UFO and UAP: the terms
UFO stands for unidentified flying object. The phrase was coined by the United States Air Force in the early 1950s and, in the strict sense, means only that an object in the sky has not been identified. It does not mean a spacecraft.
In recent years, government agencies have preferred the term UAP, usually expanded as unidentified anomalous phenomena. It covers a wider range of reports and avoids the assumption that every case involves a flying object.
A short history of official investigations
The United States Air Force ran a series of investigations beginning in 1948, with Project Sign, followed by Project Grudge and then Project Blue Book, which operated from 1952 until it was closed in 1969.
Blue Book collected more than twelve thousand reports. The Air Force concluded that the large majority had conventional explanations, such as aircraft, balloons, astronomical objects and misidentified lights, and listed several hundred as unidentified, mainly because the available information was incomplete.
A university study led by physicist Edward Condon, published in 1968, reached a similar overall conclusion and contributed to the decision to end the project.
The modern era
Interest in the subject returned in the 2010s and early 2020s. In 2021 the Office of the Director of National Intelligence released a preliminary assessment of 144 reports from military sources, most of which it could not explain because of limited data.
In 2022 the Department of Defense created the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office to collect and analyze such reports across the government. Its public reports have generally described cases that can be resolved as ordinary objects, alongside a smaller number that remain unresolved for lack of data.
How to read UFO news
When a new story appears, a few questions help. Who is making the claim, and what is their evidence? Is the object described as unidentified, or has the story quietly turned “unidentified” into “alien”? Is there more than one independent source, or are several articles repeating the same original report?
Sighting databases are useful for spotting patterns, but each entry is a self-reported account. Many reports turn out to be satellites, aircraft, drones, planets or camera artifacts once someone checks.
Keeping the conclusion proportional
“Unidentified” is an honest description of what a report shows when the data is incomplete. It is not evidence for any particular explanation. The most reliable position is to say what the record establishes and where the open questions remain.
That is the approach behind the books on this site: look at the accounts closely, separate documented details from interpretation, and let readers weigh the evidence for themselves.