Air Force, Army, Navy, Navy/ONI, DARPA, FAA, NOAA, NGA, ODNI/NIM-Emerging and Disruptive Technology, ODNI/National Counterintelligence and Security Center, and ODNI/National Intelligence Council.

Assumptions

Various forms of sensors that register UAP generally operate correctly and capture enough real data to allow initial assessments, but some UAP may be attributable to sensor anomalies.

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  • (Score: 4, Interesting) by takyon on Thursday May 27 2021, @08:20PM (3 children)

    by takyon (881) <takyonNO@SPAMsoylentnews.org> on Thursday May 27 2021, @08:20PM (#1139431) Journal

    Military and spy agencies accused of stiff-arming investigators on UFO sightings [politico.com]

    Some military and spy agencies are blocking or simply ignoring the effort to catalog what they have on "unidentified aerial phenomenon," according to multiple current and former government officials. And as a result, the Biden administration will likely delay a much-anticipated public report to Congress.

    [...] "Just getting access to the information, because of all the different security bureaucracies, that's an ordeal in itself," said Christopher Mellon, a former Pentagon intelligence official who lobbied for the disclosure provision and is continuing to advise policymakers on the issue.

    For example, he asserts that a Pentagon task force established last August and led by the Navy has had few personnel or resources and only modest success acquiring reports, video or other evidence gathered by military systems.

    If they flat out say aliens are visiting in the report, you get to see an alien/UFO story on every major news site every day... for the rest of your life.

    If it comes back inconclusive, there's still years of mileage in the saga as the truth™ gets teased out (or not) amid a war of different Pentagon factions.

    --
    [SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
    • (Score: 5, Funny) by Freeman on Thursday May 27 2021, @08:51PM (1 child)

      by Freeman (732) on Thursday May 27 2021, @08:51PM (#1139442) Journal

      I thought the documentary Independence Day had all this stuff figured out already.

      --
      Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
      • (Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 28 2021, @06:21AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 28 2021, @06:21AM (#1139557)

        I think it was the documentary, "Men who Stare at Goats", with the Runaway addendum. Acid with make you see lots of things. Not recommended for pilots of bus/semi drivers, however.

    • (Score: 2) by driverless on Friday May 28 2021, @06:45AM

      by driverless (4770) on Friday May 28 2021, @06:45AM (#1139562)

      Either that or the guy really is a bit of a nutcase, and the Pentagon guys are just stating the obvious. And "threatening his security clearance" would be expected if he's revealed classified information. Sounds like the whole story could just as easily have been written up as "Pentagon breaks silence on UFO nut", or something similar.

  • (Score: 5, Funny) by oumuamua on Thursday May 27 2021, @08:48PM (1 child)

    by oumuamua (8401) on Thursday May 27 2021, @08:48PM (#1139440)

    by turning the Starlink satellites into a sensor mesh they can act as an Earth shield. No UFOs can get in or out without detection. Just add the cost onto the Starlink subscriber's bill and give them free X-files reruns (with no commercials).

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 27 2021, @11:44PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 27 2021, @11:44PM (#1139493)

      pffft

      who would mod that interesting? you think nation states need starlink to monitor traffic?

  • (Score: 4, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Thursday May 27 2021, @08:49PM (18 children)

    by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Thursday May 27 2021, @08:49PM (#1139441) Journal

    Until they trot out a real live alien, along with unearthly technology to support the claims, everyone who believes in aliens are going to be nuts. Seriously, there have been so many insane claims, no sane person wants to be associated with the community.

    Let's start with all the anal probe nonsense. Just WTF do humans keep hidden up their asses, that an alien civilization is going to travel light years to find? And, if we do have something valuable up our asses, why don't the aliens just politely ask us to shit it out for them? Alternatively, they could just mine our sewage treatment facilities to harvest whatever this magical substance is . . .

    Other stories are less crazy, mostly, but you still don't want to be closely associated with many of these people.

    • (Score: 4, Interesting) by takyon on Thursday May 27 2021, @08:58PM (4 children)

      by takyon (881) <takyonNO@SPAMsoylentnews.org> on Thursday May 27 2021, @08:58PM (#1139445) Journal

      They are careful not to use the A-word too much.

      Basically, military pilots are observing Unidentified Aerial Phenomena. Could be advanced drones, ball lightning, other lighting tricks [wikipedia.org], whatever. Some people think they are definitely technological, which if true pretty much narrows it down to secret U.S. drones, foreign drones, or aliens. And would be considered a security threat if it's not us.

      One of the goals of this is to erase the stigma so that more pilots report the sightings. Shouldn't be too hard if "drones" is the default explanation.

      --
      [SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
      • (Score: 2) by dwilson on Friday May 28 2021, @03:18AM (1 child)

        by dwilson (2599) Subscriber Badge on Friday May 28 2021, @03:18AM (#1139533) Journal

        And would be considered a security threat if it's not us.

        Not quite. As a human being resident on Planet Earth, the US (-any- country, honestly) having advanced tech as described would definitely be considered a security threat by the rest of us.

        It's like atomic weapons: If you've got them, you're a threat to everyone, including yourself.

        --
        - D
      • (Score: 2) by VLM on Friday May 28 2021, @06:10PM (1 child)

        by VLM (445) on Friday May 28 2021, @06:10PM (#1139773)

        secret U.S. drones, foreign drones, or aliens

        Missing an obvious capitalist category of drug smugglers. I'm not kidding either and this has already been partially public from the DEA.

        Now think about something interesting: The DEA only reports on captured drug smuggling drones that fail. Not the ones that never get caught and never fail.

        Mix with another interesting technological anecdote: You can't release sensor data, optical or radar, that doesn't inherently give away the max range and max resolution performance of the sensor.

        So the coast guard releases optical scan sensor "UFO" data, 15000 different reports, coincidentally all on objects only 2 meters in wingspan or larger and only 10 degrees C warmer than ambient. Maybe to prevent infinite false triggers off birds. Maybe that shitty performance is the best they can afford to deploy and maintain long term. Doesn't matter we know their sensor performance data now.

        Meanwhile the DEA only catches failed drones that are larger than 2 meters in wingspan and hotter than 10C above ambient. So you know the coasties are working with the DEA. As if that wasn't literally their job, we know they're actually being productive doing that and its a second tier proof of sensor performance "where the rubber meets the road" rather than in theory.

        The streets are not exactly lacking in drugs so we now know WRT UFO sightings that everything out there flying around smaller than 2 meters wingspan and less than 10 C above ambient temp is probably a cartel logistics drone full of heroin that is not going to be intercepted.

        Everyone laughed at the idea of drug smugglers using submarines until the DEA and coasties caught one. I'm pretty sure "a lot" of UFO sightings are drug smuggler related.

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 29 2021, @12:47PM

          by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 29 2021, @12:47PM (#1140006)

          so we now know WRT UFO sightings that everything out there flying around smaller than 2 meters wingspan and less than 10 C above ambient temp is probably a cartel logistics drone full of heroin that is not going to be intercepted.

          I'm pretty sure "a lot" of UFO sightings are drug smuggler related.

          Everything and a lot? But why would drug smugglers use glowing or even brightly flashing stuff to smuggle drugs?

          Now if they were decoys then maybe it makes sense. Everyone look at the bright flashing thingy... Don't notice all that dark grey flying stuff that's practically blending with night sky (dark grey coz the night sky in many areas is usually not that black).

          But wouldn't it still be better to not have any decoys and have fewer people looking at the sky?

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 27 2021, @09:01PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 27 2021, @09:01PM (#1139446)

      Just WTF do humans keep hidden up their asses, that an alien civilization is going to travel light years to find?

      Would any doctors or veterinarians care to chime in?

    • (Score: 2) by takyon on Thursday May 27 2021, @09:03PM (7 children)

      by takyon (881) <takyonNO@SPAMsoylentnews.org> on Thursday May 27 2021, @09:03PM (#1139447) Journal
      --
      [SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
      • (Score: 2) by FatPhil on Thursday May 27 2021, @09:19PM (5 children)

        "Navy pilot" is the fallacy of the reliable expert. The fact that you've been trained for a particular job, and have been doing it for any length of time, in no way makes your eye-witness reports more reliable than anyone else's eye-witness reports. Which are *crap*.
        --
        Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
        • (Score: 3, Interesting) by takyon on Thursday May 27 2021, @09:36PM (3 children)

          by takyon (881) <takyonNO@SPAMsoylentnews.org> on Thursday May 27 2021, @09:36PM (#1139458) Journal

          Pilot eyewitness reports are potentially better than those from people on the ground. These military pilots can even maneuver to try to get closer to the "object" (passenger jets won't be doing that).

          Anyway, it should be good enough for Runaway, who was in the Navy IIRC.

          --
          [SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
          • (Score: 4, Interesting) by Runaway1956 on Thursday May 27 2021, @10:17PM (1 child)

            by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Thursday May 27 2021, @10:17PM (#1139464) Journal

            Anyway, it should be good enough for Runaway, who was in the Navy IIRC.

            Yes, and no. In the pilot's favor, yes they are free to maneuver to get a better look at things they can't understand. And, they are trained to identify stuff in the sky. They aren't trained to interpret stuff that their eyes, their radar, and their cameras can't make sense of.

            Within the scope of his training, you can probably believe most of what a pilot reports. Outside that scope, a pilot is just like anyone else. He is left floundering for explanations. When it comes to hi-tech, potentially alien technology, a Navy pilot is little more of an expert than you or me.

            If a pilot comes back from a mission, and reports that he saw something that he can't explain, you can believe him without reservation.

            • (Score: 2) by takyon on Thursday May 27 2021, @10:35PM

              by takyon (881) <takyonNO@SPAMsoylentnews.org> on Thursday May 27 2021, @10:35PM (#1139466) Journal

              When it comes to hi-tech, potentially alien technology, a Navy pilot is little more of an expert than you or me.

              If it is "hi-tech" (drones or aliens), that's big news no matter which one it is. The skeptics don't believe this is highly technological at all, and are putting forward explanations such as weather balloons, distant passenger jets, oil rig flares, ball lightning, etc.

              The pilots are gathering data with cameras, infrared sensors, etc., which is why we have these crappy videos. They are potentially seeing more than what the videos show too. Do they know if they are looking at a metallic or solid object?

              --
              [SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
          • (Score: 3, Funny) by ilPapa on Friday May 28 2021, @04:00AM

            by ilPapa (2366) on Friday May 28 2021, @04:00AM (#1139543) Journal

            Anyway, it should be good enough for Runaway, who was in the Navy IIRC.

            I thought he was the navy guy in the Village People.

            --
            You are still welcome on my lawn.
        • (Score: 2) by VLM on Friday May 28 2021, @06:23PM

          by VLM (445) on Friday May 28 2021, @06:23PM (#1139780)

          Nobody wants to look at decades of history where American military pilots were indeed the first to see unidentified flying objects that turned out to be SA-2 or Mig-29 or all kinds of nifty weapons or weapons platforms.

          Not like every time you fly but good odds that once per career the "MIB" are going to interview you and years or decades later you can publicly tell people you're the first American to see a SA-10 up close-ish or that Mig-27 ground attack thing or whatever.

          They're trained to pay very close attention. Classic example from when I was a kid in the 80s, the Mig-23 was supposed to be super maneuverable according to the spy services, but that was more of a failed development project goal, Americans who actually watched -23 in flight noticed they had absolute shit stall performance and as such the non-suicidal pilots flew it with kid gloves low angle of attack all the time. This kind of observation is militarily important if your job is literally to shoot something like -23s down, so your tactics can assume if you push the 23 into high angle of attack flight scenario either you got an advantage or the 23 will withdraw or the 23 will enter a spin and crash itself as its stall performance is absolute shite. So to summarize a very long story, in the "early years" of combat flight sim you could tell if the programmers were gullible about bullshit and the 23 was more maneuverable than real life, or if the programmers were realistic and the -23 plane AI flew like a delta wing aka low angle of attack all the time.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 31 2021, @09:54AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 31 2021, @09:54AM (#1140475)

        videos have fairly mundane explanations. see article by phil plait (I *think* that's his name, you may know him as "the bad astronomer"): https://www.syfy.com/syfywire/navy-videos-showing-ufos-not-aliens [syfy.com]

        stories told by pilots? not true unless backed up by actual evidence. also, I'll say a lot of things if you pay me enough for a book/movie deal. stephen colbert pointed out that if ufos are seen every day for two years in the late 2010s (that's what the matt damon character said in the 60 minutes video), then why not bring a fucking phone in at least one of the hundreds of days?!

        bob lazar is an interesting fellow, because apparently he's not making money from his story. but he may just be a useful idiot: they probably showed him some toys to confuse the public through him. he certainly has no understanding of physics, no matter what joe rogan thinks of that.

    • (Score: 3, Funny) by Snotnose on Thursday May 27 2021, @11:44PM

      by Snotnose (1623) on Thursday May 27 2021, @11:44PM (#1139494)

      Let's start with all the anal probe nonsense. Just WTF do humans keep hidden up their asses,

      Well, a lot of people store their heads there. So there's that.

      --
      When the dust settled America realized it was saved by a porn star.
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 28 2021, @06:26AM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 28 2021, @06:26AM (#1139560)

      To get an idea where this retarded nonsense came from, and how the Pentagon got involved, I recommend reading this article: https://newrepublic.com/article/162457/government-embrace-ufos-bad-science. [newrepublic.com] Short story: influential senators manage to divert some military money to their billionaire friend man in black LARP.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 28 2021, @06:56AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 28 2021, @06:56AM (#1139564)

        Robert Bigelow wants to thank SoylentNews for continuing his great work on exposing the UFO and LGTBQX threat to our billionaire way of life. If you have enough money, you can even get the US Navy to say stupid shit. Runaway usually turns, in the words of Edward Longshanks, for much, much, less.

    • (Score: -1, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 28 2021, @06:37AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 28 2021, @06:37AM (#1139561)

      Aliens comment:

      We have been probing Runaway1956's anus for almost 30 earth years. Still no detection of cognitive ability or rationality. I suggest we erase the records, and forget the whole thing.

      They're made of Meat [youtube.com]
      Now we know who was probed all the way through, the runaway through. Maybe he is like the Orphelai? Or the Wedelai, only part meat? There is a brain, alright, but it is a Republican meat brain. What are you hiding up your anus, Runaway?

  • (Score: 2) by FatPhil on Thursday May 27 2021, @09:15PM

    https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2254010/

    It's all bullshit. Bullshit is useful as it raises the noise floor. Were there to be any signal it would be drowned by sufficiently high noise floor.
    --
    Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
  • (Score: 2, Touché) by fustakrakich on Thursday May 27 2021, @09:18PM (5 children)

    by fustakrakich (6150) on Thursday May 27 2021, @09:18PM (#1139453) Journal

    Why can't everybody else? When the officials lie, what do you expect from the crazies?

    --
    La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
    • (Score: 2) by takyon on Thursday May 27 2021, @10:39PM (4 children)

      by takyon (881) <takyonNO@SPAMsoylentnews.org> on Thursday May 27 2021, @10:39PM (#1139469) Journal

      It's about time to give up some of your money to increase the Space Force budget.

      --
      [SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
      • (Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Thursday May 27 2021, @11:03PM

        by fustakrakich (6150) on Thursday May 27 2021, @11:03PM (#1139483) Journal

        Sure, if I get a flashy thingy

        --
        La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 28 2021, @02:06AM (2 children)

        by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 28 2021, @02:06AM (#1139517)

        aaaaaah! That's what this is about.

        I wanted to speculate it was maybe coverup for the USA and Israel's latest culling of Palestinians, but the USA and Israel don't really have to hide that. What are you gonna do about it? Form an alliance between the EU, Russia, and China to bring the USA to justice?

        Drumming up funding for space force makes more sense. Gotta get that Pentagon budget over the first big 1 Trillion.

        • (Score: 2) by takyon on Friday May 28 2021, @02:26AM (1 child)

          by takyon (881) <takyonNO@SPAMsoylentnews.org> on Friday May 28 2021, @02:26AM (#1139518) Journal

          The aliens will bring humanity to trial. The drones are collecting the evidence.

          --
          [SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
          • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 29 2021, @05:46AM

            by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 29 2021, @05:46AM (#1139960)

            Well, that's what the humans get for their human exceptionalism!

            Given the tendency of UFO enthusiasts to actually be talking about angels, it's entirely fitting that we have people waiting for the aliens to beam up the 144,000 some odd elect and then dispense some kind of white throne judgement.

            Probably there's a fleet of Oumuamuas that already started decelerating 53 years ago before they were aware that Earth is the planet of the apes.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 28 2021, @02:41AM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 28 2021, @02:41AM (#1139523)

    How many counterintelligence government perma-employees are so crazy to be posted to the UFO desk?

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 28 2021, @06:59AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 28 2021, @06:59AM (#1139566)

      And how crazy do you have to be to be fired from the crazy UFO desk? Is this veteran getting his hard earned mental health benefits for the VA? Some Senator, who is not crazy, ought to be looking into this.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 28 2021, @10:03AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 28 2021, @10:03AM (#1139588)

    ETs are members of the Sciuridae family...Heliosciurus bos-stercus

    I used to be amused by ufonuttery, but, frankly, it's now a bore. The slightly odd characters from the golden age of the 40's-60's have been replaced with 'professionally' odd ones like our Centauri ambassador Tsoukalos (the protégé of the silver age scammer von Däniken) I struggle to believe there's still money to be made from the game, but his net worth being $4million proves me wrong...and further indicates that I should have studied bullshittery rather than engineering.

    Finally, if I ever hear the words 'Rendlesham Forest' or 'Nick Pope' again, I shall indeed reach for my Kill-o-Zap raygun..

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