The US defense department has said it has found no evidence of alien technology either in the skies, space, or in crashed objects scattered across the American desert.
The conclusion was made in a report titled, 'Report on the Historical Record of U.S. Government Involvement with Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP) Volume I' compiled by the department's All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office, or AARO.
The report's findings are expected to spark controversy within the UAP disclosure movement, which contends that the US government possesses more information about alleged alien encounters than it publicly discloses.
UAP, or Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena, entail unidentified objects or phenomena in the air, under water, in space or that appear to travel between them.
The US government has been running programmes since 1945 to spot such objects and has over the decades run several projects, such as Project Saucer, Project Sign, Project Twinkle, and Project Grudge.
Established with the purpose of investigating and resolving reports of UAP, the AARO was specifically designed to address a broad spectrum of occurrences, limited not only unidentified flying objects (UFOs) within Earth's atmosphere but also those observed in space and underwater, as well as objects exhibiting characteristics of movement between these domains.
The report stated, "AARO found no evidence that any USG [U.S. government] investigation, academic-sponsored research, or official review panel has confirmed that any sighting of a UAP represented extraterrestrial technology."
It said that numerous UAP sightings remain unresolved due to insufficient data, yet suggested that with improved information, many of these sightings could be attributed to commonplace objects or phenomena.
"The vast majority of reports almost certainly are the result of misidentification and a direct consequence of the lack of domain awareness; there is a direct correlation between the amount and quality of available information on a case with the ability to conclusively resolve it," AARO wrote.
It added, "AARO determined, based on all information provided to date, that claims involving specific people, known locations, technological tests, and documents allegedly involved in or related to the reverse-engineering of extraterrestrial technology, are inaccurate."
The report attributed the wild claims of UFO sightings to "circular reporting from a group of individuals who believe this to be the case, despite the lack of any evidence."
Sean Kirkpatrick, the former head of AARO, said the body is not above criticism from the very section which believes in UFOs and believe the department to be a part of the US government cover-up .
He wrote in an op-ed, "Many outside observers nonetheless have criticized AARO as supposedly part of a continuing government cover-up of the existence of aliens. Interestingly, they have not provided any verifiable evidence of this, nor are some of the more outspoken willing to engage with the office to discuss their positions or offer up the data and evidence they claim to possess."
Kirkpatrick said that critics who believe the Pentagon and private aerospace companies conceal crashed alien technology from the public are likely to disagree with the report's findings.
However, he emphasised that the office has welcomed witnesses and whistleblowers to step forward with any evidence they may possess.
AARO report also mentioned US military and space programmes that might explain certain UAP sightings. It said some of these sightings were likely due to advancements in technology that observers may have mistaken for UFOs.
Examples include Project Mogul, a balloon programme spying on Soviet nuclear tests, linked to the Roswell incident. Another is the Gambit project, launching spy satellites that released film canisters retrieved by USAF aircraft. Also cited are formerly classified aircraft like the U-2 spy plane, B-2 Spirit bomber, and SR-71 Blackbird.
The AARO report noted that UFO sightings, often associated with beliefs in alien technology, usually increase during periods of heightened national security fears, like the Cold War.
It said many sightings were actually new experimental space, rocket, and air systems, such as stealth tech and drones.
The pattern may continue today, as space and aerospace technologies are rapidly advancing, it said.
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