Fiction, cinema and articles from the Internet often feature structures reporting to US government agencies engaged in the study of unidentified flying objects. We checked whether such structures existed in reality.

The topic of ufological research runs like a red thread through a good half of science fiction films set in our time. You can recall both the famous series “The X-Files” and the “Men in Black” franchise - a reflection of the urban legend about members of government organizations who visited UFO eyewitnesses, demanding to hand over the footage and keep quiet about what they saw. Many of these stories involve the so-called Area 51, a military base in Nevada where experiments on aliens are rumored to be taking place. In 2019, curious citizens even undertook attempt to storm this base - they staged a flash mob for 3 million people, of which, however, about 4,000 showed up at the appointed hour, and only two tried to get inside.

One of the main impetuses for the emergence of a stereotype about the interest of American intelligence services in the topic of aliens was the incident in 1947, when an aircraft of unknown origin crashed near the city of Roswell in New Mexico. This story was forgotten for three decades, until in the late 70s new, hitherto unknown details began to emerge. In particular, in 1984, a dated September 24, 1947 fell into the hands of researchers. "Memorandum for the Ministry of Defense", signed by President Truman and addressed to Secretary Forrestal. It suggested the conclusion that the state was interested in UFOs. However, an examination showed that Truman's signature was copied from another document, and the font in which everything was typed was not used in the 1940s. Moreover, the stamp “top secret restricted security information” was introduced only ten years after the date indicated on the document. And the fallen object was most likely of terrestrial origin - it is believed that it could have been a balloon from the secret Project Mogul, launched to monitor Soviet nuclear tests.

Well, we can’t help but mention the “documentary” film “Alien Autopsy,” which flew around the world in 1995, which was allegedly filmed in 1947 after the disaster near Roswell by a military cameraman. That same “autopsy” was supposedly carried out by experts from American law enforcement agencies. However, the sensational film turns out to be turned out to be a skillful fake.

First of all, we note that a UFO (unidentified flying object) is not necessarily an alien spacecraft. Such a definition only means that the object seen in the sky could not be identified, attributed to the class of aircraft, probes, or any other. This could be due to the parameters of the object, the distance to it, or weather conditions.

And a country with such a large territory and such large-scale security measures as the United States deals with such objects all the time. Therefore, in the second half of the 20th century, more than one American commission dealt with the issue of UFOs. One of the most famous initiatives was the trio of projects “Sign”, “Gruj” and “Blue Book”, which were supervised by the US Air Force. Over 22 years of observation (1947–1969), more than 12,000 suspicious objects were studied, and about 700 of them ultimately remained unidentified. At that time, the UFOs did not find signs of advanced technologies beyond the scope of the then scientific knowledge, as well as evidence that the objects were spaceships. Other projects did not bring sensations either, at least that part of them that became public.

Let's fast forward to our time. In 2017, the US Department of Defense recognized existence in 2007–2012 of the “Advanced Aviation Threat Identification Program”. According to sources, $22 million from the budget was spent on it. Later, the former head of the program, Luis Elizondo, gave an interview in which he stated that “there is very convincing evidence that we are not alone.” As for the devices being studied by the program, they, according to Elizondo, “have characteristics that are not currently in the US arsenal or in any foreign arsenal known to them.”

It is not known for certain whether this program was permanently closed or whether its funding was simply cut. However, on August 4, 2020, the Pentagon established the Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon Task Force (UAPTF). It will work under the leadership of the US Department of the Navy, since many cases are recorded by its aircraft. The reason was confirmation The Pentagon has authenticated three short videos previously released by a private company. On them, the lenses of the infrared cameras of the American military were captured by unidentified aircraft moving at high speed. According to the military, the videos were filmed in 2004 and 2015.

At the same time, Senator Marco Rubio, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, stated: "Frankly, if it's something from outside this planet, it would be better than seeing a technological leap from the Chinese, Russians, or some other adversary." And President Donald Trump, who was initially skeptical about the video footage, didn't rule it out the prospect of declassifying data on the Roswell incident.

Well, at the beginning of January 2021, it became known that the National Intelligence Service and the US Department of Defense must provide the Congressional Intelligence and Armed Services Committees with an open report on UFOs by the end of June, which will contain everything they know on this topic. President Trump made this decision at the end of December when he signed the 2021 funding law. As stated in the US Senate commentary on the document, “The Committee remains concerned about the lack of a single, comprehensive process within the Federal Government for collecting and analyzing intelligence on unidentified flying objects, despite their potential threat. <...> The Committee directs... within 180 days from the date of entry into force of the law, to provide a report... regarding “unidentified aerial phenomena,” also known as “anomalous aircraft,” including observed aerial objects that have not been identified. <…> The report must be presented in unclassified form, but may include a classified annex.”

As we can see, the information that in the 20th and 21st centuries, under the patronage of US government agencies, an analysis of UFO observations was carried out is quite reliable. This, of course, does not mean there is any evidence of the existence of aliens. However, experts cannot completely rule out such a version.