
Pilots report that the objects appear smooth, with no seams or rivets found on conventional aircraft. The exact nature of the objects vary, but the most noteworthy incidents that have been made public typically feature spherical or oval-shaped objects traveling at high speeds with no apparent means of propulsion.

Graves said the incidents were "not rare or isolated," and that "the American people deserve to know what is happening in our skies." From left, Ryan Graves, David Grusch and David Fravor take their seats as they arrive for a House subcommittee hearing on unidentified anomalous phenomena on July 26, 2023. The two other witnesses, David Fravor and Ryan Graves, told lawmakers about their firsthand experience with the mysterious objects while piloting military aircraft. A spokeswoman for the office said it had no evidence of such a program. Many end up having innocent explanations -they turn out to be weather balloons, drones or small aircraft- while others remain shrouded in mystery.ĭavid Grusch, the ex-intelligence officer, told lawmakers at Wednesday's hearing that he had learned of "a multi-decade UAP crash retrieval and reverse-engineering program" by the government while he was working at a Pentagon office dedicated to investigating the encounters. The Pentagon has released several videos in recent years showing some of the objects. Hundreds of military and commercial pilots have reported UAP encounters.

But generally the term refers to objects spotted by pilots or detected by sensors that cannot be immediately explained. By definition, unidentified anomalous phenomena are just that - unidentified.
