The Pentagon has released hazard reports describing the sizes and shapes of unidentified aerial phenomena encountered by US Navy pilots, including a 2014 incident involving an object described as approximately the size of a suitcase and silver in color.
In that 2014 encounter, the Navy aircraft passed within 1,000 feet of the object but was unable to positively determine its identity, according to the report. A separate report from 2013 described another object with an approximately 5-foot wingspan, colored white with no other distinguishable features. Due to its small size, the aircraft was determined to be an unidentified aerial system.
The reports noted that the objects could be drones, although no nearby operators could be identified.
Context of the Releases
The hazard reports follow a series of UFO videos that surfaced after a 2017 investigation by The New York Times. The three videos showed strangely shaped objects moving across the ocean surface, while others appeared to shoot up into the sky without any apparent methods of propulsion.
Last month, the Pentagon formally released the three unclassified videos, stating that "after a thorough review, the department has determined that the authorized release of these unclassified videos does not reveal any sensitive capabilities or systems."
Sue Gough, a Defense Department spokeswoman, told CBS News last month that the department released the videos "in order to clear up any misconceptions by the public on whether or not the footage that has been circulating was real, or whether or not there is more to the videos." She added that "the aerial phenomena observed in the videos remain characterized as 'unidentified.'"
Just over a year ago, the US Navy announced it had started working on new guidelines for personnel to report sightings and other encounters with unidentified aircraft, as Politico reported at the time.
Editorial Notes