Pentagon opens UFO office to investigate ‘sighting mysteries’ – but everyone has same complaint

THE PENTAGON is opening a new office to investigating UFOs – but not everyone is convinced by the idea.

US officials signed off the crack team of UFO specialists late last year.

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It’s designed to uncover and identify UFOs, some of which may be considered threats to national security.

The dedicated unit is called the Anomaly Surveillance and Resolution Office (ARSO).

It will probe whether or not the strange craft that have been reportedly buzzing the US military are unknown technology from Russia and China or potentially something more alien.

But some think the new Pentagon UFO office won’t change anything.

Critics have warned that the government will simply conceal any major findings – and that UFO investigations have been ongoing for years anyway.

Mutual UFO Network spokesperson Ron James warned that the public is unlikely to find out about any evidence of alien interference.

“This is a subject with a provable history of secrecy,” said James, speaking to NBC.

“And anything that lacks a new openness about the information is subject to more, possibly inappropriate control.”

James added: “We don’t see that this means new resources will be dedicated to the matter.

“We believe considerable resources have always been dedicated to the matter at some level inside deep government and industry.”

And US Congressman Tim Burchett tweeted in reply to the news with stark criticism.

“We should never trust the Pentagon,” the Knoxville, Tennessee lawmaker said.

“They will never tell us the full story on the UFO issue.”

Others have hailed the legislation.

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand led the introduction of the new measure, and says it’s important for the safety of US citizens.

“Our national security efforts rely on aerial supremacy and these phenomena present a challenge to our dominance,” the senator said.

“The United States needs a coordinated effort to take control and understand whether these aerial phenomena belong to a foreign government or something else altogether.”

The office will be set up jointly between the Department of Defense and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) – a key marriage between the intelligence and military communities.

UFOs have stepped from an issue that was dismissed as fringe and the realm of conspiracy theorists into a genuine national security debate over the past few years.

ARSO will seek to investigate “the technical and operational characteristics, origins and intentions” of UFOs. 

The UFO office will have the power to send out X-Files-esque teams to allow for “rapid response” and “field investigations” of UFOs. 

It will also provide briefings on “any efforts to capture or exploit” the phenomena and also assess “health-related effects” for those who have encountered the objects.

Further detail on these attempts to “capture or exploit” UFOs is absent – and its unclear exactly what this refers to as it lists the phrase in what will be included in its annual report to Congress. 

The office will also compile connections between UFOs and nuclear weapons – something suspected to be a key flashpoint for whatever is in the skies. 

The term “extraterrestrial” or “alien” is not mentioned in the lengthy amendment, which was tabled by Democrat lawmaker Kirsten Gillibrand and backed by Republican heavyweight – and potential presidential candidate – Marco Rubio. 

However, the office will acknowledge the “transmedium” nature of the phenomena – objects which appear to move between space, the Earth’s atmosphere and even under the sea. 

Many reports state that UFOs have been witnessed emerging from or plunging into the ocean – sparking speculation about the link between the objects and the ocean. 

And some of the most high profile encounters, such as the USS Nimitz incident, saw UFOs sighted by pilots near US warships.

Lue Elizondo, head of the Pentagon’s former UFO investigation unit AATIP – which was disbanded in 2017 – welcomed the move.

He told The Sun Online: “This historic bill is not only good for the American people, but it is a bill that history will show to be beneficial to the world.”

Mr Elizondo added he is currenting in Washington DC working to support the amendment, alongside former intelligence official Christopher Mellon. 

It comes after the US’s top spy chief Avril Haines – the DNI – admitted it is a consideration for intelligence services that the mystery objects may have come from outer space.

The landmark Pentagon report of the objects released over the summer – now more commonly known as Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP) – admitted there is something unknown in the skies.

ARSO will produce annual reports on the matter up until at least 2026 which will have both classified and unclassified sections for Congress.

It will dissolve the temporary UAP Task Force that was set up to deal with the Pentagon report which was released in June.

ARSO will develop standardised procedures to report and investigate UFOs to allow the US to understand what they are dealing with.

The office will also create a centralised database of UFO encounters. 

And perhaps key, it will “evaluate the threat that such incidents pose the United States” while also consulting with their allies.

Gillibrand’s amendment – as well as being supported by Rubio – is also backed by Democrat senator Martin Heinrich and Republican lawmakers Lindsey Graham and Roy Blunt.

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