No alien landings, no secret spaceships: Pentagon says no evidence of extraterrestrial visits to earth

There is no proof of extraterrestrial intelligence visiting earth or of authorities concealing crashed alien spacecraft from the public, the US Department of Defense has said.

This was the conclusion of a comprehensive review by the defence department regarding USgovernment's involvement with unidentified anomalous phenomena, commonly referred to as UFOs.

The review, made public on Friday (March 8), extensively analysed all official USinvestigative endeavours from 1945 onwards, scrutinising both classified and unclassified government archives.

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Clear conclusions: No extraterrestrial connection

The findings were unequivocal, stating that no USgovernment investigation, academic-sponsored research, or official review panel has validated any sighting of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP) as representing extraterrestrial technology.

Reports of UFOs often turned out to be mundane objects or phenomena misidentified by witnesses, it said.

Although the report is now public, it is expected to face skepticism and rejection from independent investigators, former USpersonnel, and conspiracy theorists who firmly believe in government cover-ups of alien-related evidence.

The defense department's All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO), which compiled the report, directly addressed these allegations.

The AARO explicitly stated that claims of the USgovernment's involvement in reverse-engineering extraterrestrial technology are inaccurate. The office asserted that any reports regarding specific individuals, locations, or documents related to such activities lack evidence.

Despite concerns about limited access to classified information, the AARO established a secure process to review sensitive government programs. They were granted full access to pertinent classified programs and interviewed senior-level personnel from various government agencies and contractors.

The report highlighted how popular culture has perpetuated misconceptions about alien visitations, fuelled by movies, books, and social media. It emphasised the persistent narrative of government secrecy surrounding recovered alien spacecraft, which lacks substantiation.

Investigators discovered that many individuals who claimed knowledge of alien-related activities had misinterpreted real events or sensitive government programs. Some had mistakenly attributed their observations to extraterrestrial involvement.

The report addressed several specific claims, including alleged collaborations between the CIA and a company to study alien spacecraft. It also refuted accounts of military personnel loading spacecraft onto planes and claims of alien bodies being kept by companies.

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Instances of individuals misunderstanding events, such as touching a classified aircraft or witnessing military tests, were clarified in the report.

(With inputs from agencies)