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Most UFOs are probably fake. But some of them, as I’ve come to suspect from years of research and contact with high-level government officials, may come from sources beyond our planet. Recently declassified documents have reignited this debate for a whole new generation.

The government began declassifying long-held records on unidentified flying objects last week. Led by the Department of War, these declassification efforts apply across the federal government and follow an earlier directive from President Donald Trump. The most notable tidbits from last week were reports and photographs from former Apollo astronauts suggesting that UFOs had followed their lunar missions. Further disclosures are expected over the next few months.

Referred to by the government as “unidentified anomalous phenomena” (UAPs), UFOs have generated public interest since “flying saucers” were reported in the skies above America in the late 1940s. But the UFO topic began even before that, during the Second World War. Numerous allied aircrews over Europe reported seeing UFOs (which they named “Foo Fighters”) trailing their aircraft.

The first major sighting came in June 1947 when pilot Kenneth Arnold reported seeing flying disks zooming across the sky at extraordinary speeds. Other UFO reports were made that summer — most notably, the suggestion that a UFO had crashed outside Roswell, New Mexico.

As a national security journalist, I became interested in this subject about eight years ago when reliable sources told me the data suggest the most extraordinary UFOs are intelligently controlled machines not developed by the U.S., Russia, or China. Put simply, these are machines developed by something other than an Earth nation or Elon Musk. Alongside subsequent discussions with other sources, my research of historical witness and sensor reports (radar, satellite, sonar, etc.) leads me to believe that a small subset of UFOs is almost certainly the product of a non-human intelligence.

Stay with me; I’m not crazy.

The counterpoint here, a wholly accurate one, is that most UFOs are rather boring. That’s because most UFOs are either weather phenomena, the product of mistaken witnesses or liars, undisclosed spy planes, satellites, balloons, or photographic or video artifacts, etc. Sometimes UFOs are simply the product of conmen. As I documented in 2020, there is strong evidence to suggest that Steven Greer, a man who charges his customers thousands of dollars to learn how to summon UFOs, managed to summon a UFO off the Florida coast by paying a pilot to drop parachute flares while his customers sat astonished on the beach. Many journalists and scientists are loath to take the subject seriously because of the stigma it carries.

Still, there are three reasons why I’m confident that the very small subset of extraordinary UFOs represents some unknown non-human intelligence (or intelligences).

First, the performance characteristics of these UFOs suggest they operate with a knowledge of engineering physics well beyond our best capabilities. These craft show no obvious flight surface to maintain loft, nor obvious propulsion systems or exhaust trails. They have also shown an ability to move in and out of water, fly at extraordinary speeds (sometimes 10,000-plus miles per hour), and engage in instantaneous acceleration and deceleration. This indicates some kind of anti-gravity technology that prevents the craft from otherwise being torn apart by incredible g-force pressures.

Most compelling is the fact that radar recordings of these UFOs have often joined simultaneous eyewitness reports from credible officials such as military aircrews. And even today, nearly 80 years after the birth of modern UFO sightings, the most advanced U.S. military aircraft use jet fuel as their means of propulsion.

Second, these extraordinary types of UFOs have been seen globally. The Soviet Union experienced numerous incidents of a highly unusual nature during the Cold War, for example. There have also been mass eyewitness events, such as the 1954 sighting over a soccer match in Italy and the 1997 sighting of a massive black triangle over Phoenix. Former Air Force captain and then Arizona Governor Fife Symington witnessed that craft and later stated he believed it was extraterrestrial in nature.

Third, these truly unexplained UFOs illustrate behavior trends that do not correlate with what we would expect from an Earth nation, military, or corporation. One example is the interest of these UFOs in nuclear power, energy sources, and, most particularly, weapons systems. There is extensive documentation going back to the earliest days of nuclear development at the Los Alamos laboratory to suggest that UFOs monitor our high-tech developments. Usefully, many of these reports come from military personnel with very high clearances who underwent significant psychological assessments to get their positions.

Aliens, inter-dimensional beings, or whatever is responsible for these crafts also appear to have an affinity for children: perhaps because they are seen to pose less of a threat, or perhaps because their innocence makes them more open-minded. Regardless, numerous children and teachers have reported seeing UFOs over schools in Australia in 1966, the U.K. in 1977, and Zimbabwe in 1994. And if one is to believe John Lennon, some UFO crews or AI pilots also appear to be fans of The Beatles!

Where does this leave us?

Well, it is unlikely that the coming disclosures will produce evidence of alien bodies hidden in a basement somewhere. But something very strange has been and continues to be happening. The Trump administration deserves credit for taking the veil off this issue and bringing an overdue dose of credibility to the subject.

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Tom Rogan is a national security writer at the Washington Examiner.

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