The Top 10 UFO News Stories of 2023
The year 2023 has been a thrilling up and down year for the UAP phenomenon. Public interest in the topic soared while there was a tremendous increase in both the volume of news reporting and the quality of news outlets willing to report of the topic. Polling on the phenomenon showed strong belief across the American public that the UAP phenomenon is worthy of study.
Here at the UAP News Center we posted over 2600 articles covering the UAP phenomenon and related topics. Here’s our top 10 UFO news stories of 2023.
#10 - AARO Puts Out its 2022 and 2023 UAP Reports
Having never previously delivered the congressionally mandated public UAP report, it’s understandable that the first edition of the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) UAP report for 2022 would come out a bit late, in early 2023. The report registered the number of UAP reports received to date by AARO (510) and the number still resolved (171). The bulk of the reports came from military aviators.
The media was delighted to carry this report as news. Across the media landscape there were hundreds of articles reporting on this first public reporting of UAPs by the U.S. government. By the time the 2023 report was delivered on October 18, the rote reporting of the number of UAP reports collected by AARO took on the tone of another mundane governmental report. Former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Intelligence Christopher Mellon noted in an analysis of the report “the report presents the bare minimum of information needed to comply with Congress’ request for an unclassified report.” None the less, it garnered attention from the media and helped to mainstream the UAP phenomenon.
#9 - The NASA UAP Study Team Announces Its Results
In 2022, NASA announced that they were going to conduct an initial study into the UAP phenomenon. The goal of the study was modest, to study publicly available data and draw a roadmap for future NASA UAP data analysis. In May of this year, the NASA team held a public meeting to discuss their findings. NASA recommended:
- NASA play a role in a whole-of-government effort to understand UAP
- NASA utilize its Earth-observing assets to search for UAP
- government use of sophisticated data analysis techniques, including artificial intelligence and machine learning coupled with systematic data gathering and robust curation.
The report results were predictable. The value of this report was in leveraging the NASA brand to destigmatize the topic, as was noted in the report. Additionally, there was a good deal of press around the process including reporting by most of the mainstream media. Stigma reduction and media exposure were the real wins provided by NASA.
#8 - The Media and Public Embrace the UAP Topic
Less noticed in the ebb and flow of the day-to-day news was the shifting public opinion toward the UAP topic. During the course of the year, the media increased the quantity of reporting of the topic. Meanwhile, polling showed the public is engaged and opinionated on the UAP topic.
Media outlets increase coverage of UAP
The year marked a continuation in two trends: An increase in the quantity of UAP coverage and an improvement in the quality of media outlet willing to cover the topic. This was apparent at the UAP News Center. In 2023 our UAP news search software turned up over 20% more material in the media than in the previous year. At the same time, there was a notable increase in articles from major media sources.
Several news outlets gave extensive coverage to the UAP topic this year. They include Fox News, The Hill, and News Nation. News Nation went so far as to add noted Australian investigative journalist and UFO researcher Ross Coulthart to their team as a special correspondent. Rear Admiral (ret.) Tim Gallaudet, penned an article in December noting these trends in media coverage.
Public Polling
There were at least 5 polls conducted on public opinion on the UAP phenomenon during the course of the year. Results indicate that the public is aware of and opinionated on the presence of alien life while being suspicious of the U.S. government on the topic:
- 53% of all those surveyed say they believe it is somewhat or very likely UFOs are related to “intelligent alien life.”
- 40% think aliens have visited earth in the last 50 years
- 34% Believe the U.S. government possesses “non-human origin technical vehicles,”
- 63% of American voters believe the government has more information on extraterrestrials then they admit.
#7 - 2024's First Congressional Hearing
On April 19th of this year, A Senate Subcommittee held a public hearing on the UAP topic. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) hosted the hearing. Then director of the DoD’s All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO), Dr. Sean Kirkpatrick gave testimony along with Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence & Security (USDI&S) Ronald Moultrie.
The two witnesses gave a fairly rote account of the data collected by AARO, such as the number of cases reported and resolved. They emphasized that there is no indication that any UAP is of extraterrestrial origin and committed to adhere to the scientific process.
Again, the main value of this exercise was that it garnered media coverage in the major media and helped to mainstream the UAP topic.
#6 - Shellenberger Corroborates Grusch’s Claims
On June 7, just a few days after The Debrief article telling of whistleblower David Grusch’s fantastic statements of crashed craft and dead alien bodies, Michael Shellenberger released an article validating some of Grusch’s claims.
Shellenberger, an investigative journalist and author did the legwork to validate Grusch’s claims stating in his media outlet Public:
“Multiple sources close to the matter have come forward to tell Public that Grusch’s core claims are accurate. The individuals are all either high-ranking intelligence officials, former intelligence officials, or individuals who we could verify were involved in U.S. government UAP efforts for three or more decades each.”
Grusch was not at that time cleared to speak about his personal firsthand experiences with the physical evidence, leaving room for the media to sow doubt as to his credibility. Shellenberg’s reporting was critical validation of Grusch’s whistleblower claims.
#5 - The Schumer-Rounds Amendment is Introduced
After the sensational disclosures of David Grusch became public in a June article in The Debrief, an effort was made to develop language that would ensure greater congressional visibility into the secretive activities of the government in the realm of UAP. This reslted in the Schumer-Rounds amendment to the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act.
The bill contained a number of very significant provisions that if passed would have ushered in a new era of Congressional awareness of UAP related Defense Department activities. The provisions included:
- Holders of “non-earth origin or exotic UAP material” were given 6 months to turn a list of the material over to the AARO
- Protections for whistleblowers of UAP related activities
- A funding ban for secret Special Access programs that don’t disclose their activities
The development of this amendment, passage in the Senate and sponsorship by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer indicate the seriousness with which our representatives take UAPs and governmental secrecy on the topic.
#4 - The Second Congressional Hearings
After the Grusch of June, Congress on July 26, moved forward with a second round of UAP related hearings. Unlike the first congressional hearing featuring government bureaucrats, the hearing featured former members of the military and intelligence community with knowledge of the UAP topic. Witnesses included former intelligence official Grusch, Ryan Graves a former Navy F-18 pilot and David Fravor a former Navy squadron commander who witnessed the 2004 USS Nimitz UFO incident. The hearing allowed the broader American public to hear for the first time Grush’s claims that the U.S. government holds both crashed craft of non-human origin and associated non-human bodies.
That the forum for Grush’s revelations was a televised Congressional hearing drove the UAP conversation and Grush’s statements about crashed craft and alien bodies into the mainstream media and onto the evening news.
#3 - Schumer-Rounds Provisions Gutted from the NDAA
Certainly the biggest disappointment of the year was the loss of most of the provisions of the Schumer-Rounds UAP Disclosure Act. When the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act went to conference in December, the negotiations between House and Senate versions of the bill resulted in the loss of major portions of the language that had passed the Senate. This included an independent Review Board with powers of subpoena and eminent domain.
Some attributed the changes to defense industry lobbying of key Republican lawmakers. But congressional UAP analyst Douglas Dean Johnson wrote that there was little if any evidence of such industry lobbying activity. According to Johnson, the major negative influence came from the Pentagon. That influence prevailed since no signs of support reached House Democrats from the White House, even on back channels. Schumer, in remarks on the Senate floor, said that the dilution of the language meant that “declassification of UAP records will be largely up to the same entities that blocked and obfuscated their disclosure for decades.” He made no reference to lobbying efforts.
That the forum for Grush’s revelations was a televised Congressional hearing drove the UAP conversation and Grush’s statements about crashed craft and alien bodies into the mainstream media and onto the evening news.
#2 - The Scientific Community Ramps Up Research on UAP
For years, knowledgeable UAP activists such as Luis Elizondo and Christopher Mellon have advocated for public facing research into UAP as the key to learning about the nature of the phenomenon.
This year the mainstream research community extended its efforts to study the UAP phenomenon. Harvard’s Galileo Project has undertaken a variety of efforts to capture data and analyze UAPs and interstellar material. Lead by theoretical physicist Avi Loeb, Galileo is progressing a number of interesting projects. Most publicized is the effort to recover and analyze fragments of an interstellar object from the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. However, Galileo has other projects as well such as the development and deployment of a massive package of sensing equipment to identify and track UAP activity on earth.
Additionally, Professor Garry Nolan of Stanford University has launched the SOL Foundation to focus on UAP related research. The Sol Foundation takes a more rounded approach to the UAP topic, “bringing together experts from academia and government to address the philosophical, policy, and scientific problems raised by the likely presence on the Earth of UAP.”
The inaugural symposium of the foundation was widely considered a success, with UAP knowledgeable scientists, researchers and policy makers such as Former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Intelligence Christopher Mellon, Harvard Professor of Astronomy Dr. Avi Loeb, and theoretical physicist Dr. Eric Davis speaking.
#1 - Leslie Kean and Ralph Blumenthal Break the David Grusch Story
In 2017, Leslie Kean and Ralph Blumenthal changed the narrative on the UFO topic with their seminal New York Times article breaking the story of the government AATIP UFO program. That article carried the UFO topic into the mainstream media, drew widespread interest to the topic and drove the conversation around the phenomenon and disclosure for years. This year, Kean and Blumenthal’s June 5th article in The Debrief telling whistleblower David Grusch’s story has been equally impactful.
Grusch’s intelligence career was impressive. He worked for the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) and the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO). He was the NRO’s representative to the UAP Task Force and did work for the NGA on UAP analysis. This made him extraordinarily well qualified to speak out as he did.
Grusch’s claim as reported in the article, was that the U.S. government had recovered multiple craft of non-human origin over decades. The sensational nature of the claim caused a large swath of the media to report on the story.
Much of the years subsequent UAP related activity resulted directly from or was aided by this article. More whistleblowers spoke to Congress due to Grusch’s bravery in speaking out. More politicians and other important people started speaking out on the topic. The impactful Schumer-Rounds legislation was in part developed as a result of Grusch coming forward and a second Congressional UAP hearing of the year was held, featuring Grusch as a witness.
Once again, with a single investigative reporting effort, Leslie Kean and Ralph Blumenthal drove the UAP narrative forward as few others have.
