The issue suddenly became ubiquitous after a high-flying Chinese balloon and three unidentified objects were shot down over North America in February. NASA and the Pentagon then released separate reports in September and October about what they call “unidentified anomalous phenomena,” or “UAPs” for short.
This is a translation of an article from CTV News,
Perhaps the most incredible development of 2023 occurred during a televised US Congressional hearing in July, when a former intelligence officer claimed under oath that his country was involved in a recovery and rollback program. Decades of development with “non-human” technology; claims the Pentagon is asking questions.
If 2023 is any indicator, 2024 could be another standout year for this puzzling question that CTVNews.ca has been studying since 2022.
Here's what we learned:
Official Canadian Power Supply Report
In March, CTVNews.ca revealed the existence of the first known official study of power supplies in Canada in nearly 30 years. The Office of the Chief Science Advisor of Canada's initiative called the Sky Canada Project now has its own website, promising a final public report in 2024.
“The Canada Sky Project was launched in fall 2022 to examine how Canada handles reports of unidentified flying objects (UFOs) from the public and to recommend improvements,” the website says.
“The project is part of the Office of the Chief Science Advisor of Canada’s ongoing efforts to counter misinformation and prevent conspiracy theories by attempting to make collected information accessible to everyone.”
The Independent Science Advisory Office reports directly to the Prime Minister and the Minister for Innovation, Science and Industry. A CTVNews.ca investigation previously showed how UFO reports are handled by the Canadian Forces, Transport Canada and others. Although the Canada Sky Project aims to improve the collection and analysis of Canadian UFO reports, it does not investigate cases.
“It should be noted that the Canada Sky Project does not aim to access and collect first-hand data,” the website says. “Furthermore, it is not intended to prove or disprove the existence of extraterrestrial life or extraterrestrial visitors.”
New Pentagon director for UFOs and another American report expected
The Pentagon's current UFO research initiative is known as the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO). AARO will have a new director in 2024 after intelligence officer and physicist Sean Kirkpatrick retired in December. CTVNews.ca previously reported that Kirkpatrick met with Five Eyes allies such as Canada in May to share information about UFOs.
AARO also contributes to an annual UFO report prepared in coordination with the Department of Defense and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence of the United States, which has been required to submit it to Congress since 2021. Although they lack answers, unclassified versions of previous years are available online.
“AARO analysis efforts confirm that only a very small percentage of UFO reports exhibit interesting signatures such as high-speed travel and unknown morphologies,” the latest report states. “For those rare objects that have interesting features, AARO approaches these cases with objectivity and analytical rigor.”
In a statement to CTVNews.ca, US Department of Defense spokesperson Sue Gough confirmed that the next annual UFO report is scheduled for June 2024.
“Pursuant to the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023, the Secretary of Defense and the Director of National Intelligence will jointly submit an annual UFO report to Congress in 2024,” Gough said via email. “To date, the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office has found no verifiable information to support claims that programs involving the possession or reverse engineering of extraterrestrial materials have existed in the past or currently exist.”
A NASA spokesperson told CTVNews.ca that the agency has no current plans for another UFO report.
“NASA is currently evaluating the independent UFO study team’s findings and recommendations as presented in their report and will provide updates when we have information to share,” they said via email. “Members of the independent UFO study team have fulfilled their obligations to NASA and the team has been inactive as of October 2023.”
U.S. lawmakers could also continue their efforts to legislate to force the government to release information and ensure transparency. In late 2023, a bipartisan Senate initiative led by Republican Mike Rounds and Democrat Chuck Schumer to create an independent review board to declassify UFO material ultimately failed. Schumer blamed House Republicans for removing the measure from the National Defense Authorization Act of 2024.
“The United States government has collected a lot of information about UFOs for decades but has refused to share it with the American people. “This is wrong and fuels distrust,” Schumer complained to his fellow MPs on December 15th.
“It is truly outrageous that the House of Representatives did not work with us to pass our audit committee proposal…This now means that the release of the UFO records will depend largely on the same companies that have blocked and obscured their disclosure for decades. “
More scientific studies and official attention
Although UFO cases can represent anything from drones to balloons and satellites to weather phenomena, advanced technology or even something more extraordinary, experts agree that further analysis and analysis is needed to reach conclusions.
“The stigma of witnessing a UFO/UAP has significantly decreased and I'm seeing more and more people coming forward to share their stories,” Chris Rutkowski, a Canadian UAP researcher and science journalist, told CTVNews.ca from Winnipeg. “The benefit of reduced stigma means that more and more scientists are publishing peer-reviewed studies on the topic, facilitating acceptance into mainstream science. This suggests progress in understanding what is being observed.”
Robert Powell, a Texas-based engineer and founding member of the Scientific Coalition for UAP Studies, an international think tank dedicated to applying scientific principles to UAP research, says a younger, more open generation of minds is driving new studies.
“I think there will be more whistleblowers in 2024, but Congress' willingness to move forward on the issue is less clear,” Powell told CTVNews.ca. “In the meantime, I believe the scientific study of UAPs will continue to improve as more work is published.”
With more attention, 2024 could also enrich the discussion with new government hearings, academic conferences, independent investigations and more. Rutkowski, who collects reports from citizens across the country for the annual Canadian UFO Survey, continues to expect the number of new sightings to remain stable.
“I believe that public interest in the topic of UAPs and UFOs will remain high in 2024, driven by pop culture influencers on social media,” Rutkowski said. “Nevertheless, I assume that the number of advertisements submitted in 2024 will be about the same as in 2023.”