“Do UFOs exist?” has been a question circulating in space research for the past few decades. A government report, initially requested by former President Trump, is due within the next month and is expected to answer the burning questions about UFOs. 

Unidentified aerial phenomena (UAPs or UFOs) were primarily perceived as a joke or a topic of discussion that was purely hypothetical. Conspiracy theories about UFOs have risen from sci-fi books, blockbusters, and even intelligence agencies. The initial obsession with UFOs started in the summer of 1947 when the US Air force supposedly found an alien spacecraft in New Mexico. Although UFO claims were scorned, the US government is taking UFOs seriously and has been for the past 14 years. 

Senator Harry Reid kicked off the investigation by asking the military to investigate UFOs in 2007. He garnered support from fellow senators, and with the help of his colleagues, he pushed through a budget of 22 million dollars to study UFOs discretely in a program called the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program. 

The government attempted to keep the program a secret, dispelling the idea that UFOs and aliens could exist, but they admitted that the program was real in 2017. But by this time, the Department of Defense had already disbanded the program five years prior, considering other issues to be a higher priority and finding results inconclusive. There is still little known about UFOs today, with the former leader of the program Luis Elizondo saying “I’ve got to be honest with you, I don’t know where it’s from. But we’re pretty sure it’s not here.”

Trump ordered the director of national intelligence to give him a report about UFOs on December 27, 2020, creating a 180-day deadline for the report to be sent to Congress, which is rapidly approaching. 

Sightings of UFOs are alarming to the US, as unidentified aircrafts flying over their military bases could potentially threaten national safety. These sightings are also frequent, with Navy pilots stating that they saw a UFO every day for years on end. The number of UFOs noticed is probably even higher as UFOs and aliens are considered fictional, and people do not report them because they are afraid of not being taken seriously. 

However, there is also the fear that the UFOs are nothing more than adversaries trolling the US coastlines, and that we have been falling for this elaborate trap for decades. The highly anticipated government report is sure to shed some light on the web of mystery surrounding UFOs.

Works Cited

Bella, Timothy, and Alex Horton. “How the government started taking UFOs seriously.” The Washington Post, 4 June 2021, www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2021/06/04/ufo-report-explained-government/.

Chappell, Bill. “How UFO Sightings Went From Conspiracy Theory To A Serious Government Inquiry.” NPR, 4 June 2021, www.npr.org/2021/06/04/1003262749/how-ufo-sightings-went-from-conspiracy-theory-to-a-serious-government-inquiry.

Jett, Jennifer. “Why Are We All Talking About U.F.O.s Right Now?” The New York Times, 3 June 2021, www.nytimes.com/2021/06/03/us/ufos-report.html.

Wattles, Jackie. “NASA is getting serious about UFOs.” CNN, 4 June 2021, www.cnn.com/2021/06/04/tech/ufos-nasa-study-scn/index.html.