The video, which racked up millions of views within a few days, shows several curious onlookers observing the “UFO” near New Jersey’s Route 21 highway. While this may have been an unidentified flying object to these onlookers, this “alien spaceship” has since been identified as a Goodyear Blimp.
"It further legitimizes the issue," said Christopher Mellon, a former top Pentagon intelligence official and Senate staffer who has pressed for more research on the topic. "That in itself is extremely important. People can talk about it without fear of embarrassment."
In September 2019, Joseph Gradisher, claiming the title of “spokesman for the deputy chief of naval operations for information warfare,” confirmed the authenticity of all three videos in an email to a well-known UFO blog called The Black Vault. This development was quickly reported by the Washington Post.
2. Fill in twelve projects that you want to finish this year. You can choose from any of your UFOs. If you have a kit you bought but never opened or fabric you've been holding on to for too long, add using it up to the list. Embroidery, knitting, crochet, scrapbooking, and painting can count toward your list, too!
The first thing I’d say is that it doesn’t matter what I think because I’m not a scientist, right? I don’t know what’s on those videos. But to me, I listened to the pilots, to their voices, and I trust them much more than I would trust myself. And they’re clearly seeing something extraordinary. Now, whether it’s alien life, who knows? It’s a plausible explanation. My point is that we should be agnostic about this and simply study it scientifically. Let’s do the science and then we can talk about what we found. Until we’ve done that, it’s all bullshit.
"The Committee understands that the relevant intelligence may be sensitive; nevertheless, the Committee finds that the information sharing and coordination across the Intelligence Community has been inconsistent, and this issue has lacked attention from senior leaders," it adds. The unclassified analysis, which can include a classified annex, is to be completed by the director of national intelligence and the secretary of defense within 180 days of passage. Senators on the panel were first briefed a year ago about reports from naval aviators and other personnel about a series of incidents in recent years involving unidentified aircraft stalking Navy aircraft carriers off the the West and East coasts, including a trio of videos that were recently made public. The congressional briefings were sparked by revelations in late 2017 that the Pentagon had been investigating the sightings and interviewing pilots for a number of years and had recently issued new guidelines to sailors on how to report such incidents. Now the Senate panel, chaired by Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), is directing the executive branch to centralize all relevant information about such intrusions collected from a wide range of sources, including the Office of Naval Intelligence, the FBI, satellites or other technical means, and human spies. It also wants a recounting of how agencies share such information and who is responsible for the task; whether the aircraft in question could indicate a major technological breakthrough by a foreign adversary; and "recommendations regarding increased collection of data, enhanced research and development, and additional funding and other resources." Rubio's office declined a request to comment. The move is seen as a major victory for advocates of more government research into UFOs and greater public transparency. "It further legitimizes the issue," said Christopher Mellon, a former top Pentagon intelligence official and Senate staffer who has pressed for more research on the topic. "That in itself is extremely important. People can talk about it without fear of embarrassment." He said the potential implications cannot be overstated. "Assuming the report is properly prepared and delivered, there is no telling what the impacts could be," Mellon said. "That could range from revealing an unknown threat or military vulnerability to there have been probes visiting our planet, or anything in between." It remains unclear how the legislation will be received by the full Senate, which has yet to take up the intelligence bill, or where the House will come down on the issue. There could also be resistance within the Trump administration, particularly regarding the requirement that the information be made public. But what is clear is that UFOs are now on the agenda. "If they don't respond to something like this, what do we have an intelligence community for?" Mellon asked. "We are talking dozens of incidents in restricted military airspace over years."
I think if they are here, they’ve probably been here a very long time — that’s my guess. And, look, there are medieval woodcuts that seem to show UFOs. There are UFO stories in the Bible, apparently, or at least stories that are interpreted that way. So I think they’ve probably been here a long time if they’re here.
"The formation of a task force on UFOs is another welcome development in the recent renewed interest and attention to these reports by government agencies and political actors," said Mark Rodeghier, president and scientific director of the J. Allen Hynek Center for UFO Studies in Chicago.
Among UFO aficionados in Japan, summer is seen as the season for flying saucers. In mid-June Japan’s well known UFO hotspots didn’t disappoint after a mysterious unidentifiable white balloon with a connected cross-propeller shaped object was spotted in the skies of the northeastern city of Sendai and Fukushima prefecture. The mysterious aerial object was observed at 7 a.m. and some witnesses say it resembled a hot air balloon. Japan’s Meteorological Agency denied any observational equipment being dispatched by the agency. Miyagi Prefectural Police flew a helicopter to investigate the object but was forced to turn around due to poor weather conditions. Police say the aerial object disappeared without causing any danger to commercial flight paths. In December 2019 Fuji News Network (FNN) also reported capturing footage of an illuminating object in the sky traveling at tremendous speed in Iwaki City, Fukushima prefecture.