Last July, Congress held a significant hearing on UFOs, featuring testimonies from two former Navy fighter pilots and a former senior intelligence officer, which drew considerable attention.

In a notable exchange, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) discussed receiving a "protected disclosure" from Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, about a January 2023 UFO incident over the Gulf of Mexico. After the Air Force initially resisted, Gaetz managed to review sensor data from the encounter.

Gaetz reported that fighter pilots tracked four unidentified objects flying in a “clear diamond formation” over a typically clear training range. One object demonstrated capabilities Gaetz couldn't link to any known human technology, based on his experience on the House Armed Services Committee.

Radar data showed the four objects moving in a precise formation, with equidistant separation. When the fighter jet approached within 4,000 feet, its radar and infrared camera malfunctioned, requiring the pilot to take manual still images.

Last week, the Pentagon’s UFO analysis office suggested with "moderate" confidence that the object was likely a "large commercial lighting balloon," a claim that seems implausible upon reviewing the incident details. Even the world’s foremost UFO skeptic found this explanation unconvincing, as the pilot's sketch resembled an “Apollo spacecraft” rather than any known lighting balloon.

A Florida company that produces these balloons indicated that it is nearly impossible for such balloons to float away, and Emmy-winning lighting designer Matt Ford found the Pentagon’s explanation absurd.

The Pentagon’s claim implies this improbable event happened four times simultaneously, with unexplained dual sensor malfunctions on the jet, one occurring only near the UFO. The UFO office also failed to address how multiple balloons could maintain a “clear,” “equidistant” diamond formation at high altitudes in strong winds.

The lead object was described as “stationary” or moving “very slowly,” inconsistent with the 80 mph winds at altitude on the incident day, further contradicting the Pentagon’s balloon theory.

Gaetz criticized the Pentagon’s assessment as "incomplete" and called for the release of the images and radar data. The Eglin incident exemplifies the many implausible explanations the government has given for UFO sightings.

Recently, the Pentagon released a congressionally mandated review of UFO involvement, full of factual errors and distortions. Christopher Mellon, former top civilian intelligence official at the Department of Defense, harshly criticized the report.

One significant falsehood in the report concerned a 1950s Air Force-commissioned study by the Battelle Memorial Institute. Contrary to the Pentagon's claim that all cases with enough data were explainable, the study found 33 percent of well-documented cases remained “unknown.”

The Pentagon's misrepresentation of this analysis mirrors its questionable explanation for the Eglin incident, continuing its long-standing dismissive approach to UFOs.

Internal Department of Defense documents contradict the Pentagon’s public stance, noting worldwide anomalous incidents, including in U.S. and allied territories. With unknown objects penetrating airspace around sensitive military sites, the American public deserves truth, transparency, and thorough analysis, which the Pentagon has yet to provide.