The Defense Department has confirmed that leaked photos and video of “unidentified aerial phenomena” originally taken in 2019 that have been circulating online in recent weeks are in fact images of unexplained objects that were taken by Navy personnel.
“I can confirm that the referenced photos and videos were taken by Navy personnel,” Gough said in the statement, adding that a task force aimed at investigating UFO sightings observed by the military, has “included these incidents in their ongoing examinations.”
Gough said that the Defense Department has avoided disclosing information that may be useful to potential adversaries, and does not publicly discuss the details of either its observations or probing of reported incursions into the nation’s training ranges or designated airspace. That includes “those incursions initially designated as UAP,” she said.
The images were taken in 2019, and emerged on Twitter last year.
The video clips are not the first time the Pentagon has confirmed the veracity of images that appear to show such objects: last year the agency also released three official video clips of UAP. In 2019, the Pentagon also issued a statement to CNN that Navy officials had received “a number of reports of unauthorized and/or unidentified aircraft entering various military-controlled ranges and designated air space in recent years.”
Intelligence agencies are expected to give unclassified reports about unidentified aerial phenomena to congressional intelligence and armed services committees in June.
