Several hundreds of new UFO reports have been received by the Pentagon

The director of the newly established Pentagon office tracking reports of UFOs told reporters on Friday that while the office has received "several hundreds" of new claims, there has been no indication of extraterrestrial life to date.

The All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO), which was established in July, is in charge of tracking unidentified objects that are not only in the sky but also on the ground, in space, or possibly even one that can travel from one domain to another.The office was founded after more than a year of interest in mysterious flying objects that military pilots had seen but occasionally hesitated to report out of fear of embarrassment.

Since then, "we've had lots more reporting," said anomaly office director Sean Kirkpatrick. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence reported in June 2021 that between 2004 and 2021, there were 144 such encounters, 80 of which were recorded on multiple sensors. Kirkpatrick replied, "Several hundreds," when pressed to specify the amount.

By the end of the year, the Director of National Intelligence is anticipated to provide an updated report that will include particular data on additional reports received since 2021. 

The office was established not just to investigate the possibility of extraterrestrial life, but also due to the security concern posed by the frequent sightings of UFOs by military facilities or aircraft.

Congress held its first hearing on the subject in more than 50 years this May, and several members voiced concern that, whether the objects are extraterrestrial or may be powered by brand-new, untested technology being flown by China, Russia, or another potential foe, the unknown poses a security risk. 

According to Ronald Moultrie, undersecretary of defence for intelligence and security, "we have not seen anything, and we're still very early on, that would lead us to conclude that any of the objects that we have seen are of alien origin." "We consider any unlawful system in our airspace to be a safety danger."

As part of its efforts to better identify new objects, the office is also recalibrating any sensors that may have been set to only detect known opponent drone or aircraft signatures, according to Moultrie. 

The department's outreach efforts to de-stigmatize reporting potential contacts may be a factor in the hundreds of increased complaints that have been received. According to Kirkpatrick, each agency has devised its own reporting procedures.

In addition to unidentified flying objects, there is a lot of modern technology that may be mistaken for a UFO, including drones, hypersonic missiles, stealth bombers, and fighters being developed by the US and China. In order to rule out those aircraft or drones, Kirkpatrick claimed that the new agency has been working with the Pentagon and the US intelligence community to obtain the signatures of US technology.