Military database now includes 400 reported incidents : NPR

Deputy Director of Naval Intelligence Scott Bray, left, and Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security Ronald Moultrie speak Tuesday during a House Intelligence, Counterterrorism, Counterintelligence, and Counterproliferation Subcommittee hearing on “Unidentified Aerial Phenomena” on Capitol Hill in Washington.

Alex Brandon/AP

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Alex Brandon/AP

Deputy Director of Naval Intelligence Scott Bray, left, and Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security Ronald Moultrie speak Tuesday during a House Intelligence, Counterterrorism, Counterintelligence, and Counterproliferation Subcommittee hearing on “Unidentified Aerial Phenomena” on Capitol Hill in Washington.

Alex Brandon/AP

A database of reports of UFOs now includes about 400 incidents, up from 143 assessed in a report released about a year ago, a Navy intelligence official told lawmakers at a congressional hearing on Tuesday.

The military’s 2021 report said no evidence of aliens had been found. Scott W. Bray, the deputy director of Naval intelligence, told lawmakers that they still haven’t uncovered anything “nonterrestrial in origin,” even though there are incidents they can’t explain.

None of the documented objects had attempted to communicate with U.S. aviators, and no attempt had been made to communicate with them, he said, as they all appeared to be unmanned.

Reports of unidentified flying objects – now called unexplained aerial phenomena or UAPs by the military – have been increasing, said Bray. He cited improved sensors, an increase in drones and other non-military unmanned aerial systems, and “aerial clutter” such as Mylar balloons as causes for the uptick.

Encouraging more pilots to come forward

Incidents in the 2021 report date as far back as 2004 and were based on both sensor data and observations by military aviators, said Bray.

Many of the latest entries do not have sensor data — they’re from people coming forward with older stories that they chose not to report at the time, Bray said. That’s evidence that the military’s drive to destigmatize such reports is working, he added.

“Navy and air force crews now have step-by-step procedures for reporting UAPs on their kneeboard, in the cockpit,” Bray said.

It’s an important effort, said Rep. Andre Carson, D-Ind., who noted that skepticism around UFOs likely has led pilots to avoid making the…