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Why Is The Pentagon Interested in UFOs? 27

Why Is the Pentagon

Interested in UFOs?

by Ian Boyd
www.space.com

U.S. Navy pilots and sailors won't be considered
crazy for reporting unidentified flying objects,
under new rules meant to encourage them to
keep track of what they see. Yet just a few years
ago, the Pentagon reportedly shut down another
official program that investigated UFO
sightings. What has changed? Is the U.S.
military finally coming around to the idea that
alien spacecraft are visiting our planet?
The answer to that question is almost
certainly no. Humans' misinterpretation of Drawing a complete picture The Media Loves This UFO Expert Who
observations of natural phenomena are as old as Says He Worked for an Obscure Pentagon
time and include examples such as manatees Sensors can provide a wealth of information on Program. Did He?
being seen as mermaids and driftwood in a UFOs including range, speed, heading, shape,
Scottish loch being interpreted as a monster. A size and temperature. With so many sensors and Continued from Page 22
more recent and relevant example is the strange so much data, though, it is a challenge to merge
luminescent structure in the sky caused by a the information into something useful. However, IN “UNIDENTIFIED”, POLITICO’S Bender
SpaceX rocket launch. In these types of cases, the military is stepping up its work on autonomy describes Elizondo as “in many ways, an
incorrect interpretations occur because people and artificial intelligence. One possible use of enigma. Here is a guy who spent decades in the
have incomplete information or misunderstand these new technologies could be to combine intelligence community.”
what they're seeing. them to analyze all the many signals as they That much appears to be true. Elizondo
Based on my prior experience as a come in from sensors, separating any retired as an official at the Office of the Under
science advisor to the Air Force, I believe that observations that it can't identify. In those cases, Secretary of Defense for Intelligence. A public
the Pentagon wants to avoid this type of the system could even assign sensors on nearby records search also reveals a series of home
confusion, so it needs to better understand flying vehicles or orbiting satellites to collect addresses for Elizondo over the last two decades
objects that it can't now identify. During a additional information in real time. Then it could that are close to intelligence facilities in Toa
military mission, whether in peace or in war, if a assemble an even more complete picture. Baja, Puerto Rico (the site of an
pilot or soldier can't identify an object, they have For the moment, though, people will unacknowledged government surveillance
a serious problem: How should they react, need to weigh in on what all the data reveal. program called “Echelon”) and in Grovetown,
without knowing if it is neutral, friendly or That's because a key challenge for any Georgia.
threatening? Fortunately, the military can use successful use of artificial intelligence is “Being from Georgia, I can assure you,
advanced technologies to try to identify strange building trust or confidence in the system. For there is no reason anyone in their right mind
things in the sky. example, in a famous experiment by Google would live in Grovetown unless they were
scientists, an advanced image recognition working at Fort Gordon, home of the Army’s
Taking the 'U' out of 'UFO' algorithm based on artificial intelligence was principle signals intelligence units and school,”
fooled into wrongly identifying a photo of a Tim McMillan, who, like Greenewald, has a
"Situational awareness" is the military term for panda as a gibbon simply by distorting a small longtime interest in UFOs but has come to
having complete understanding of the number of the original pixels. doubt Elizondo’s involvement with any
environment in which you are operating. A UFO So, until humans understand UFOs government UFO program.
represents a gap in situational awareness. At the better, we won't be able to teach computers In 2017, when Elizondo outed himself to
moment, when a Navy pilot sees something about them. In my view, the Navy's new the Times, he was portrayed as a reluctant
strange during flight, just about the only thing he approach to reporting UFO encounters is a good whistleblower and a little paranoid. The three
or she can do is ask other pilots and air traffic first step. This may eventually lead to a reporters who shared bylines on the story,
control what they saw in that place at that time. comprehensive, fully integrated approach for including freelancer Leslie Kean (who wrote in
Globally, the number of UFO reportings in a object identification involving the fusion of data 2016 that she was “privileged to welcome”
year has peaked at more than 8,000. It's not from many sensors through the application of Chris Mellon into the UFO organization to
known how many the military experiences. artificial intelligence and autonomy. Only then which she belonged) met Elizondo in a
Even the most heavily documented will there be fewer and fewer UFOs in the sky “nondescript Washington hotel where he sat
incidents end up unresolved, despite — because they won't be unidentified anymore. with his back to the wall, keeping an eye on the
door.”
interviewing dozens of witnesses and reviewing
many written documents, as well as lots of audio About the Author: On the Times’s podcast, “The Daily,”
and video recordings. Iain Boyd, Professor of Aerospace Engineering, Helene Cooper, the newspaper’s Pentagon
UFOs represent an opportunity for the University of Michigan correspondent, described Elizondo as a “spooky,
secretive guy” but added that he was
military to improve its identification processes.
“completely credible.” He showed her
At least some of that work could be done in the
documents, pictures, and military videos of
future by automated systems, and potentially in
potential UFOs, which appeared fantastic to her,
real time as an incident unfolds. Military
but also persuasive. “I did believe him,” Cooper
vehicles — Humvees, battleships, airplanes and
said on the podcast. “It seemed completely
satellites alike — are covered in sensors. It's not
credible to me in the moment.”
just passive devices like radio receivers, video
Later on, after she left the hotel room,
cameras and infrared imagers, but active
Cooper acknowledged that doubts crept in. In
systems like radar, sonar and lidar. In addition, a
the end, though, she decided that what mattered
military vehicle is rarely alone — vehicles travel
most was whether the Pentagon’s UFO program
in convoys, sail in fleets and fly in formations.
was real. That, she said, was the focus of the
Above them all are satellites watching from
story. []
overhead.