War.gov/UFO - Department of War Releases UAP Files - 2026 Release 1

[JMartJr]

Things", as far as I can see, are NOT developing, concerning UFOs. There is no more compelling evidence of their existence now than there was back when Jules Verne was writing science fiction.

On the other hand, one could argue that the belief system around UFOs is developing in a coupe of ways. The "respectabillity" may be increasing as members of Congress help promote it and Internet algorithms make people who Want To Believe see what appears to be a larger proportion of folks online believing, too. And the substance of the belief is evolving, or perhaps has done so, as "fantasy UFOlogy" competes with "sci-fi UFOlogy" and the things that are believed by believers alters accordingly...

 

[boringrealit]

On the other hand, one could argue that the belief system around UFOs is developing in a coupe of ways. The "respectabillity" may be increasing as members of Congress help promote it and Internet algorithms make people who Want To Believe see what appears to be a larger proportion of folks online believing, too. And the substance of the belief is evolving, or perhaps has done so, as "fantasy UFOlogy" competes with "sci-fi UFOlogy" and the things that are believed by believers alters accordingly...

This is what I meant. It is getting more popular and accepted.

I think it is evolving too. There is a more spiritual flavour these days. More mystic and less "nuts and bolts." Even cross-breeding with MAGA-Christianity into spacefaring demons in flying saucers. Plus they have to fit in the Skinwalkers and poltergeists.

 

[FatPhil]

On the other hand, one could argue that the belief system around UFOs is developing in a coupe of ways. The "respectabillity" may be increasing as members of Congress help promote it and Internet algorithms make people who Want To Believe see what appears to be a larger proportion of folks online believing, too. And the substance of the belief is evolving, or perhaps has done so, as "fantasy UFOlogy" competes with "sci-fi UFOlogy" and the things that are believed by believers alters accordingly...

But maybe receiving respect from people who do not have the intellectual faculties to evaluate what is deserving of respect doesn't actually bring actual "respectability"?

 

[JMartJr]

But maybe receiving respect from people who do not have the intellectual faculties to evaluate what is deserving of respect doesn't actually bring actual "respectability"?

Sadly, we may be becoming the outliers here with the fringe beliefs -- still right, but on the fringe of current thinking.

(I don't think it's really THAT bad yet. I could see it getting that bad, the way things are going.)

 

[MapperGuy]

This is what I meant. It is getting more popular and accepted.

I think it is evolving too. There is a more spiritual flavour these days. More mystic and less "nuts and bolts." Even cross-breeding with MAGA-Christianity into spacefaring demons in flying saucers. Plus they have to fit in the Skinwalkers and poltergeists.

The fundamental problem is that the WhistleBlowers promised us ALIENS, dead ones for sure and maybe LIVE ALIENS!
And they promised us Crashed UFO's, lots of them, huge ones hidden under buildings!

Where are they?

We have lots of fuzzy dots in the sky, but the BIG REVELATION still has not arrived. Eventually people are going to get tired of waiting.

 

[Ann K]

Sadly, we may be becoming the outliers here with the fringe beliefs -- still right, but on the fringe of current thinking.

(I don't think it's really THAT bad yet. I could see it getting that bad, the way things are going.)

No, I don't think so. There are a good many people that I personally know who may not have the scientific know-how to debunk the tales, but think they're too silly to take seriously. The fact that the UFO crowd are vocal doesn't mean they outnumber the non-believers. It simply isn't considered a respectable belief for thinking individuals.

Come to think of it, I can only think of one person I know who falls in the class of true believers, and it's not always easy to tell when she is being serious...

 

[Andreas]

No, I don't think so. There are a good many people that I personally know who may not have the scientific know-how to debunk the tales, but think they're too silly to take seriously. The fact that the UFO crowd are vocal doesn't mean they outnumber the non-believers. It simply isn't considered a respectable belief for thinking individuals.

Come to think of it, I can only think of one person I know who falls in the class of true believers, and it's not always easy to tell when she is being serious...

I think you're absolutely right. There's always been a relatively small group of people screaming about aliens, but most people simply don't care. And even most of the "believers" don't seem to care that much. Many people find the UAP circus kind of fun to read about, like watching a sci-fi movie, and it's perfect clickbait for the media.
But I wouldn't say that's the same thing as a majority of people being in the UFO crowd's camp.

 

[JMartJr]

No, I don't think so. There are a good many people that I personally know who may not have the scientific know-how to debunk the tales, but think they're too silly to take seriously. The fact that the UFO crowd are vocal doesn't mean they outnumber the non-believers. It simply isn't considered a respectable belief for thinking individuals.

Come to think of it, I can only think of one person I know who falls in the class of true believers, and it's not always easy to tell when she is being serious...

Knowing you to an extent, based on your posts here, I am open to the possibility that your circle of friends may be smarter and better informed than a random sample of the population! ^_^

(In reference to Ann
K's post quoted above)I think you're absolutely right. There's always been a relatively small group of people screaming about aliens, but most people simply don't care. And even most of the "believers" don't seem to care that much. Many people find the UAP circus kind of fun to read about, like watching a sci-fi movie, and it's perfect clickbait for the media.
But I wouldn't say that's the same thing as a majority of people being in the UFO crowd's camp.

I hope you are both right, but note (emphases added by yours truly):

From 2025 --

Close to half of all Americans think that the U.S. government is hiding information about the existence of unidentified flying objects, an exclusive NewsNation/Decision Desk HQ poll found.

The poll, which surveyed 521 Republicans, 559 Democrats, 349 independents and 18 "other" voters, found that 44% of Americans believe that the government is concealing UFO information, while 28% disagree and another 28% are unsure.

https://www.newsnationnow.com/polls/ufos-uap-americans-govt-evidence-poll/

A 2024 article --

30% of Americans believe UFOs, or unidentified flying objects, are probably alien ships or life forms; 45% believe they have some other explanation. Democrats are more likely than Republicans to believe UFOs are probably alien in origin (34% vs. 26%).

https://yougov.com/en-us/articles/53486-half-of-americans-believe-aliens-have-visited-earth

An older poll (2021) from Gallup --

Four in 10 Americans now think some UFOs that people have spotted have been alien spacecraft visiting Earth from other planets or galaxies. This is up from a third saying so two years ago. Half, however, believe all such sightings can be explained by human activity or natural phenomena, while an additional 9% are unsure.

https://news.gallup.com/poll/350096/americans-believe-ufos.aspx

Things believed by 30-45% of the population are not really "fringe beliefs." And I doubt that recent events are driving those numbers down! Though I'd agree that it is likely that most of the people believing these things do so casually, and do not think much about them as they go about their lives.

 

[NorCal Dave]

Things believed by 30-45% of the population are not really "fringe beliefs." And I doubt that recent events are driving those numbers down! Though I'd agree that it is likely that most of the people believing these things do so casually, and do not think much about them as they go about their lives.

Now hold on. First, as you say, many of these may be casual beliefs. If prompted to think about it, they may conclude, as what I would consider the more respectable Gallup poll says: "some UFOs...have been alien". It's not saying 40% in fact think UFOs are aliens, rather 40% think some might be when asked about it.

As for the News Nation poll, the UFO question seemed to be just a random one thrown into a very long poll. Respondents were asked a myriad of questions, mostly political in nature like Trump's performance in the first 100 days, tariffs, inflation, how they viewed Musk or Hegseth, Canadian Statehood(?), buying or annexing Greenland, war in Ukraine and then tossed in near the end, was "Do you believe the government is hiding information about the existence of UFOs?" Kind of vaguely worded, and more about the government hiding information, rather than absolute belief in aliens.

Honestly, the whole thing seemed like News Nation feeling out what people want to hear about or how they should cover things like Greenland or Hegseth. But, as they are the home of Ross Coulthart and their UFO reporting makes The Daily Mail look journalisticly responsible, they latched on to this 1 question from a long poll to create a headline. Complete poll here:

https://nexstartv-my.sharepoint.com...WZClAf49xvr3HfiYiSZLBjsf0y0?rtime=7HoK8UvC3kg

 

[boringrealit]

The fundamental problem is that the WhistleBlowers promised us ALIENS, dead ones for sure and maybe LIVE ALIENS!
And they promised us Crashed UFO's, lots of them, huge ones hidden under buildings!

Where are they?

We have lots of fuzzy dots in the sky, but the BIG REVELATION still has not arrived. Eventually people are going to get tired of waiting.

I'm not so sure. If there ever is a time to blame the government it would be now, with the Epstein-Cover Up and all Trump-nonsense. The distrust is at an alltime high. When WBers say "USG has crafts and bodies hidden away, it is a cover up!" people might interpret government's reluctance to release documents and material as part of the cover up. The videos that are being released does more harm than anything, because people rightfully distrust the governments so much that it just looks suspicious. It looks just like the Epstein Files and people will think that they are hiding the serious stuff here too.

So I think you are right, people will be tired of waiting, but not tired of the WBers but tired of the government's unfulfilled promises. Not just UFOs and Epstein, but everything from JFK, 911, Jan 6 to MKultra is being promised and then denied. As I said before, it is so badly handled that it looks almost intentional...

 

[John J.]

...but tired of the government's unfulfilled promises.

The relevant US government agencies (NASA, AARO, DoD/ DoW) haven't made any promises about revealing evidence of extraterrestrial life.
This is probably because they haven't got any.

They have made it clear they don't possess any material evidence (post #163, Origins of AAWSAP thread), and

NASA stated: "One of NASA's key priorities is the search for life elsewhere in the universe, but so far, NASA has not found any credible evidence of extraterrestrial life and there is no evidence that UAPs are extraterrestrial.

The current administration promised to make files about UAP- things that appear to be in the sky but which aren't definitively identified- public, and have done so. Nothing in the May 2026 releases is unambiguously (or perhaps even vaguely likely to be) evidence of ETI, but nobody in the know claimed it would be.

 

[Ann K]

Knowing you to an extent, based on your posts here, I am open to the possibility that your circle of friends may be smarter and better informed than a random sample of the population! ^_^

My friends are largely artists ...who, although skilled in that discipline, are not necessarily scientists, nor do they hang around boring others by chatting about the latest advances in physics. I'd imagine your circle of kite flyers includes a wide spectrum of opinions as well.

 

[Andreas]

Things believed by 30-45% of the population are not really "fringe beliefs." And I doubt that recent events are driving those numbers down! Though I'd agree that it is likely that most of the people believing these things do so casually, and do not think much about them as they go about their lives.

That's the thing, though. Except for a small group of people, belief (or possible belief) in alien visitations doesn't affect their lives. They're not afraid, and frankly, they're not even that curious about it. They're just thinking: "Yeah, I'm sure the government knows more than they're telling us, and space aliens visiting Earth seems like a reasonable idea."

But these people have real issues to worry about, and researching UFO reports isn't one of them. It's important to remember that many people know very little about space, astronomy, and the universe. A friend of mine was once asked by a taxi driver, "How do satellites manage to avoid the stars when traveling across the sky?" The driver was otherwise quite a clever man, but he just didn't give a rat's ass about space.

And for someone with that little interest in astronomy, it's easy to assume that interstellar travel isn't such a big issue. This is where scientists and government officials should step in. Sadly, however, it's the sensational claims that get the attention, making it appear as though it's a widely accepted belief among scientists and governments that extraterrestrials are visiting our planet. But empty vessels make the most noise, and no tabloid newspaper wants to publish an astronomer explaining why distance and time are such formidable obstacles. And debunkers are the boring people who are always ruining the fun.

It's no wonder that quite a few people would answer yes when asked whether aliens are visiting Earth. They read about it in some article, they haven't really thought about it, but spontaneously they say yes. That does not mean, however, that 40 percent of the population are potential paranormal investigators prepared to move into the annex at Skinwalker Ranch.

 

[Todd Feinman]

It's no wonder that quite a few people would answer yes when asked whether aliens are visiting Earth. They read about it in some article, they haven't really thought about it, but spontaneously they say yes. That does not mean, however, that 40 percent of the population are potential paranormal investigators prepared to move into the annex at Skinwalker Ranch.

I'd have to agree. People are quite good at compartmentalizing ideas and living with cognitive dissonance, and many are just trying to get through the week and suffering from serious stress. I think it is similar to how people think about nuclear weapons. There's nothing they can do about it, and it doesn't affect everyday life, for the vast number of people. This is actually a good thing, I've come to believe.
If unambiguous photographic evidence and data were to come to light, that would be convincing to many here, how do you think the public would react?

 

[John J.]

If unambiguous photographic evidence and data were to come to light, that would be convincing to many here, how do you think the public would react?

I think that would depend on the the nature of the evidence and the circumstances in which it arose.
If we're talking about isolated visual proof of a UFO being an ETI craft, in the absence of communication or serious physical impacts/ "retrievals":
It would be a historic event of immense scientific importance. There would be blanket media coverage, lots of people giving their opinions.
At least initially of great interest to many (less so amongst people in poorer nations), perhaps excitement in some, concern or even fear in others.
Depending on the circumstances perhaps a bit of partying by a few; at the fringes of society maybe exploitation by cults/ "survivalist" groups.
Probable angling for budget allocations by defense concerns, hopefully an increase in funding for some university science departments etc.

But the vast majority of us will still have to work to support ourselves and loved ones. Proof of ETI won't put food on the table.
Major religions will be largely unaffected, though perhaps with some doctrinal discussion behind closed doors. Evidence of ETI in itself won't settle any political disagreements, rivalry between nations or solve any injustices.