UFO sighting: Hundreds of sightings reported but they mean us no harm, US report says

Hundreds of UFO sightings have been reported in the US in recent months, a senior Pentagon official has said. Director of the Pentagon office, Sean Kirkpatrick, told CNN his office received approximately 800 reports of unidentified objects from April 2023, which has increased from 650 reports in August 2022. 

Kirkpatrick said nearly all reports relate to objects seen in the air, with only one being a maritime sighting. He adds that there is potential for "hundreds if not thousands" more reports in the future. Half of the objects sighted are said to be “mundane things” such as balloons or drones, Mr Kirkpatrick warned that some may be the result of America’s adversaries trying to spy on the nation.

He said: "There are some indicators that are concerning that may be attributed to foreign activity, and we are investigating those very hard."

He added that between 2-4% of reports are truly anomalous and require further investigation. Meanwhile, “a very small percentage” of reports have “interesting” signatures, such as high-speed travel or “unknown morphologie". 

The revelations come after the Pentagon released a report stating most sightings are reported close to restricted military airspace, which could be a result of additional sensors and radars around the facilities. 

The news also comes as a new official US government report states there have been more UFOs sighted but they mean us no harm. The annual intelligence document delivered to Congress on Tuesday (October 17) detailed 291 new sightings of Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP) in a period from 2019, which brings the total case that All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) has been reviewing to over 800 as of 30 April, 2023. The report refers to no reports of the mysterious craft interfering with air traffic.

It reads: "While the mere presence of UAP in the airspace represents a potential hazard to flight safety, none of these reports suggest the UAP maneuvered to an unsafe proximity to civil or military aircraft, positioned themselves in flight paths, or otherwise posed a direct threat to the flight safety of the observing aircraft."

During the reporting period, AARO say they received no statements indicating UAP sightings have been "associated with any adverse health effects".  However, they add, "many reports from military witnesses do present potential safety of flight concerns, and there are some cases where reported UAP have potentially exhibited one or more concerning performance characteristics such as high-speed travel or unusual manoeuvrability."

Pentagon Press Secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder commented: "Analysing and understanding the potential threats posed by UAP is an ongoing collaborative effort involving many departments and agencies, and the Department thanks the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) and other contributing departments and agencies for their collaborative efforts to produce this report.

"The safety of our service personnel, our bases and installations, and the protection of U.S. operations security on land, in the skies, seas, and space are paramount. We take reports of incursions into our designated space, land, sea, or airspaces seriously and examine each one."