The U.S. Navy has confirmed that three videos released back in 2017 as part of a report by The New York Times and purportedly showing UFOs are genuine, Popular Mechanics has reported.
The Navy said the videos were taken by its pilots and showed unidentified aircraft as they undertook aerial maneuvers not possible with current aviation technology, but also stated that the videos should have never been released to the public.
Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Information Warfare spokesman Joseph Gradisher told The Black Vault that the Navy "designates the objects contained in these videos as unidentified aerial phenomena."
He explained that the terminology is important 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."
However, while admitting the objects in the videos are unidentified and unexplained, the Navy is not saying they are flying saucers or otherwise extraterrestrial.
The Daily Star pointed out that this appears to have brought an end to the Navy's investigations after Gradisher said earlier this year that the branch of service took the videos very seriously and was looking into them.
When the videos were released two years ago, they sparked a fresh wave of interest in UFOs, and the Navy said it would be revising rules to encourage pilots to report sightings.