Reports of unidentified aerial phenomena are on the rise, according to a new report issued by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
The report shows that in addition to 144 such reports covered in 17 years in the ODNI's preliminary assessments, there were 247 new reports of unidentified aerial phenomena — referred to as UAP events — along with another 199 either discovered or reported after the preliminary assessment, totaling 510 UAP reports as of Aug. 30, of last year.
According to the All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO), established last July 20, and ODNI, the increase in unidentified phenomena is in part due to more understanding about the dangers the events could pose to flights, and partly due to reduced stigma that surrounds the reporting.
And now that AARO has been established, there could be even more UAP instances, according to the report, as the agency's replacement of the Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force allows for increased effort in tracking the events down.
The new agency is authorized to ensure that detection and identification of the phenomena will be spread across the U.S. Department of Defense and its partners, as well as with the intelligence community and the National Intelligence Manager for Aviation, the document notes.
Reported sightings are continuing to occur in restricted or sensitive airspace, though, and that poses concerns for flight safety, the document noted.
"We continue to assess that this may result from a collection bias due to the number of active aircraft and sensors, combined with focused attention and guidance to report anomalies," the document concluded.