Could A Massive Public UFO Database Eventually Help Explain Mysterious Sightings?

Soon after clicking around America’s new online database containing hundreds of thousands of historical UFO records, you may begin to wonder why the government has spent a lot of time and taxpayer dollars collecting data on a phenomenon that it doesn’t seem to believe in.

As a casual observer taking a quick look at the database—an ongoing project of the National Archives, the government’s repository of historical documents—you’ll see many images of fake-looking flying saucers. You’ll hear recordings of military personnel talking at length about various sightings, concluding that there was no credible evidence that what was observed was a UFO. You’ll find a ton of grainy images and films of bright dots in the sky, as well as black-and-white 20th-century newsreel footage.