2019 US Navy UAP Encounters — Multiple Pilots Report Craft Near Aircraft Carrier

In 2019, the US Navy formally acknowledged that three declassified videos showing unidentified aerial phenomena were genuine. Around the same time, multiple Navy pilots from the USS Theodore Roosevelt reported frequent and highly unusual encounters with unknown objects in the restricted airspace off the US East Coast between 2014 and 2015. The pilots described objects that could reach 30,000 feet and then drop to just above sea level in less than a second, with no visible means of propulsion and no exhaust plumes. The craft were detected on multiple sensor systems including radar, infrared cameras, and electronic warfare systems. Lieutenant Ryan Graves told the New York Times that his squadron encountered these objects almost every day during that period, and that near-misses between Navy aircraft and the objects were reported through the military's aviation safety reporting system. In 2020, the Department of Defense released the three videos officially. The case prompted legislation requiring the Pentagon to formally assess UAP encounters, ultimately leading to the 2021 ODNI report acknowledging 144 unexplained UAP incidents by military personnel.