The Pentagon has officially released UFO videos taken by US Navy Pilots. The videos show "unidentified aerial phenomena" previously released by a private company.
In the videos, there are what seem to be unidentified flying objects swiftly moving. Infrared cameras recorded their movements.
Two of the videos display service members reacting in awe at how fast the objects are moving. One voice claims it could be a drone.
Meanwhile, the Navy attested the authenticity of the videos in September of last year.
They are officially releasing them now, "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," according to Pentagon spokesperson Sue Gough.
"After a thorough review, the department has determined that the authorized release of these unclassified videos does not reveal any sensitive capabilities or systems," said Gough in a statement.
"[It] does not impinge on any subsequent investigations of military air space incursions by unidentified aerial phenomena," she added.
The Navy has issued formal guidelines for how its pilots can demonstrate when they detect possible UFOs.
Movements
To The Stars Academy of Arts & Sciences released the Navy videos between December 2017 and March 2018.
Former Blink-182 musician Tom DeLonge co-founded the company, which studies information about unidentified aerial phenomena.
In 2017, one of the pilots who encountered one of the unidentified objects in 2004 told CNN that it moved in mysterious ways.
"As I got close to it ... it rapidly accelerated to the south, and disappeared in less than two seconds," said retired US Navy pilot David Fravor.
"This was extremely abrupt, like a ping pong ball, bouncing off a wall. It would hit and go the other way," he said.
The Pentagon has investigated recordings of aerial encounters with unknown objects in the past. This effort was a part of a since-shuttered classified program launched at the behest of former Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada.
The program started in 2007 and ended in 2012, according to the Pentagon. It was shut down because they there were higher priorities that needed funding at the time.
Compelling evidence
Meanwhile, Luis Elizondo, the former head of the classified program, said in an interview with CNN in 2017 that he personally believes "there is very compelling evidence that we may not be alone."
"These aircraft -- we'll call them aircraft -- are displaying characteristics that are not currently within the US inventory nor in any foreign inventory that we are aware of," Elizondo said of their investigation.
He adds he left his work at the Defense Department in 2017 in protest over the secrecy surrounding the program and the internal opposition to financially back it.
On Monday, Reid Tweeted that he was "glad" the Pentagon officially released the videos. Though he noted that "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."
"If pilots at Oceana or elsewhere are reporting flight hazards that interfere with training or put them at risk, then Senator Warner wants answers. It doesn't matter if it's weather balloons, little green men, or something else entirely — we can't ask our pilots to put their lives at risk unnecessarily," Rachel Cohen, spokeswoman for Democratic Virginia Sen. Mark Warner, told CNN at the time.
