Although there are more than 120 documented unidentified flying object incidents over the last 20 years, a new government report expected to be released cannot decisively pinpoint their origins, according to officials who briefed The New York Times.
The report says most of the U.F.O. incidents were not secret projects by the military or another government agency. Beyond that, not much is certain.
Navy pilots have spotted U.F.O.s. over both the East and West Coasts. Video footage shows objects speeding across the ocean waves and across the sky 30,000 feet. One Navy pilot filed a formal report after nearly crashing into an unidentifiable object.
In an interview with the Times, a Navy lieutenant recalled two separate instances. Both times his infrared radar "locked" onto objects in the sky that though he could not see with his naked eye. Months later, a pilot reported he "almost hit one of those things."
Last year, lawmakers passed the Intelligence Authorization Act. It required a public account of what the government knows about U.F.O.s. Congress should receive an unclassified version of the report this month.
Not all of the report will be unclassified. And the redacted portions will likely fuel speculation of what the government is hiding.
Officials who shared details with the Times acknowledged none of the findings are conclusive enough to rule out the existence of extraterrestrial beings.
Earlier this year, the Navy updated its protocol for pilots to report what the armed forces call "unexplained aerial phenomena." That guidance is also classified.
