Unidentified flying objects, commonly referred to as UFOs, are often seen in science fiction literature and films. However, recent news from the Pentagon suggests that some of these fantasies are real. 

There is evidence of multiple accounts of sightings, such as a “tic-tac-shaped” object in 2004 and the “cubes within spheres” in 2014 both seen hovering off the deck of a US Naval ship. There are also accounts of flying black triangles all around the world. The mysterious triangles have not been commented on by the U.S. government, but the UFOs that were seen by the Navy are claimed to be solid evidence by the Pentagon. 

The evidence includes two pictures and a video of these strange occurrences. Of course, there is the possibility that this evidence could be fake with the technology we have today, such as drones. Matt Cauchy, Physics teacher says, “I have seen no evidence of aliens. There appears to be evidence that there are unidentified flying objects. By nature, unidentified means unidentified. We don’t know what it is!” 

The video is the most solid evidence, because it captures the naval crew’s reaction to the UFO. Throughout the video exclamations of awe and disbelief can be heard. Due to this event the Navy now has a new protocol if a UFO is encountered. 

It is important to note that these claims come from members of the United States defense system, not just an ordinary person claiming they saw something, as movies often depict. We now have hard evidence from respectable people.  

Not just any ordinary UFO sighting will be addressed by the Pentagon, so the evidence collected in this case is serious. So far, only three pieces of evidence have been confirmed as true during press conferences, but the Pentagon will release more in a report set to release in June of 2021. 

Cauchy comments, “I think they [the government] have known for a long time, and for national security reasons they decided it wasn’t a good idea. Someone decided it is a good idea to put it out there. It is what it is.” The release of this information was possible after many meetings, and it was determined that the pictures and video do not contain classified information. All statements have come from Luis Elizondo, former head of the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program. 

In response to a question about what this information means to the future of science, Analisa Nichols said, “I think it means that there is more evidence that there is life on other planets. So, more research can be done to find these other planets and other galaxies.” Frank Murphy ‘24 responded to the same question, and said, “Well, I’m not much of a scientist, but I would think it probably has an explanation that is scientifically revealing about some other life out there [in space].” 

UFOs have been a topic of interest for the government for a long time, but officially in 2007 when Nevada Senator, Harry Reid, launched an official UFO program. Murphy answered the question “So why is this information being released now in 2021?” He replied, “I’m not really sure. I think maybe people are more interested in the possibility of other life out there, and it’s an interesting thing to discuss. Maybe there were some controversies about it. I’m not sure if there was speculation that people had seen something. I think it would make sense to release information to the public to clear stuff up.” The classified program ended in 2012 due to lack of funding, even though Luis Elizondo made a statement in 2017, saying, “There is very compelling evidence that we may not be alone.”