A Pentagon official’s attempt to reveal a UFO image has been exposed as a hoax, casting doubt on the credibility of the Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena Disclosure Fund and the UAP community.
The Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena Disclosure Fund, a nonpartisan advocacy group, recently hosted a House Oversight and Accountability Committee meeting that shed light on the Pentagon‘s handling of UFO sightings. Former US Army counterintelligence officer Luis ‘Lue’ Elizondo presented an image of what appeared to be a gigantic, disc-shaped object floating hundreds of feet above the ground. However, upon closer inspection, it becomes apparent that this so-called ‘smoking gun‘ has a hilariously simple explanation.
The Shadow of Doubt
Elizondo claimed that the image was taken by a civilian pilot at an altitude of 21,000 feet and showed an object with dimensions ranging from 600 to 1,000 feet in diameter. However, eagle-eyed users on Reddit quickly pointed out that the satellite image could be traced back to two adjacent, perfectly circular fields, with one circle’s shadow lining up precisely with the other.
The two circles, located an hour east of Colorado Springs, can be spotted on Google Earth here. This revelation puts the pieces together and shows that Elizondo had to have known that if the photo was fake, it would eventually be found. It is likely that this is an intentional act, rather than a genuine attempt to reveal evidence of UFOs.
The term 'UFO' refers to an aerial phenomenon that cannot be identified as a known object.
UFO sightings have been reported throughout history, with modern times seeing increased interest and debate about their existence.
According to the National UFO Reporting Center, over 100,000 reports are made annually in the United States alone.
Some notable cases include the Roswell incident (1947) and the Rendlesham Forest incident (1980).
While most sightings remain unexplained, some have been attributed to natural phenomena or human error.
A History of Debunked Claims
Elizondo has previously alleged that military pilots had received radiation burns after making close encounters with UFOs and that other pilots had experienced the ‘warping of space time.’ However, his previous claims have been largely debunked. In 2017, Elizondo resigned from the DoD in protest of the bureaucratic challenges he faced while working on the UAP issue.
The Stigma Surrounds Him
Elizondo’s latest slip-up has further undermined the legitimacy of the Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena Disclosure Fund and the UAP community as a whole. Even the r/UFOs community, which remains open-minded when it comes to the supernatural, is starting to turn on him.
Luis 'Lue' Elizondo is a former U.S. military official and intelligence expert who served in the Pentagon's Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP).
He was responsible for investigating Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP) sightings.
Elizondo resigned from his position in 2017, citing a lack of support for the program.
He has since become a prominent advocate for UAP research and has spoken publicly about his experiences working on the project.
The incident highlights that even in the face of an intriguing topic like UFO sightings, discussions often devolve into a laughable circus. Officials have repeatedly pushed back against claims that the US government is hiding recovered alien spaceships or conspiring against the public to keep evidence of extraterrestrials secret.
Conclusion
Elizondo’s actions demonstrate a misguided zeal that may not meaningfully contribute to the discussion surrounding UFOs. Instead, it risks further undermining the credibility of those who genuinely seek to uncover the truth about UAPs. As the debate continues, it is essential to approach claims with a critical eye and separate fact from fiction.
A Unidentified Flying Object (UFO) is an aerial phenomenon that cannot be immediately identified as a known object or explanation.
According to the National UFO Reporting Center, over 90,000 reported UFO sightings have been documented in the United States alone since 1939.
The majority of these sightings remain unexplained, with some attributed to misidentification of natural phenomena or man-made objects.
A small percentage are classified as 'unidentified aerial phenomena' (UAP), which suggests an unknown explanation.
