Page 8 - The 'X' Chronicles Newspaper - Febrary/March 2020 Edition

8 UFO Sightings UP In North America

UFO sightings in North

America jumped to nearly

6,000 in 2019

California, Florida and
Washington top the rankings for

most UFO sightings.

By
IVAN PEREIRA

There was a rise in the number of North
Americans who looked up into the sky in 2019
and found something that didn’t look like a bird
or a plane.
The National UFO Reporting Center,
which tracks calls and messages from people
around the U.S. and Canada about strange
sightings in the sky, reported that it received He also noted that Space X launched 180 the ONI by an unnamed agency. (Because ONI
5,971 sightings in 2019 -- a jump from 3,395 in new satellites into space last year, and those officials did not classify the slides personally,
2018. devices have lit up the night skies. they are unable to declassify them, the
Peter Davenport, who runs the "If you’re not keeping up with the news spokesperson added).
independent organization that's based in and not familiar with the skyline, you might The ONI also admitted to possessing at
Davenport, Washington, said he couldn’t mistakenly see an unidentified flying object. It least one video of unknown length, classified as
explain why more people called about seeing may be unidentified to you, but known to "secret" by the Naval Air Systems Command
flashing white lights, fireballs, disc-shaped others," Fienberg said. [] (NAVAIR). ONI didn't reveal whether this
objects or other oddities in 2019. footage is the same 1-minute video that was
"One of the mysteries of ufology is there Top-Secret UFO Files leaked online in 2007 and widely released by
is a fluctuation in the number of reports over the The New York Times in 2017. However, in
years," he told ABC News in a phone interview. Could 'Gravely Damage' November 2019, several naval officers who
"Some years it’s been low, but it’s gotten higher US National Security if witnessed the incident aboard the Nimitz told
recently." Popular Mechanics that they had seen a much
California led the country last year with Released, Navy Says longer video of the encounter that was between
the most number of UFO observations to the 8 and 10 minutes long. These original recordings
site: 485 in total, an increase of 182 sightings were promptly collected and erased by
from 2018. Florida came in second with 385 The truth is out there… but you're "unknown individuals" who arrived on the ship
sightings in 2019, which was 156 more reports still not allowed to see it. by helicopter shortly after the incident, one
than in 2018, according to UFO Reporting officer said.
Center data. By Brandon Specktor Luis Elizondo, a former Pentagon staffer
Washington came in third with 222 who helped make the Navy video public, told
reports last year, which represented an increase Vice that "people should not be surprised by the
of 51 from 2018, according to the site. In November 2004, several U.S. Navy pilots revelation that other videos exist and at greater
Davenport’s site takes reports from stationed aboard the USS Nimitz encountered a length."
callers and online submissions, many of which Tic-Tac-shaped UFO darting and dashing over The FOIA request, submitted in October
are anonymous, and lists them with as much the Pacific Ocean in apparent defiance of the 2019 by an independent researcher, asked for
detail as possible. For example, on April 15, a laws of physics. Navy officials dubbed the access to any nonclassified records or portions
man and his girlfriend reported they saw a strange craft an "unidentified aerial of records regarding the 2004 UFO encounter.
formation in the sky near Bakersfield, phenomenon," but they have remained mum on No additional documents were mentioned in the
California. what, exactly, that phenomenon could've been. ONI's response besides the classified briefing
"We witnessed 3 unidentified objects, Now, unsurprisingly to anyone who's ever and video. []
one in middle being the larger escorted by two considered making a hat out of tinfoil, the
other smaller unidentified objects one to the left military has confirmed they know more than
and one on the right having no lights and no they're letting on.
sound and dark colored objects heading In response to a recent Freedom of
southeast traveling at an unknown speed and Information Act (FOIA) request, a spokesperson
disappeared into the clouds beyond sight," the from the Navy's Office of Naval Intelligence
report said. (ONI) confirmed that the agency possesses
Davenport said he does not investigate several top-secret documents and at least one
any of the claims he collects and noted that classified video pertaining to the 2004 UFO
some of the sightings may have been the same encounter, Vice reported.
object that was seen by multiple people. According to the ONI spokesperson,
Rick Fienberg, a spokesman for the these documents were either labeled "SECRET"
American Astronomical Society, emphasized or "TOP SECRET" by the agencies that
that the "u" in UFO stands for unidentified, and provided them, and that sharing the information
many people are unaware of astronomical with the public "would cause exceptionally
goings on in space on any given day. For grave damage to the National Security of the
instance, Jupiter and Venus were more visible to United States."
Earth last year and they can stand out in the These top-secret files included several
night sky, according to Fienberg. "briefing slides" about the incident, provided to