By Tim Binnall
2021 proved to be another tremendously eventful year for UFOs as the mysterious phenomenon continued to inspire wonder from the government, the media, and the general public in a manner not seen in decades. The mystery's proverbial 'moment,' which began back in late 2017, showed no signs of subsiding this past year with significant developments in the quest for answers to the question of what these weird objects might be, numerous instances wherein strange aerial oddities were caught on film, and, per usual, more than a few very bizarre stories in which UFOs took center stage
As has been the case over the last few years, much of the talk in 2021 centered around the seemingly reignited interest in the phenomenon being shown by the United States government, particularly the Department of Defense. To that end, the first half of the year served as something of a calm before the storm as many anxiously awaited a forthcoming assessment of what officials have come to call Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon (UAPs) rather than the more popular and baggage-laden moniker of 'UFOs.' Regardless of whether one calls them UFOs, UAPs, or flying saucers, what the government was going to say about the issue was a matter of considerable speculation and debate.
Leading up to the report being issued, former Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe hinted in March that it could contain significant revelations about the phenomenon. The following month, the Pentagon made headlines again when they confirmed the veracity of recently leaked photos and videos showing anomalous objects observed by Navy personnel. And, in a testament to the UFO phenomenon's current place in the zeitgeist, this past May the venerable news program 60 Minutes produced a well-received and lengthy segment on the topic, which was the first time the subject had ever been explored on the show in its more than five decades on the air.
In a pair of interviews that aired in late April and early May, former President Barack Obama weighed in on the topic and, and unlike what we've seen from both him and his predecessors during previous media appearances, he actually treated the subject of UFOs with a refreshing level of seriousness. This was echoed by a handful of members of Congress, including Representative Tim Burchett of Tennessee, who, perhaps sensing the change in public perception concerning the phenomenon, called for more transparency regarding the issue. By the time June arrived, the anticipation surrounding the forthcoming government UAP report had reached a fever pitch with all manner of rumors circulating within the UFO community.
Finally, in late June, the long-awaited "preliminary assessment of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena" was released by the office of the Director of National Intelligence and it indicated that the study ultimately wound up being unable to determine what, exactly, UAPs are. This was understandably dispiriting to many who had hoped for some kind of insights regarding the phenomenon; however, the silver lining to the report may have been that it did not dissuade the government from continuing to ask questions about the topic. To that end, the final two months of the year saw the creation of both a new DoD UFO study group as well as the Anomaly Surveillance and Resolution Office, which will be an ambitious new government agency aimed at investigating the phenomenon.
Over the course of the year, as all of this was happening here on the ground, UFOs themselves continued to be seen in the skies above both the United States and throughout the world. Among the more interesting incidents from 2021 included a trio of objects spotted in New York City, a cube-shaped oddity filmed in New Jersey, and curious UFO clusters seen in Indiana, Utah, and Nashville. Internationally, UFOs were noticed in the background of newscasts from Israel and France while a peculiar doughnut-shaped object was photographed over Switzerland. Additionally, pilots and airline passengers flying over Pakistan, Canada, and Germany managed to film various weird objects lingering outside their respective aircraft.
Indicative of how UFOs were on the minds of many this past year, there were also a number of instances wherein something thought to be from out of this world turned out to be prosaic in nature. Such was the case with a missile test in Florida, a cluster of lanterns in Indiana, two separate SpaceX Starlink satellite launches, and, most amusingly, a 'Mr. Peanut' balloon near Toronto. On the pop culture front, NFL quarterback Baker Mayfield made headlines when he took to social media to share a UFO sighting that he had just experienced and musician Demi Lovato doubled down on their interest in the subject by way of a new docuseries wherein they went in search of aliens.
As any longtime UFO aficionado can attest, the phenomenon has a propensity to find its way into some truly bizarre stories and this was certainly the case once again in 2021. There was a weird 'UFO detector' that sparked a bomb scare in New Jersey, a wild account of a craft landing in Bolivia and unleashing a 'chupacabra-like creature' into a community, and a woman in England who claimed that she has been abducted by aliens 52 times! Other peculiar events from the past year included an Argentine woman who may have been transported 40 miles by a UFO and an unearthed recording which alleged that Einstein had been enlisted to investigate the Roswell crash.
With 2021 quickly coming to a close, next year looks to be another memorable twelve months as far as the UFO phenomenon is concerned. What might arise from the two new government agencies looking into UAPs will undoubtedly dominate discussion in both research circles as well as in the media. Odd objects will continue to appear in the sky as if they do not realize that we are trying to figure out what they are and an increasing number of people with cameras will keep looking up in the hopes of spotting something strange. Although there is a very good chance that UFOs will remain maddeningly mysterious when next year's retrospective is written, it's also a safe bet that 2022 will be anything but boring when it comes to the world of UFOs.