Closer encounters: How UFOs became a target for US intelligence again France24 28 Jun 2021, 04:08 GMT+10 A hotly anticipated US government report on unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP) was released on Friday. After decades of mysterious reported sightings, the Pentagon had too little data to accurately determine the nature of these flying objects. But the fact that the report even exists is a marvel in itself, dating back to events from 1947. While Doctor Who, The X-Files and ET fuel our imaginations with the possibility of alien life on earth, they remain works of fiction. But the nine-page report on UFOs, released by the US Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the Pentagon last Friday, is very much real.