An "increasing number" of unknown objects have been seen in the sky over the past twenty years, a Pentagon official told U.S. lawmakers on Tuesday, but did not confirm the existence of extraterrestrial life.

For the first time in more than 50 years, the US Congress held a public hearing on "unidentified phenomena in the air."

"Since the early 2000s, we have seen a growing number of unidentified items," said Scott Bray, deputy director of intelligence for the US Navy.

He noted that he had not discovered anything "that would indicate that these phenomena originated outside of Earth".

But he did not rule out such a possibility, reports

theguardian

.

In June 2021, the US intelligence service stated in a long-awaited report that there was no evidence for the existence of aliens, acknowledging however that dozens of phenomena discovered by military pilots could not be interpreted.

Some may be explained by the presence of drones or birds that confuse US military radar systems.

Others can be attributed to the testing of military equipment and technology carried out by other powers such as China and Russia.

The US military and intelligence service want to determine, first and foremost, whether these "unidentified aerial phenomena" could be linked to the threat to the United States.

"Unidentified phenomena in the air could be a threat to national security," warns Democrat Andre Carson, chairman of the parliamentary committee that organized the session.

/ Telegraphy /