Recently Declassified documents show that a US F-16 Viper fighter jet was once hit by an unidentified flying object (UFO), sparking renewed attention to these mysterious phenomena. Experts have pointed out other unexplained sightings and suggest the possibility of advanced technology operating in US airspace.
According to a spokesperson for the Air Force, the collision occurred in January 2023 when an unidentified object struck the left side of an F-16 Viper fighter jet during a training exercise near Gila Bend, Arizona.
Officials stated that the flying object hit the transparent “canopy” of the aircraft, which was first noticed by a coach pilot sitting in the rear of the plane. Initial investigations revealed that the nearly $70 million aircraft suffered no damage, ruling out a bird strike incident.
The Air Force spokesperson confirmed that the aircraft was hit by a drone, but the location of the drone and its operator are yet to be determined.
The US military news website “The War Zone” reported that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) submitted reports over approximately three years describing these strange events. Overall, the data points towards events usually classified as drones, but many of them are actually unidentified objects, with some resembling drones or unmanned aerial systems (UAS).
Filmmaker James Fox, who specializes in documenting UFO activities, stated to Fox News, “According to military personnel I’ve personally spoken to, there are objects lingering about 200 miles off the East Coast with no visible propulsion.” He added that for these reasons, the report of an F-16 jet colliding with an unidentified object in 2023 didn’t surprise him.
He also mentioned that the discovery of unidentified aerial phenomena near military bases is not a new occurrence. “Reports date back to the 1930s and 40s,” he said. “Mysterious, glowing, spherical objects that emit very bright light and can fly around military aircraft from the World War II era.”
He pointed out that these sightings demonstrate highly advanced technology, such as aircraft that do not emit heat signals or can remain stationary in strong wind conditions. “This has been well documented for decades,” he said. “Either we’ve been tracking the same thing since the 1940s, possibly non-human intelligence, or someone has managed to replicate this technology, reverse-engineer it, and put it into use.”
“This is a global phenomenon showing technology far more advanced than anything we have. Has there been successful reverse engineering attempts? If not, then it falls into the realm of what many describe as non-human intelligence,” he said.
According to a non-classified document released by the All-Around Abnormal Research Office (AARO), the Department of Defense reported 757 incidents involving unidentified aerial phenomena from May 1, 2023, to June 1, 2024, with only 49 marked as “closed cases.”
In 2020, the US Department of Defense established the Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force (UAPTF) to further research and investigate various unknown phenomena observed in US airspace.
The topic of unidentified aerial phenomena has recently dominated headlines as US lawmakers push for increased transparency on the issue.
Former intelligence officer of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), David Grusch, reported in 2023 that there had been a Pentagon-operated program lasting “decades” concerning unidentified flying objects, involving the recovery of some unidentified flying objects, including what he described as “non-human biological material.”
His testimony spurred a congressional hearing and heightened the public’s interest in unidentified sighting events.