A photo of a saucer flying over Seattle, USA in 1957. (Frank Ryman via Getty)
- US lawmakers have called on the country's military to release research into alien artifacts.
- There was nothing, the Pentagon announced Friday.
- Military reports say all sightings are separate.
Has the United States confirmed sightings of alien spacecraft or reverse-engineered extraterrestrial technology?
A more than 60-page Pentagon report released Friday says no, throwing cold water on the popular conspiracy theory that the government is covering up contact with aliens.
The report was mandated by Congress and required lawmakers to submit a “written report detailing the U.S. government's historical record of unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAPs),” commonly known as UFOs. .
The Pentagon's All Area Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) found “no evidence” that government investigations, academic studies, and official investigations “confirm that the UAP sightings represent extraterrestrial technology.”
Instead, “all investigative efforts at all classification levels have concluded that most sightings are of common objects or phenomena and are the result of misidentification,” the report states.
“We have found no substantive evidence for the claim that USG and private companies are reverse engineering extraterrestrial technology.”
AARO said inaccurate reverse-engineering claims “mainly result from circulating reports from groups of individuals who believe so despite the lack of evidence.”
In compiling the report, the first of two volumes, AARO reviewed U.S. investigative efforts since 1945, examined archives, conducted more than 20 interviews, and reviewed administrative and special access programs. Cooperated with intelligence and defense officials responsible for oversight.
Retired AARO director Sean Kirkpatrick told lawmakers last year that he had seen no signs of alien activity.
AARO has “so far found no reliable evidence of extraterrestrial activity, extraterrestrial technology, or objects that violate the known laws of physics,” Kirkpatrick said.