{"id":17299,"date":"2019-04-25T18:52:16","date_gmt":"2019-04-25T18:52:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2019\/04\/25\/aliens-ahoy-navy-developing-guidelines-on-reporting-ufo-sightings\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T05:46:29","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T05:46:29","slug":"aliens-ahoy-navy-developing-guidelines-on-reporting-ufo-sightings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/off-duty\/military-culture\/2019\/04\/25\/aliens-ahoy-navy-developing-guidelines-on-reporting-ufo-sightings\/","title":{"rendered":"Aliens, ahoy! Navy developing guidelines on reporting UFO sightings"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Encounters with unidentified aircraft by pilots have once again prompted Department of Defense officials to take action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More specifically, the Navy confirmed that the service is drafting guidelines to establish a formal process for pilots and military personnel to report UFO sightings, Politico first reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The move comes following a surge in what the Navy called a series of intrusions by advanced aircraft on Navy carrier strike groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere have been a number of reports of unauthorized and\/or unidentified aircraft entering various military-controlled ranges and designated air space in recent years,\u201d a Navy spokesperson told Politico.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“For safety and security concerns, the Navy and the [U.S. Air Force] takes these reports very seriously and investigates each and every report.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To improve upon past investigations, the Navy wants to establish a formal process so that \u201csuch suspected incursions can be made to cognizant authorities.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Navy confirmed a fleet-wide message on the UFO-reporting initiative is in the works.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While this development comes sans any admission of the existence of alien life, it signals a return to DoD acknowledgement that the series of recently documented encounters are at least authentic enough to warrant further investigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So prevalent was the DoD\u2019s interest in tracking the phenomena years ago that it established a program inside the Pentagon solely dedicated to investigating reports of UFO sightings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The existence of the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program, which ran from 2007 until 2012, was confirmed by DoD officials in December 2017, who noted it was done away with when it “was determined that there were other, higher priority issues that merited funding and it was in the best interest of the DoD to make a change.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t