A US government report released Friday said it could not determine the nature of unidentified aerial sightings because there was not enough data to study each of them.

A US official said it was not their duty to determine whether the sightings were of extraterrestrial origin. The report has laid down probable categories to study the sightings.

What did the report say?

The nine-page report, which takes into account 144 "unidentified aerial phenomenon," said there were probably multiple types of these phenomena which required individual explanation.

Since it didn't have high-quality reporting on the incidents, researchers were unable to draw firm conclusions.

The report is a preliminary assessment which was compiled by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence in conjunction with a Navy-led task force created by Pentagon last year. 

It largely steered clear from mentioning extraterrestrial life.

What are the specifics?

Researchers could explain only one of 144 UFO sightings between 2004 and 2021. It said the incident could be attributed to a large, deflating balloon.

These incidents are typically reported by government personnel during training activities. 

The report also said that a system was being developed so each of the incidents could be reported in a standardized manner. Once resolved, the incidents may be attributed to either man-made or natural phenomena. It said they may also be categorized as technologies deployed by an adversarial nation, like China or Russia.

Have there been other reports?

The US Air Force had conducted a previous investigation called Project Blue Book between 1947 and 1969. The report recorded a total of 12,618 sightings, 701 of which involved objects that officially remained "unidentified."

In 1994, the Air Force had completed a study to locate records relating to the 1947 "Roswell incident" in New Mexico, which had become the center of conspiracy theories related to UFO sightings. Officials ruled that the materials discovered were of a crash balloon and there were no records to show alien or extraterrestrial life.

rm/sri (AFP, Reuters)