The U.S. Navy this week acknowledged that three videos published by The New York Times depict “unidentified” flying objects, according to Fox News.
In a statement to The Black Vault, a site that hosts declassified government documents, Navy spokesperson Joseph Gradisher said “the Navy considers the phenomena contained/depicted in those three videos as unidentified,” referencing videos released by former Blink-182 singer Tom DeLonge.
{mosads}”The ‘Unidentified Aerial Phenomena’ terminology is used because it provides the basic descriptor for the sightings/observations of unauthorized/unidentified aircraft/objects that have been observed entering/operating in the airspace of various military-controlled training ranges,” Gradisher added.
The oldest of the three videos was shot in 2004 while the other two were taken in January 2015, although it is unclear whether the two from 2015 depict the same object, according to Fox.
“I very much expected that when the U.S. military addressed the videos, they would coincide with language we see on official documents that have now been released, and they would label them as ‘drones’ or ‘balloons,’ ” Josh Greenwald, who publishes The Black Vault, told Motherboard.
“However, they did not. They went on the record stating the ‘phenomena’ depicted in those videos, is ‘unidentified.’ That really made me surprised, intrigued, excited and motivated to push harder for the truth,” he added.
In June, the Pentagon briefed Senate Intelligence Committee Vice Chairman Mark Warner (D-Va.) on naval encounters with unidentified aircraft, with a spokesperson saying Warner was seeking more information about “unexplained interference” Navy pilots encountered, according to Fox.
The Hill has reached out to the Navy for comment.