OPINION:
Truth-seekers hoping the U.S. government would answer their burning UFO questions may be disappointed, but they shouldn’t be surprised. Rather than solid evidence confirming or denying the existence of advanced alien life forms visiting our planet in unearthly spacecraft, a new report presents evidence regarding unidentified flying objects, but no solid conclusions.
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the Pentagon released on Friday a nine-page preliminary report ordered by Congress on UFOs. It rebrands the sightings as UAPs, or “unidentified aerial phenomena,” but the unclassified contents contain few revelations about incidents of seemingly otherworldly nature.
The Pentagon-based Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force analyzes 144 incidents occurring between 2004 and 2021, only identifying one conclusively: a large, deflated balloon. In 80 incidents, multiple sensors tracked the puzzling assortment of orbs and “tic-tacs,” minimizing the possibility of sensor error. Most intriguing, 21 reports detail object movement suggesting “advanced technology” — capabilities beyond those possessed by advanced nations.
Of most immediate concern to authorities is the possibility that a hostile nation is piloting the airborne gizmos: “UAP pose a hazard to safety of flight and could pose a broader danger if some instances represent sophisticated collection against U.S. military activities by a foreign government or demonstrate a breakthrough aerospace technology by a potential adversary.”
Rather than find disappointment in the report’s scant conclusions, perhaps Americans should be relieved. Were UFOs to be ID’ed, the implications would have been beyond profound. The undeniable implications of vehicles capable of traversing the nearly unfathomable depths of space would demonstrate that alien civilizations have achieved an exponential leap in knowledge that leave human technology in the stardust. On Earth at least, things don’t end well for primitives.
Confirmation of extraterrestrial life forms’ existence would be even more earth-shattering in the realm of religion. Heliocentrism, which placed the sun at the center of the observed universe, destroyed fundamental Medieval doctrine contending the Earth occupies the most exalted place in Creation. Sudden proof that humankind is but one variety of sentient life in the vast cosmic firmament would necessitate some editing of the Bible’s Genesis.
Since the UAP assessment lacks conclusions, such speculation is premature. It is not outlandish, though, to wonder whether it also lacks candor. After all, officialdom has squandered a considerable measure of its credibility in recent years on some glaring fabrications: Iraq’s Saddam Hussein was overthrown based on his supposed possession of dangerous weapons that were never found. Donald Trump was defeated with a collection of accusations, including collusion with Russia, that were proved false. Americans were assured the coronavirus that killed 600,000 citizens was a freak of nature — until evidence of human-caused mischief broke through an information cordon.
It is not unreasonable to read a little obfuscation in the preliminary UFO report. And since the zippy vehicles piloted by little green men, apparently, carry no license plate, “the truth is out there,” still.
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