Do these videos from the Pentagon prove UFOs are real?

Unidentified flying objects (UFOs) have held the fascination of human beings for a long time. To be precise, the idea of flying saucers has been around since the 1940s. Verbal anecdotes were shared by pilots who claimed to have seen these objects & within no time, pop-culture embraced the idea. 

Once pop-culture caught hold of it, the idea was exaggerated into sci-fi storylines with aliens actually descending from their vehicles onto the earth. From Steven Spielberg’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind to the wildly famous E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial, cinema has tried to reimagine what the residents in other regions of the universe could look like. 

In real life too, the drama hasn’t been any less. People have made claims about such sightings, circulated videos, news channels have sensationalized the footage – like a feast to tempt the most jaded appetites. Now, the U.S. Department of Defense has released three declassified videos from the years 2004 & 2015, referring to the contents as “unexplained aerial phenomena”.

The leaked videos were real

The Pentagon released three Navy videos that had been circulating on the internet for quite some time now. They claim they’ve released them just to clear any misconceptions as to the veracity of the footage. By releasing the footage, they just want to send the message that these videos are true & that the footage is real & complete. 

They’ve also given a link on their official announcement to download the footage for everyone to see. Now, not only is the mysterious footage available for legitimate download, they also have the government’s stamp of authenticity.

Their exact words, “DOD [Department of Defense] is releasing 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. The aerial phenomena observed in the videos remain characterized as ‘unidentified’”

It’s interesting to note that the respective videos from 2004 & 2015 have been in circulation since 2007 & 2017 – two of them by The New York Times & the third one by To The Stars Academy, an organization co-founded by former Blink-182 singer Tom DeLonge to research on UFOs & other paranormal phenomena.

The supporters of the phenomenon exist across the board. Take former Senate majority leader Harry Reid of Nevada, who tweeted, “I’m glad the Pentagon is finally releasing this footage, but it only scratches the surface of research and materials available.”

I’m glad the Pentagon is finally releasing this footage, but it only scratches the surface of research and materials available. The U.S. needs to take a serious, scientific look at this and any potential national security implications. The American people deserve to be informed. https://t.co/1XNduvmP0u

— Senator Harry Reid (@SenatorReid) April 27, 2020

What do the videos show?

Despite all the enthusiasm around the footage, there’s not much to be excited about in terms of information. The videos show these objects – the one we refer to UFOs in common parlance – hovering in the sky. In one of the videos, one of the pilots can be heard expressing their confusion & awe.

So, do the videos prove UFOs are real? The stamp of authenticity the videos have received certainly sparks interest in the conversation around interstellar lives. Unlike before, no one can immediately dismiss such sightings as a hoax. 

So these are certainly objects of interest, they’re flying, and so far remain unidentified. But that’s the extent of the UFOs being real. Do these UFOs have a galactic connection? Were they carrying life from another planet or universe? That conversation will come later. 

At the same time, the government seems to have taken a liking to this idea. This explains why the government has set up the Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force (UAPTF), a new body to investigate, monitor, trace, and possibly get to the root of these sightings.