The Pentagon has released four new declassified videos of unidentified aerial phenomena, UAPs as they are now called. The footage shows objects moving at hypersonic speeds without any visible means of propulsion. British defence analysts are calling for greater transparency from our own Ministry of Defence.
The videos were obtained through Freedom of Information requests by the US-based UAP advocacy group, the Galileo Project. They show encounters between US naval aviators and objects that appear to defy known physics. In one clip, a spherical craft is seen manoeuvring under water before emerging into the air. Another shows an object accelerating from a hover to speeds in excess of Mach 2 in seconds.
The Pentagon has confirmed the authenticity of the footage. But they have not offered an explanation. Officially, they maintain that UAPs are not necessarily extraterrestrial. But they have not ruled it out.
Whitehall sources tell me that a briefing on the US releases was circulated to the Joint Intelligence Committee last week. One source described the mood as 'apprehensive but intrigued.' Another said the MoD's own records on UAPs are 'fragmentary at best.'
The British government has long maintained that it does not investigate UFOs unless they pose a defence or security threat. But that policy is now under scrutiny. Labour MP David Lammy has tabled a written question demanding to see any MoD reports on the phenomenon. The SNP is calling for a public inquiry.
The release of the US videos comes amid a shift in Washington. The Pentagon has established a new task force, the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office, AARO, to coordinate UAP investigations. In July, a former intelligence officer testified to Congress that the US government has recovered crashed alien spacecraft and is reverse-engineering their technology. The Pentagon denies this.
But the drip-drip of disclosures has created a momentum that is hard to stop. In Britain, the Ministry of Defence's own files on UFOs were released to the National Archives in 2013. They contain accounts of close encounters by police officers and military personnel. Some cases remain unexplained.
Now, with four new videos in the public domain, the pressure is building. Defence analyst Martin Plaut, a former BBC correspondent, says: 'The US government has moved from denial to grudging acceptance. The British government must now follow suit. Transparency is the only way to maintain public trust.'
A Ministry of Defence spokesman told me: 'We are aware of the US releases. We keep our own procedures under review. But we do not comment on specific operational matters.' That is not good enough for the growing number of MPs who want answers.
One Whitehall insider, who has seen the MoD's own UAP files, described the situation as 'a political timebomb.' He said: 'When the public realises that our own government has been sitting on this for decades, there will be hell to pay.'
For now, the official line holds. But the cracks are showing. The US releases have not changed the balance of evidence. But they have changed the political calculus. The game is shifting. And Whitehall is not ready.
More follows.
