The US defense department has authorized the release of three unclassified US Navy videos that have been the cause of controversy and discussion ever since the first one appeared in 2007.
The encounters between navy pilots and unidentified flying objects themselves occurred once in 2004 and twice in January 2015.
Unauthorized leaks of the footage took place in 2007 and 2017.
The US Navy previously acknowledged that these videos circulating in the public domain were indeed navy videos. Now, after a review, the department determined that the authorized release of these unclassified videos does not reveal any sensitive capabilities or systems, and does not impinge on any subsequent investigations of military air space incursions by unidentified aerial phenomena.
Pentagon said it 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.”
This is in contrast to a number of media reports, which cited navy veterans as saying that the flying objects in the videos appeared to defy laws of physics, like descending from 60,000 feet to 50 at ballistic-missile speeds without producing sonic booms.
Pentagon added that the aerial phenomena observed in the videos remain characterized as “unidentified.” All three videos can be accessed at the US Naval Air Systems Command site.
