Navy Acknowledges That UFO Videos Shared by Tom DeLonge Contain 'Unidentified Aerial Phenomena'
The U.S. Navy is weighing in on footage of “unidentified” objects captured on film by pilots for the first time.
“The Navy considers the phenomena contained/depicted in those three videos as unidentified,” spokesman Joseph Gradisher told Vice Tuesday.
The videos in question were previously shared by both the New York Times and former Blink-182 member Tom DeLonge‘s To the Stars Academy, and feature footage of what appears to be unidentified aircraft.
Gradisher’s statement appears to mark the first time that the Navy has acknowledged that the objects in the videos are in fact real, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported Tuesday.
The Navy did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
In one video, titled “Gimbal” and recorded in 2015, fighter pilots try to make sense of what they are seeing and are seemingly unable to figure out what the objects are.
“It’s a f— drone, bro,” one pilot says in the video.
“There’s a whole fleet of them, look on the ASA,” the other pilot says.
RELATED: Aliens Exist: Tom DeLonge on Leaving Blink-182 to Blow the Lid Off the ‘Biggest Secret on Earth’
“My gosh, they’re all going against the wind, the wind’s 120 knots out of the west,” one of the pilots then says. “Look at that thing, dude!”
The object in question appears in the video as a black, oval aircraft, and at one point begins to rotate, puzzling both pilots.
In another video, titled “Go Fast,” a flying object appears, moving very fast.
“What the f— is that thing?” one of the pilots asks, after a few attempts to capture the object on their sensor.
“Wow, what is that man? Look at it fly!” another says.
The video was taken by a U.S. Navy F/A-18 Super Hornet in 2015 off the US’ east coast, according to To the Stars Academy.
RELATED: Astronaut Receives Honorary Degree — in Space! — and Delivers Inspiring Speech: ‘Fly Among the Stars
The videos referenced Tuesday made headlines back in 2017 and 2018 after being brought to light by the former Blink-182 rocker’s To The Stars Academy of Arts and Science research group and later republished by the Times. According to the group, the videos reveal “declassified Pentagon footage of unidentified flying objects,” Gizmodo reported.
UFO-Aktuellt writer Roger Glassel told Vice that the fact that the Navy used the term “unidentified aerial phenomena is significant because it “shows that they have broadened what is expected to be reported by U.S. fighter pilots to investigate anything unknown in their airspace that in the past has been connected with a stigma.”
The Navy drafted new guidelines for its pilots to report encounters with “unidentified aircraft” earlier this year, Politico reported in April. The outlet called it “a significant new step in creating a formal process to collect and analyze the unexplained sightings.”
WARNING: Below video contains explicit language
“There have been a number of reports of unauthorized and/or unidentified aircraft entering various military-controlled ranges and designated air space in recent years,” the Navy said in a statement to Politico at the time. “For safety and security concerns, the Navy and the [U.S. Air Force] takes these reports very seriously and investigates each and every report.”
The statement continued: “As part of this effort, the Navy is updating and formalizing the process by which reports of any such suspected incursions can be made to the cognizant authorities. A new message to the fleet that will detail the steps for reporting is in draft.”
