Alien fever is sweeping across the mainstream in recent months, from the landmark UFO hearing to alien artefacts in the ice caps and reported sightings in Peru. Now, the Pentagon – amid the latest accusations of government cover-ups – has launched an official website for service members (and eventually regular people) to submit what they think might be alien sightings. 

The newly-open All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) is currently accepting reports from current or former US government employees and service members, but will eventually be open to the general public, too. “Our team of experts is leading the US government’s efforts to address Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP) using a rigorous scientific framework and a data-driven approach,” said director Sean Kirkpatrick in a statement. “We look forward to using this site to regularly update the public about AARO’s work and findings, and to provide a mechanism for UAP reporting.“

The latest wave of UFOria can be traced back to 2020 when the Pentagon released videos taken by naval aviators that showed UAPs flying at high speeds that seemingly defy the laws of science. This eventually led to accusations of the US government hiding alien technology and “non-human biological pilots”, so it can be assumed that the website is the Pentagon‘s attempt to dispel some of these myths. 

So far, there’s been a handful of sightings uploaded onto the website that include reports in South Asia and the Middle East, but they have all been debunked. “AARO assesses that the object likely is a commercial aircraft and that the trailing cavitation is a sensor artifact resultant of video compression,“ reads one assessment. “The clip is not exhibiting anomalous behaviour, the object remains unidentified,” says another.

That said, it’s important to look beyond the Pentagon’s seeming transparency, and ask ourselves why this previously declassified information is suddenly available to us now. Sure, the possibility of intelligent life beyond our planet is alluring, but it’s important to question the motives behind how this information is being fed to us – and why. Listen to the latest episode of Logged On: A Dazed Podcast to find out more.