Pentagon Refuses to Release Footage of UFOs Being Shot Down
The Pentagon says that footage of “aircraft interaction” with UFOs exists but the United States Department of Defense has refused to release it.
It comes after an alleged Chinese spy balloon was observed by a U-2 and eventually shot down, but not before the reconnaissance plane pilot captured a selfie as he flew above it, which was released in February.
In the following weeks, three more unidentified flying objects were shot down from the sky: One over Deadhorse, Alaska on February 10, then 24 hours later a UFO was taken out over the Yukon territory in Canada, the final object was neutralized by a fighter jet at 20,000 feet over the Great Lakes on February 11.
A Department of Defense spokesman confirmed to PetaPixel that there are photos and videos of the incidents but they are not forthcoming.
“Footage of aircraft interactions with the high-altitude objects does exist — but remains classified,” the Pentagon spokesman says. “Release of the images and footage is not possible at this time. No timeline has been provided for future release.”
It’s in stark contrast to the release of the aforementioned pilot selfie with the spy balloon and the Pentagon was also quick to declassify the footage of a Russian jet crashing into a U.S. military drone over the Black Sea earlier this month.
What Could the Flying Objects Be?
The withholding of the footage fueled speculation as to what the imagery may show, the general consensus is that it may be embarrassing to the government.
The Northern Illinois Bottlecap Balloon Brigade tells Politico that the object shot down over Yukon could be their $13 hobby balloon which stopped transmitting around the same time that a Raptor fired on the unidentified object there.
“When I heard that [it was a] silver object with a payload attached to it, that could be one of our balloons,” a member says.
UFO researcher John Greenewald had his Freedom of Information Act requests to see the images turned down last week with the Pentagon citing national security exemptions.
An Air Force official told Greenewald that the images would reveal “intelligence activities (including covert action), intelligence sources or methods” as well as “scientific, technological, or economic matters relating to the national security.”
Both the Canadian and American governments have called off searches for the downed objects and President Biden admitted that the unidentified craft was most likely research balloons.
Senior Republican Ted Cruz mocked Biden over the downings, tweeting that he is providing “powerful deterrence for any high school science clubs that might try to invade America.”
Update 3/31: The original story erroneously stated the spy balloon was shot down by a U-2. We apologize for the error.
