New UFO investigations are urged

An international panel of two dozen former pilots and government officials called on the government to reopen its generation-old UFO investigation as a matter of safety and security given continuing reports of flying discs, glowing spheres and other strange sightings.

“Especially after the attacks of 9/11, it is no longer satisfactory to ignore radar returns . . . which cannot be associated with performances of existing aircraft and helicopters,” they said in a statement. The panelists from seven countries, including former senior military officers, said they each had seen a UFO or conducted an official investigation into the phenomenon.

UFOs popped up in the presidential race last month when Democrat Dennis Kucinich said in a debate that he had seen one.

The Air Force investigated 12,618 UFO reports from 1947 to 1969 in what was known as Project Blue Book.