--- title: "Government Sources Say Military Is Holding Back Evidence of UFOs" description: "Some government agencies are standing in the way of efforts to catalog reports of \"unidentified aerial phenomenon,\" Politico reports." date: "2021-03-26" modified: "2021-03-26" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/government-sources-military-holding-back-evidence-ufos" categories: - "Military" - "Off-World" - "Science & Energy" - "Space" tags: - "Pentagon" - "the digest" - "ufos" - "unidentified flying object" --- # Government Sources Say Military Is Holding Back Evidence of UFOs ![Some government agencies are standing in the way of efforts to catalog reports of "unidentified aerial phenomenon," Politico reports.]() *\Image: Futurism\* ## Walled Off Some government agencies are standing in the way of efforts to catalog reports of "unidentified aerial phenomenon," [*Politico* reports](), citing several current and former government officials. Back in 2017, reports emerged of a secretive Pentagon program that was tasked to look into unexplained UFO sightings in military airspace. Several of these incidents were caught on video, and in January, the CIA [declassified]() every file it claims to have on these sightings. But government employees tasked with looking into the incidents are now claiming that agencies are not releasing relevant information, in some cases resisting the release of any classified information. ## Hiding Something And it's not just active resistance. "Just getting access to the information, because of all the different security bureaucracies, that's an ordeal in itself," Christopher Mellon, a former Pentagon intelligence official, told *Politico*. In August, the Pentagon established a special Navy-led "Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force" to look into these reports — but it hasn't made much progress. "I know that the task force has been denied access to pertinent information by the Air Force and they have been stiff-armed by them," Mellon added. A Pentagon spokesperson declined to "publicly discuss the details of the UAP observations" with *Politico*. The task force will likely have to delay delivering its report to Congress, which could make it look like the government is trying to hide what it knows — even if the evidence ultimately turns out to be underwhelming. "We have to try to know what it is," senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) [told *Fox News*]() this week, noting that the task force will likely blow past its June 1 deadline. "I can tell you it is being taken more seriously now that it ever has been." **READ MORE:** [Military and spy agencies accused of stiff-arming investigators on UFO sightings]() \[*Politico*\] **More on UFOs:** *[Elon Musk Has an Interesting Argument Against UFOs]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()