Photo: Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images
The Defense Department revealed its Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force (UAPTF) on Friday, charging the group with examining unexplained encounters with unidentified flying objects, per a statement.
Why it matters: The task force, to be led by the Navy, comes after the Pentagon earlier this year released a number of videos of "unidentified aerial phenomena" captured by Navy pilots over the last decade.
- The footage appears to show unidentified flying objects moving rapidly while being recorded by infrared cameras of fighter jets.
What they're saying: "The mission of the task force is to detect, analyze and catalog UAPs that could potentially pose a threat to U.S. national security," the DoD said.
- "The Department of Defense and the military departments take any incursions by unauthorized aircraft into our training ranges or designated airspace very seriously and examine each report."
- "This includes examinations of incursions that are initially reported as UAP when the observer cannot immediately identify what he or she is observing."
- The department said its chief concern is the safety of its personnel and operations.
Reality check: By establishing this task force, the Pentagon and the Navy are not concluding or even suggesting the existence of aliens.
- Rather, the military is concerned that the objects could be highly advanced aircraft flying near sensitive military facilities and in military-controlled ranges, dangerous flaws within American military technology or unknown natural phenomena that could damage aircraft or hurt service members.
The big picture: The Senate Intelligence Committee voted on legislation in June that would require the Pentagon and intelligence community to provide a public analysis of the encounters captured by the pilots, according to CNN.