The story that changed public perception of UFOs

 

MYSTERY WIRE — Three years ago this week, the New York Times posted a story on its website that is still reverberating through UFO circles and government agencies.

The report revealed the existence of a program called AATIP – Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program – and it put a video into the public eye 13 years after an encounter with a UFO was captured during a military mission off the coast of Southern California.The “Tic Tac” video, which the U.S. Navy acknowledged as authentic in May of 2019, captured the imagination of the UFO community and the public. The video shows an object that a Navy pilot launched from the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz had described in an up-close encounter.

But it was the report that the government spent $22 million studying UFOs, and former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid‘s involvement, that pulled the media into the story.

Since the report, media attention to the UFO topic has gained a foothold in mainstream reporting. It was no longer exclusively the butt of jokes in the media.

The report appeared online on Dec. 16, 2017, and was followed in print on Dec. 17.

• U.S. Senator says UFOs could pose a threat to national security
• Department of Defense makes UAP Task Force official – will be run through Dept. of Navy
• Reid says UFOs not necessarily from other worlds

Since the publication of the 2017 story, the New York Times has continued to follow major developments involving UFOs – also known now as UAPs (Unidentified Aerial Phenomena).

In July of 2020 the Times printed another article about the government’s role investigating UAPs. It was around this time that we also learned, officially, about the Pentagon’s new program called the UAP Task Force. The task force is being run out of the Naval Intelligence. This was revealed when Sen. Rubio put the language of the request into the 2021 Intelligence Authorization Act.

• Open talk of UFOs on the horizon for more lawmakers
• New York Times story opens the door a little wider for more media to cover UFOs
• New York Times report shines more light on government UFO program

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