Washington (AFP)

The American Senate wishes to regulate the activities of the Pentagon cell which studies unidentified flying objects (UFOs), so that the public is informed of its activities and that the various branches of American intelligence share their information.

In an amendment to the 2021 finance bill currently under discussion, the Senate Intelligence Committee supports the Pentagon's "cell work on unidentified aerial phenomena", officially confirming the continuation of the activities of this unveiled unit in 2017 by the New York Times.

For very serious senators, the "unidentified aerial phenomena" have nothing to do with potential little green men, but rather with very real adversaries of the United States.

This cell, attached to the Naval Intelligence Office of the United States Army, is responsible for "harmonizing the collection of information and reports on unidentified aerial phenomena, their potential links with enemy governments and the threats they pose to equipment and buildings of the American army ", specifies the text deposited by the republican senator of Florida Marco Rubio and published last week.

The United States is particularly worried about China's espionage capabilities, using drones or other airborne means.

While recognizing that this is a sensitive subject, the senators "find that information sharing and coordination between intelligence services on the subject are inconsistent", and therefore want a detailed - and public - report on the activities of this work cell and on the phenomena it observed.

If this amendment passes, the Pentagon will have 180 days to present this report to Congress.

The Pentagon released three videos taken by US Navy pilots in late April showing in-flight encounters with what appears to be UFOs. One of these videos - all in black and white - dates from November 2004 and the other two from January 2015.

On one, we can see an oblong object moving quickly which, a few seconds after being spotted by one of the sensors on board the aircraft of the US Navy, disappears on the left following a sudden acceleration.

In another video, we can see an object above the clouds, the pilot wondering if it is a drone.

© 2020 AFP