By Tim Binnall
A blockbuster report from the New York Times concerning Navy pilots encountering UFOs has captured the imagination of the public and spawned headlines around the world. The thought-provoking piece features accounts from a number of different witnesses who spotted what appeared to be unusual aircraft performing seemingly impossible maneuvers that left the observers positively bewildered. After initially appearing on a new type of radar system that was installed in the aircraft, the anomalous objects were later visually sighted by some of the pilots. One witness who had a close up look at one of the oddities described it as a sphere containing a cube inside of it.
As one can imagine, the fantastic revelations from the pilots in the 'paper of record' sparked a firestorm in the mainstream media with countless outlets picking up the story. And, similar to what occurred with the Times' bombshell December 2017 piece which detailed the Pentagon's Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program for the first time, UFOs have suddenly become a hot topic around the proverbial dinner table in homes across America where it might otherwise have taken a backseat to discussions about the latest Hollywood fare or the machinations of politicians in Washington.
In keeping with our contemporary 'hot take' culture, suddenly everyone seems to have an opinion on the story and what, exactly, the craft could have been. Of course, the most popular suggestion from laypeople and more imaginative members of the media is that the UFOs were extraterrestrial craft, perhaps unmanned vehicles observing our planet. Others have argued that the odd objects were some kind of clandestine aircraft developed either by the United States or, chillingly, one of our adversaries. By far the most remarkable response to the article, by virtue of its source and verbiage, came via an opinion piece in the Washington Post, of all places, which boldly declared "UFOs exist and everyone needs to adjust to that fact."
While one might think that this latest development would be cause for celebration in the UFO community, the Times piece and the subsequent furor surrounding it have largely split the field into two camps. There are those who believe that the story, along with previous promising events that have taken place over the last few months, is an indication that the long-awaited 'truth' about the phenomenon is set to be revealed at last. At the very least, there is hope that an earnest investigation of the enigma or even Congressional hearings on the subject could be in the offing.
Conversely, there are others in the UFO research community who have expressed a decidedly more skeptical perspective, pointing to numerous times in the past where it appeared that 'official disclosure' was imminent, including cases involving what looked to be tacit cooperation from the government, yet never came to fruition. Many have argued that this latest series of events, in particular, is actually just an elaborate marketing campaign for the forthcoming television program Unidentified or an attempt by the 'powers that be' to control the narrative, so to speak, when it comes to UFOs.
Regardless of how one interprets the latest Times piece and the many 'game-changing' stories which have preceded it over the last few months, there appears to be universal agreement within the UFO community that something is happening. It remains to be seen whether the end result is further acknowledgement of the phenomenon by the government or yet another disappointing tease of disclosure without any real answers. As always, those who yearn to know the true nature of the UFO mystery are maddeningly at the mercy of the enigma itself and whatever groups or individuals that may hold those insights.