Think There’s Been No U.S. Military Collection Of UFO Reports Since 1969? Unclassified Documents Say Otherwise

Back in 1969, the U.S. military took the official stance that it had no further interest in UFO reports, citing that after years of collecting and investigating reports involving unidentified flying objects and associated phenomena, there was no reason to believe the sightings, in particular what was sighted, posed a national security risk. Thus closed Project Blue Book, the U.S. Air Force’s long-running UFO investigative program. Recently, however, it has been discovered that the official military/government line on the matter may have been untrue, or, even if true at the time, has become untrue over the ensuing decades. It would seem that recent disclosures via the Freedom of Information Act in the U.S. and the Access to Information Act in Canada show that the U.S. military still takes a decidedly strong interest in at least some UFO reports.

Alejandro Rojas, writing for the Mutual UFO Network on July 6, noted that several unclassified documents have come to light that indicate that the U.S. military, despite its official stance, is still very much interested in UFO reports and still takes them seriously. And it would appear that the military never really discontinued taking UFO reports seriously, especially when those reports seemed to coincide with national security interests — particularly when objects of unknown origin and intent were detected in close proximity to military bases and nuclear facilities.

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So, why hasn’t the American public been made aware of this? Well, for years incidents involving UFOs were reported via a tangle of changing acronymic systems before the Operational Reporting (OPREP) system was adopted. This system gave various levels of priority to the individual report, ranging from the highest — OPREP-3 Pinnacle, where NORAD high command would become involved — to its lowest — OPREP-3 Beeline, which is when an incident is not considered of national security interest.

And as with most things falling under the protective umbrella of “national security,” most of the reports would never see the light of day, save through researchers and/or investigators subpoenaing for their release. Besides, as Rojas says in his report, military institutions like NORAD (North American Aerospace Defense Command) are not required to adhere to the dictates of a Freedom of Information (FOIA) request. And since Canada’s military is also part of the NORAD military structure, they are not subject to American legal requirements.

So, how were the UFO reports actually discovered? John Greenewald, the man who would later go on to create “The Black Vault” of declassified documented UFO reports from governments around the world, said he first noticed the use of the “OPREP” label (which Australian UFO researcher Paul Dean seems to believe is now the US military’s go-to designation when reporting UFOs) in the 70s, but it was sometime around the year 2000 that he made the decision to contact the Canadian government and see what it would take to file an Access to Information Act request. Although it usually took a request from a Canadian citizen, Greenewald, in describing exactly what he was requesting, found, coincidentally, that the official he was talking with actually had the materials he wanted. For a modest fee, he simply sent them to Greenewald, who posted said documents to his website.

It is interesting to note that the UFO reports were filed in the 1990s and that, although just a handful, indicate that the reporting of unidentified flying objects to and by the military since the demise of Project Blue Book has been and continues to be ongoing. Even though most FOIA requests gain the apparently misdirecting assertion that the military (regardless of department) does not collect UFO reports, some have provided files showing that the military does, at least to the degree that the objects might impact areas of national security (such as nuclear weapons-related areas), take interest in UFOs — despite the almost five-decade old official line.

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But as to national security, both American and Canadian, there is no question that tracking and investigating Unidentified Flying Objects should be taken seriously. Just because an object is unidentified does not mean it cannot or will not be a potential threat. And yet, the cloak of deniability regarding UFO reports and reporting is maintained, although the actual reasons go largely unexplained. Because if it is a question of credibility (or the potential undermining of it), NORAD conducts an annual fictitious tracking of Santa Claus — so you be the judge there.

[Image via Shutterstock]