The office was established following more than a year of attention on unidentified flying objects that military pilots have observed but have sometimes been reluctant to report due to fear of stigma.
In June 2021 the Office of the Director of National Intelligence reported that between 2004 and 2021,there were 144 such encounters,80 of which were captured on multiple sensors.
Since then,“we’ve had lots more reporting,” said anomaly office director Sean Kirkpatrick. When asked to quantify the amount,Kirkpatrick said,“several hundreds.”
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An updated report from the Director of National Intelligence that will provide specific figures on new reports received since 2021 is expected by the end of the year,the officials said.
The office was set up not only to examine the question of whether there’s extraterrestrial life,but also because of the security risk posed by so many encounters with unknown flying objects by military installations or military aircraft.
This May,Congress held its first hearing in more than half a century on the topic,with multiple members expressing concern that whether or not the objects are alien or potentially new,unknown technology being flown by China,Russia or another potential adversary,the unknown creates a security risk.