New UFO reporting guidelines for US Navy pilots following flood of sightings

US Navy pilots have been reporting on seeing “unidentified objects” for years, prompting the military to change its guidelines on the encounters.

A growing number of US Navy pilots claiming to have spotted unidentified flying objects, or UFOS, has led the Navy to update its protocol for reporting them, according to a New York Times report.

In 2007, the Pentagon began a shadowy program called “Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program”, reports Fox News.

Navy pilots say they encountered objects in the sky which they cannot explain. Picture: Department of Defence

“These things would be out there all days,” a US Navy pilot said in a new interview. Picture: US Department of Defence

It intended to study radar data, video footage captured by pilots and accounts of senior officers who reported seeing UFOs. The program officially ended in 2012 amid dried-up funds, but the Navy has continued investigations of military reports of UFOs, the report said.

Reports of UFO sightings occurred almost daily between 2014 and 2015 on the East Coast of the US. Navy pilots reported seeing flying objects that had no visible engine or exhaust plumes but could read hypersonic speeds.

An F/A-18F Super Hornet pilot claims he nearly collided with a UFO. Picture: AFP

One Super Hornet pilot in late 2014 said he had a near collision with a UFO, The Times reported.

Lt. Ryan Graves, who has been with the Navy for 10 years, told The Times: “These things would be out there all day. Keeping an aircraft in the air requires a significant amount of energy. With the speeds we observed, 12 hours in the air is 11 hours longer than we’d expect.”

The US Navy has issue new guidelines on how pilots should report apparent UFO sightings. Picture: Supplied

In late 2014, a Super Hornet pilot nearly collided with one of the objects, and an official report was filed, according to the New York Times. Some of the incidents were reportedly filmed, including one taken by a plane’s camera in early 2015 that shows an object zooming over the ocean waves as pilots question what they are watching.

“Wow, what is that, man?” one says. “Look at it fly!”

Experts, however, caution against extraterrestrial explanations. Senior astrophysicist Leon Golub said “there are so many other possibilities — bugs in the code for the imaging and display systems, atmospheric effects and reflections, neurological overload from multiple inputs during high-speed flight.”

Earlier this year, the Navy issued new classified guidelines on how to report such instances “in response to unknown, advanced aircraft flying into or near Navy strike groups or other sensitive military facilities and formations.”

— with Fox News