Unidentified/Phantom Drones & UAPs

[erowind]

.

[Cyber_Rebel]

"cybernetic monstrosities"

Seven of Nine is coming to assimilate me?

In all honesty a post singularity species should be high on the list for possible hypothetical aliens, with machines being at the top. But we wouldn't be able to be certain what they would be like as we only have ourselves to base anything off of.

Aside from the popular Von Neumann probes, I remember a video mentioning the concept of 3D printing full on bodies for space exploration. I'm uncertain just how realistic that would be, but if the singularity is supposed to be unimaginable, and we can't say for certain what a singularity would even be like for the physiology of another species, then who can say?

Really, so much of the UAP thing is shrouded in speculation, to the point where we likely won't ever get a definite answer (certainly not from the governments right now) until AGI systems can perfectly monitor our skies for any unexplained phenomenon. Kind of like how Yuli mentions utilizing AI to monitor for the supernatural occurrences people report to either finally prove within that very small chance or finally put these occurrences in either case to rest.

[funkervogt]

An analysis of the "Gimbal" UFO footage indicates the object had flight characteristics far superior to any aircraft. Given the UFO's lack of wings, a propulsion system, and spent fuel exhaust, its maneuvers should be impossible.



The Gimbal video:

[firestar464]

UAP spotted over Iraq

https://globalnews.ca/news/10216527/jel ... video-uap/

[caltrek]

It would seem that the original intent of the thread was to post stories linking drones and unidentified aerial phenomenon. That would have been all well and good had there been a thread on the broader theme of unidentified aerial phenomenon. Absent such a thread, it makes sense to post on that topic here. These posts demonstrate that most such sightings are probably not drones that have not been properly identified.

Watchdog Says Pentagon’s UAP Response May Pose Threat to National Security
by Howard Altman
January 25, 2024

Introduction:

(The Drive) he Pentagon’s “lack of a comprehensive, coordinated approach to address” Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP) “may pose a threat to military forces and national security,” the Defense Department’s inspector general (DoD OIG) stated publicly for the first time on Thursday. UAP is the Pentagon's new term art for UFOs.

In an unclassified version of a classified report delivered to Congress in August, the OIG said the Pentagon “has no overarching UAP policy and, as a result, it lacks assurance that national security and flight safety threats to the United States from UAP have been identified and mitigated.”

The report reviewed the extent to which the DoD, military services, defense and military counterintelligence agencies “took intelligence, counterintelligence, and force protection actions to detect, report, collect, analyze, and identify what is more commonly known as unidentified flying objects.”

That effort is currently being led by the Pentagon’s All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO), which was launched in July 2022. It was created to handle the government’s investigation into unidentified objects on and under the sea, in the air as well as in space - and any “transmedium” objects shifting between those domains. It was stood up amid growing concerns about threats to U.S. military installations and naval and air assets from objects of unknown origin.

However, as we noted nearly a year ago, the shootdown of a Chinese spy balloon that traversed much of the U.S. in February 2023 and three other unidentified objects a week later raised questions about AARO’s role and overall mission.

Read more here: https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/ ... -security

[caltrek]

The West is Best to Spot UFOs
by
February 27, 2024

Introduction:

(Eurekalert) This [Tic Tac-shaped object that] had just traveled 60 miles in…less than a minute, was far superior in performance to my brand-new F/A-18F and did not operate with any of the known aerodynamic principles that we expect for objects that fly in our atmosphere.”

In July of 2023, retired commander in the U.S. Navy David Fravor testified to the House Oversight Committee about a mysterious, Tic Tac-shaped object that he and three others observed over the Pacific Ocean in 2004. The congressional hearings riveted the world by bringing Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP) out of the “alien truther” realm and into the mainstream.

As sensor technology has advanced and personal aircraft-use has skyrocketed, our ability to explain strange events has become harder to resolve. The U.S. Department of Defense has increasingly taken UAP, formerly known as Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs), as a serious threat to national security.

A new study led by University of Utah geographers attempts to understand if local environmental factors increase or decrease the number of sighting reports. The authors used data from the National UFO Research Center, and included approximately 98,000 total sighting reports over a 20-year period, from 2001 to 2020. For each county in the contiguous U.S., the researchers analyzed two conditions: Sky view potential, which refers to the area’s light pollution, cloud cover and tree canopy cover; and the potential for objects to be present in the sky, meaning the proximity to airports and military installations.

The majority of sightings were in western parts of the U.S. due to the region’s physical geography—lots of wide-open spaces and dark skies. UAP-reporting hotspots had credible relationships with air traffic and military activity, suggesting that people are spotting real objects, but not recognizing what they are.

Read more of the Eurekalert article here: https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1035879

Read the results of the study as published in Nature - Scientific Reports here: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-023-49527-x /

caltrek’s comment: I also read a recent article in The Week in which it was concluded that a probable explanation for a lot of sightings is plasma. Apparently, such plasma is attracted to the electrical workings of airplanes as well as to nuclear power plants. Plasma can originate from space.

[caltrek]

DoD To Deploy ‘Gremlin’ Sensors To Collect Intel On Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena
by Joseph Trevithick
March 8, 2024

Introduction:

(The Drive) The Pentagon has provided new details about a deployable, readily reconfigurable suite of sensors called Gremlin being developed specifically to help gather data about so-called unidentified anomalous phenomena, or UAPs. UAP is the preferred term for what have been more commonly called unidentified flying objects, or UFOs, in the past. That the U.S. military was pursuing "purpose-built sensors" for this purpose was first disclosed last year.

Tim Phillips, the acting director of the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO), discussed the Gremlin "kits" with reporters ahead of the release earlier today of an unclassified version of the first volume of a Congressionally-mandated review of U.S. government involvement in matters related to UAPs. That report notably poured cold water on claims that American authorities have been hiding a program that has recovered extraterrestrial technology and actual alien remains. Not surprisingly, some have welcomed the report, while others have claimed it is just more evidence of a cover-up.

AARO was created in 2022 to act as a focal point for refining and centralizing Pentagon-wide policies and procedures for tracking, reporting, and analyzing UAP incidents. It has also been tasked with acting as a U.S. military repository for UAP-related intelligence assessments and other data. The video below is an example of a reported UAP sighting that AARO has reviewed and information that is now in its repository. This incident was subsequently assessed to have involved a trio of commercial aircraft.

Further extracts:

...testing has included "known" targets, or ones that sensor operators are informed about beforehand, as well as "unknown" ones, DefenseScoop reported. Using known targets, which have reportedly been drones, would allow personnel to get a sense first of how the system works and what it can and cannot detect.

…

Just since its establishment in 2022, AARO has already assessed dozens of reported UAP incidents to have actually involved readily identifiable things like drones and balloons. Phillips calls these reports "AARO garbage," though it is worth noting that drones and balloons present a variety of very real potential national security threats, something The War Zone regularly highlights.

Read more here: https://www.twz.com/air/dod-to-deploy- ... g-objects

[caltrek]

I suppose this is the sort of story Yuli had in mind when he originally started this thread.


Palmdale UFO Scare Leads To Revelations About Mystery Drone Incursions Over Secretive Plant 42
by Jospeh Trevithick and Howard Altman
August 19, 2024

Introduction:

(The Drive) The U.S. Air Force’s Plant 42 in California, America’s premier hub for advanced aerospace development work, especially highly classified military programs, has seen a wave of mysterious drone incursions in recent months. The incidents have now become serious enough to prompt the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to impose new, if temporary flight restrictions around the sprawling high-security facility. The Air Force acknowledged these incidents in response to our questions about purported sightings of unidentified flying objects (UFOs) in the area which became viral on social media over the weekend and that local law enforcement appears to have received no reports about.

Palmdale Regional Airport shares the runways with Plant 42, which is home to Lockheed Martin’s famed Skunk Works advanced projects division, as well as similar arms of both Northrop Grumman and Boeing. NASA also has a flight testing center there. As a prime example of the work that goes on at Plant 42, it is where Northrop Grumman has been building the U.S. Air Force’s new B-21 Raider stealth bombers. America’s most sensitive and ‘bleeding edge’ aerospace weaponry emerges from this facility, so security at the installation, which is located in a relatively urban area, is taken very seriously.

“We have observed multiple UAS [uncrewed aerial systems] activities over Plant 42 during the last few months. The number of UASs fluctuated and they ranged in size and configuration,” Mary Kozaitis, Chief of Media Operations for the 412th Test Wing at Edwards Air Force Base, told The War Zone. “The FAA was made aware of the incursions and Edwards continues to monitor the air space to ensure the safety of base personnel, facilities, and assets. As a reminder to drone enthusiasts, overflight of Plant 42 is strictly prohibited and may result in criminal prosecution, fines, and loss of operator privileges.”

Read more here: https://www.twz.com/air/palmdale-ufo-s ... -plant-42

[Yuli Ban]

Very odd!!
Second one reminds me of the Phoenix lights in a way in that they're "supposed" to be flares, but don't even remotely match the behavior of flares you can easily compare in any video of flare drops

[firestar464]

More on that by the WSJ:

https://archive.ph/DIlpU

[caltrek]

The system described below would seem to be able to better identify many of those UAPs that are actually drones.

Military’s UFO-Hunting Aerial Surveillance System Detailed in Report
by Howard Altman
November 15, 2024

Introduction:

(The War Zone) The Pentagon provided new details today about how its deployable, readily reconfigurable suite of sensors called GREMLIN works to help set the stage for figuring out what unidentified objects in our skies are and are not, if they appear at all.

In its annual report released on Thursday, the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) shared a graphic that gives us our best look yet at what its GREMLIN system is. It was developed by Georgia Tech Research Institute specifically to help gather data about so-called unidentified anomalous phenomena, or UAPs. That’s the DoD’s new parlance for what used to be called UFOs.

When AARO last discussed GREMLIN back in March, the office said the system was designed to provide “hyperspectral surveillance to try to capture these incidents.” However, no details were given about what kind of sensors were being used to capture data across different areas of the electromagnetic spectrum simultaneously.

Now deployed, GREMLIN includes 2D and 3D radars, long-range electro-optical/infrared sensors, GPS, satellite communications, aircraft tracking systems and radio frequency spectrum monitoring. It all feeds into a central node where the data can be fused to get a better sense of what’s out there. The system is something of an integrated air defense apparatus ‘in a box,’ allowing for multiple sensor types and open-source data to be captured on single targets within its view.

AARO began using GREMLIN “for detecting, tracking, and characterizing UAP,” the report noted. “GREMLIN demonstrated functionality and successfully collected data during a test event in March of 2024. The next step for GREMLIN is a 90-day pattern of life collection at a site of national security.”

Read more here: https://www.twz.com/air/militarys-rece ... n-report

[Yuli Ban]

[Yuli Ban]

[Yuli Ban]

[firestar464]

Lawmakers troubled by Northeast drone sightings as calls for investigation mount

https://thehill.com/policy/defense/5037 ... s-reports/

[firestar464]

Pentagon ‘still mystified’ as drone drama deepens

https://thehill.com/opinion/national-se ... a-deepens/

[Yuli Ban]

Perhaps crossing over with the Jetpacks thread, there's apparently a "jetpack man" out in LA

[funkervogt]

A photo of an alleged UFO hovering over the ground was dramatically presented to Congress during a hearing yesterday. In under 24 hours, an internet sleuth debunked it--it's just a photo of two circular farms in eastern Colorado. "Luis Elizondo" has no credibility.



Debunked: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech ... lower.html

[firestar464]

Here's a better article by Talker.news:

https://www.purdueexponent.org/news/nat ... 5a41d.html

[caltrek]

Pentagon Releases Initial Batch of Declassified Files Detailing UFOs
By Kaanita Iyer, Michael Williams, and Marshall Cohen
Updated May 8, 2026

Introduction:

(CNN) The Pentagon on Friday released what it says are “never-before-seen files” on UFOs after President Donald Trump directed the agency to do so earlier this year.

The batch of files outlines various investigations of reported sightings of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena that span decades.

“The American people can now access the federal government’s declassified UAP files instantly,” the department wrote on X, referring to unidentified anomalous phenomena, the modern term for UFOs. “The latest UAP videos, photos, and original source documents from across the entire United States government are all in one place – no clearance required.”

The Defense Department said it will be “releasing new materials on a rolling basis as they are discovered and declassified, with tranches posted every few weeks.”

Read more here: https://www.cnn.com/2026/05/08/politic ... se-aliens