(NewsNation) — A new Pentagon report on unidentified anomalous phenomena, also known as UFOs, attributes most sightings worldwide to ordinary objects like birds and weather balloons, but officials say they’re still willing to sit down with members of Congress who say they’re hiding the truth.
The report comes one day after the House held a hearing into UAPs. Interest in UFOs has soared following whistleblower reports and testimony from former government insiders that the Pentagon is operating a secret UAP retrieval program and that UAPs are connected to nonhuman intelligence.
Jon Kosloski, director of the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO), acknowledged the hearings and agreed with witness Lue Elizondo that UAPs are real and something to be taken seriously.
“I absolutely agree UAP are real,” Kosloski said. “We’ve received 1,600 cases. A large number of those are unresolved, which means we don’t know exactly what they are.”
His comments also support statements made by witness and former NASA official Michael Gold, who called for more scientific work.
“Reports of unidentified anomalous phenomenon, particularly near national security sites, must be treated seriously and investigated with scientific rigor by the U.S. government,” he said.
Though Kosloski agreed with the need to investigate UAPs, he reiterated that there is no evidence to suggest that these objects are alien or extraterrestrial in nature.
“AARO has discovered no verifiable evidence of extraterrestrial beings, activity or technology,” Kosloski said. “None of the cases resolved by AARO have pointed to advanced capabilities or breakthrough technologies.”
AARO received 757 UAP reports during fiscal year 2024, with a total of 1,600 reports received by the department since it began collection.
The majority of the cases have been attributed to common objects, including balloons, birds, drones and satellites, while others lack sufficient data to be classified and may be reopened for further review.
Kosloski also noted that a geographic bias of UAP reports near military assets is being mitigated as commercial pilots have increased reports of UAPs across the U.S.
Kosloski said less than 3.5% of the cases have anomalous characteristics that could indicate breakthrough technology, again cautioning that those characteristics are not evidence of alien involvement.
“There are definitely anomalies. We have not been able to draw the link to extraterrestrials,” he said.
AARO is open to meeting with whistleblowers and lawmakers on the subject of UAPs, Kosloski said, including using a SCIF, a secure facility that is used for briefings on classified material, to allow whistleblowers and others to speak on the subject regardless of any classification or if they have signed nondisclosure agreements.
The AARO director said that the office had not connected UAPs to adversarial efforts by U.S. enemies but also noted that once a sighting was classified as a known object, it would be handed off to a partner such as an intelligence agency for any additional investigation.
Kosloski said AARO is planning to work on developing mechanisms for the public to report UAPs and to increase cooperation with foreign partners in the coming year.
In response to a push for more transparency with the American public, Kosloski said the office is committed to doing what it can to share information.
“We are committed to sharing as much information as possible — at the unclassified level — to the public of our activities and findings,” Kosloski said.
