Abstract: While the link between Unidentified Aerial Phenomena or Unidentified Flying Objects (UAP or UFOs) and the existence of alien life has long been discredited as pseudoscience, an increasing number of government disclosures and reports on UFOs and their witnesses have recently surfaced that challenge this assertion. However, it is often difficult to believe in the possibility of alien visitors due to the gap between verified UAP sightings and urban legend-like stories of aliens.
This article examines multifaceted information and provides a holistic overview to assess the obscurity and controversy behind UAP. First, it examines documented accounts from children witnesses involved in UAP encounters. Subsequently, it reviews verified cases reported by groups of adults that fulfill specific criteria, such as third-party testimonies, consistent stories, physical evidence, polygraph tests, and follow-up government investigations. Further, the article outlines examples of pilots who have experienced UAP, along with military reports on “Foo-Fighters” that can be traced back to World War I.
Furthermore, it explores historical accounts of UAP pre-dating the invention of airplanes and hot air balloons. Finally, the article considers official reports and statements from the government, military, and scientists to deduce the connection between UAP and alien life. The key similarities between UFO sightings and their long and continuous history recorded by witnesses with credentials support the likelihood of alien visitors. The corroboration of alien life forms may impact humanity’s understanding of their place in the universe and change people’s attitudes toward global warming and Anthropocene extinction.
Introduction
In December 2017, Luis Elizondo made headlines around the world (Watkins & Todd, 2017). The former employee of the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence (OUSDI) and former head of the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program—a classified UFO study funded by the United States Department of Defense—stated, “My personal belief is that there is very compelling evidence that we may not be alone.” Subsequently, on December 16, 2017, The New York Times released two videos depicting a United States Navy pilot’s close encounter with an Unidentified Flying Object (UFO) (Cooper, Blumenthal, & Kean, 2017).
Three months later, another video was released revealing F-18 fighters’ encounters with UFOs (Eltagouri, 2018). The release of these videos was orchestrated by Elizondo, who left the head of the program and the Pentagon in 2017 due to the “bureaucratic challenges and inflexible mindsets” present in every level of the Department (History, 2019).
In response to one of the videos, U.S. Navy Commander David Fravor acknowledged witnessing a UFO while piloting an F/A-18 Hornet on a training mission in 2004. He stated, “I have never seen anything in my life, in my history of flying that has the performance, the acceleration – keep in mind this thing had no wings” (ABC 10 News). Navy pilots were, in fact, witnessing UFOs on an almost daily basis from the summer of 2014 to March 2015 (Cooper, Blumenthal, & Kean, 2019). Regarding the recent disclosure, Christopher Mellon, the former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Intelligence stated, “We know that UFOs exist.
This is no longer an issue.” He questions, “The issue now is why are they here? Where are they coming from and what is the technology behind these devices that we are observing?” (Hopkins, 2019). On September 18, 2019, the Navy officially admitted that all previously released UFO footage taken by Navy pilots is authentic (Martinez, 2019). Furthermore, on April 27, 2020, the Pentagon officially declassified the leaked videos taken by Navy pilots (Weisberger, 2020). In recent years, news reports related to UFOs have dramatically increased, often involving personnel from organizations such as the Navy, the Pentagon, Congress, the Senate, and NASA (Specktor, 2020; Colombano, 2018; Bender, 2019; CNN, 2019; Letzter, 2018; McMillan, 2020)
The idea that UFOs are of extraterrestrial or interdimensional origin has been speculated by government officials and scientists (Kean, 2011; Grossman, 2019). This link between Unidentified Flying Objects and intelligent alien life is an interesting yet controversial possibility. As such, there have been unverifiable sightings where individuals claim to have encountered aliens and UFOs. In regards to hoax-like cases, such “witnesses” are often motivated by financial gains through books or publicity from their “alleged experiences” (Hagi, 2017; Holden & French, 2002). For cases that cannot be dismissed as simple fabrications, psychologists assume that the alleged individuals’ alien encounters result from of out-of-body experiences or sleep paralysis (McNally & Clancy 2005; Wolchover, 2011).
Consequently, the gap between verified UFO records and individuals’ obscure and disputable alien encounters complicates whether one believes that there may be something substantial behind the Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP), or if the possibility of alien aircrafts is simply a product of one’s mind. However, cases exist in which young children and groups of adults have witnessed strange entities emerge from UFOs, rendering it difficult to attribute such an anomaly to human psychology. This article aims to examine the connection between UFOs and aliens by first reviewing selected accounts from young children, followed by those of adult group witnesses.
As these cases have been largely overlooked by the mainstream scientific community, this article seriously considers the possibility of UFO and alien encounter claims by identifying the key characteristics of each case. This research involved selecting only those alleged alien encounters involving children witnesses and adult groups that had been reported by major media outlets or other reputable sources.
Furthermore, the continuous and extensive history of UFO sightings comprising reports by pilots, scholars, and credentialed witnesses is reviewed in conjunction with the ten alleged alien encounters. Finally, the article examines the official stance of the government, military, and scientists before outlining all existing evidence to assess the possible connection between UFOs and alien life forms.