Strange sightings over Arizona skies spark new UFO fears
A US fighter jet has been struck by an unidentified object over the Arizona skies, sparking fresh alien speculation.
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Score one for the aliens.
A United States F-16 Viper combat jet has been damaged after being struck by an “unidentified aerial phenomenon”.
It comes amid a fresh uptick in the number of strange flying objects being sighted over the southern US border state of Arizona.
The News Nation media service reports seeing Federal Aviation Authority documents confirming “numerous encounters” with strange craft. One reportedly struck the perspex canopy of a $A100 million F-16 fighter, causing the aircraft to be grounded for repairs.
These aren’t UFOS (Unidentified Flying Objects).
Instead, they are UAPs (Unidentified Aerial Phenomena).
So what’s in a name?
Arizona shares extensive military testing grounds with neighbouring Nevada – home to the secretive Area 51 testing facility that has been associated with otherworldly flying saucers for decades.
But it also borders Mexico. That is the focus of fresh invasion fears.
President Donald Trump has invoked the Alien Enemy Act of 1798 in response to a “predatory incursion” of the United States.
Not the murderous alien Predators of Arnold Schwarzenegger fame, but the fundamentally human need to seek safety and security – or a quick buck.
Now, defence analysts are linking an uptick in the region’s long history of alien invasion scares to a surge in the use of cross-border drug-smuggling drones.
Something in the air
“There has been a lot of activity, particularly on the Arizona border. A lot of people are reporting a lot of things,” former director of the Pentagon’s Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP), Luis Elizondo, told News Nation.
One incident flared across local headlines in November.
Strange lights were seen in the night sky above Bullhead City. Footage quickly went viral on TikTok.
Despite being linked to the headlights of off-road vehicles driving through nearby hills, the incident has further fuelled the state’s reputation as an alien sightseeing destination.
In 1997, photos of a V-shaped formation dubbed the “Phoenix Lights” attracted global attention.
Few accepted the US Air Force’s explanation that it was a group of A-10 “Tankbuster” aircraft practising formation-flying with their night-lights on.
Another incident, this time in 2011, convinced locals that the aliens had returned.
Again, the explanation that the Arizona Skyhawks skydiving team was carrying high-intensity flares to kick off a nearby football match didn’t appeal.
But now, the FAA documents suggest US Air Force pilots are adding to Arizona’s collection of inexplicable sightings.
At least until they’re explained.
Border patrols have been intensified in recent years and one of President Trump’s first acts was to order 6000 extra troops into the region, supported by armoured personnel carriers, surveillance aircraft, combat helicopters and two navy destroyers.
Combined with intensified border police checks and patrols, this is making it more challenging for Mexico’s cartels to feed America’s illegal narcotics addiction.
Evidence suggests they’re turning to a new generation of large drones to haul their deadly cargo directly to market.
Dones being used as delivery mules isn’t exactly new. US authorities have been documenting seizures of small craft carrying 5 to 10kg for more than a decade.
But technologies developed for the likes of Amazon to deliver large parcels across an urban landscape are being adapted for the drug trade.
That means they’re flying higher and further than ever before.
The truth is out there
New research from the Manchester Metropolitan University and Liverpool John Moores University has examined the tendency for people to attribute unexplained events to paranormal or extraterrestrial events.
“When faced with events we cannot control, our minds look for patterns and explanations,” the study’s authors write.
President Trump’s new administration came to power, insisting it would tackle the UFO issue once and for all.
And White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt did so in one of her first public appearances.
She addressed last year’s spate of strange lights in the sky in the American Northeast.
They were not aliens. They weren’t even Iranian drones. They were, she said, normal aircraft flying normal routes at normal times.
It’s just that people had suddenly started paying attention to them.
“In time, it got worse, due to curiosity. This was not the enemy,” she explained.
Now, the Trump Administration has moved to shut down a secret FBI office dedicated to investigating “unidentified anomalous phenomena””.
It had been public knowledge for decades that the Pentagon had been running the All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) to examine strange sightings.
But the FBI had never admitted – before announcing it was about to be shut down – that this team existed.
Questions, however, remain unanswered.
Tennessee Republican Representative Tim Burchett wants to know more. He’s told the US Congress that extraterrestrial craft are operating from secret undersea bases.
“I haven’t been briefed on this, just from what I’m putting together, but we have some secret sonar … (They) tell me something’s moving at hundreds of miles an hour underwater … and this one was as large as a football field underwater, and this was a documented case, and I have an admiral telling me this stuff,” he told One America News.
The research psychologists say it’s a natural tendency for people to turn to paranormal and conspiracy-theory beliefs in order to deal with anxiety.
“Realising that life is unpredictable and has an end can be unsettling,” they write. “Supernatural beliefs provide comfort by suggesting that a higher power controls human destiny.”
The illegal immigration crisis, the militarisation of the border – and increased military training and experimentation in the face of increasing global aggression – all converge on Arizona.
That may help explain why every light in the sky is suddenly a UFO or UAP.
“Instead of dismissing such beliefs, it is important to recognise their emotional and personal significance,” the psychologists conclude.
“Particularly, how beliefs shape people’s perspectives and coping mechanisms.
“While they may not align with logic or evidence, the comfort they afford is deeply meaningful to those who hold them.”
Jamie Seidel is a freelance writer | @jamieseidel.bsky.social
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