UFO videos released by former Blink-182 singer acknowledged as 'real' unidentified objects by US Navy
Three videos, originally released by former Blink-182 singer Tom DeLonge and published by the New York Times, depict pilot encounters with UFOs on Nov. 14, 2004, and Jan. 21, 2015.
After the Pentagon officially released videos of "unidentified aerial phenomena," the head of the group that originally obtained the videos, former Blink-182 singer Tom DeLonge, said "UFOs are real" in a now-deleted tweet.
"UFOs are real and my partners at @TTSAcademy (that hail from CIA, DOD and Lockheed Martin SkunkWorks) stood with me for three years to let you know this (and more) was coming," DeLonge, the head of The Stars Academy of Arts & Science (TTSA), tweeted Monday night. "Support @TTSAcademy if you want this information to blow wide open. Thank you all for believing in us."
The tweet, which has since been deleted, was in reference to the Pentagon officially releasing unclassified footage that showed "unidentified aerial phenomena" captured by Navy aircraft The footage had circulated in the public for years.
UFO VIDEOS ARE FOOTAGE OF REAL 'UNIDENTIFIED' OBJECTS, US NAVY ACKNOWLEDGES
DeLonge followed up the since-deleted tweet with several others related to the videos being released, including calling the declassification "very important" and thanking those who "start[ed] the grand conversation."
In October 2019, DeLonge and TTSA signed a deal with the U.S. Army to study its purported extraterrestrial "discoveries."
Former Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., said the footage "scratches the surface of research and materials" made available by the Pentagon.
"After a thorough review, the department has determined that the authorized release of these unclassified videos does not reveal any sensitive capabilities or systems, and does not impinge on any subsequent investigations of military air space incursions by unidentified aerial phenomena," said Pentagon spokesperson Sue Gough.
"DOD is releasing the videos in order to clear up any misconceptions by the public on whether or not the footage that has been circulating was real, or whether or not there is more to the videos,” Gough added. “The aerial phenomena observed in the videos remain characterized as ‘unidentified.’”
The official release of the videos by the U.S. Navy comes some seven months after it first acknowledged the videos contained unidentified objects, specifically using the ‘unidentified aerial phenomena’ terminology.
FORMER US DEFENSE OFFICIAL: WE KNOW UFOS ARE REAL - HERE'S WHY THAT'S CONCERNING
The videos, known as "FLIR1,” “Gimbal” and “GoFast,” were originally released to the New York Times and to TTSA.
The first video of the unidentified object was taken on Nov. 14, 2004, and shot by the F-18's gun camera. The second video was shot on Jan. 21, 2015, and shows another aerial vehicle with pilots commenting on how strange it is. The third video was also taken on Jan. 21, 2015, but it is unclear whether the third video was of the same object or a different one.
In December 2017, Fox News reported that the Pentagon had secretly set up a program to investigate UFOs at the request of Reid.
In June 2019, Reid, now retired, expressed his desire for lawmakers to hold public hearings into what the military knows. "They would be surprised how the American public would accept it," he said during a wide-ranging interview with a Nevada radio station. "People from their individual states would accept it."
PENTAGON FINALLY ADMITS IT INVESTIGATES UFOS
Luis Elizondo, the former head of the Pentagon's Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP), has previously said that people should pay attention to the comments the government is making about UFOs.
"What the pilots encountered that day was able to perform in ways that defied all logic and our current understanding of aerodynamics," Elizondo wrote in a Fox News op-ed of the 2004 encounter by U.S. Navy pilots who witnessed the object off the coast of San Diego. "Furthermore, beyond what the pilots saw with their own trained eye, the technological feat they encountered was further verified by the impressive Aegis SPY-1 radar, America’s premier radar system at the time, and even gun camera footage and sonar systems from submarines accompanying the carrier."
In 2019, 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.”
The Defense Department also briefed Senate Intelligence Committee Vice Chairman Mark Warner, D-Va., in June 2019, along with two other senators, as part of what appeared to be heightened efforts to inform politicians about naval encounters with unidentified aircraft.
Warner's spokesperson indicated that the senator sought to probe safety concerns surrounding "unexplained interference" naval pilots faced, according to Politico. The outlet reported more briefings were being requested as news surfaced that the Navy revised its procedures for personnel reporting on unusual aircraft sightings.
President Trump said he has been briefed on Navy pilots' reported sightings of unidentified flying objects, but remained skeptical of the existence of UFOs.
"I want them to think whatever they think," Trump told ABC News' George Stephanopolous earlier this year, referring to the Navy pilots. "I did have one very brief meeting on it. But people are saying they’re seeing UFOs. Do I believe it? Not particularly."
Fox News' Bradford Betz, Louis Casiano and Sam Dorman contributed to this report.
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