Pentagon to launch new unit to study UFOs

ANKARA

The US Department of Defense announced Wednesday it is forming a new group to study UFO sightings to assess threats to safety of flight and national security.

The Airborne Object Identification and Management Synchronization Group (AOIMSG) will synchronize efforts across the Department of Defense and the broader US government to detect, identify and attribute objects of interests, it said in a statement.

The group will succeed the US Navy’s Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force.

An Airborne Object Identification and Management Executive Council (AOIMEXEC), which will be comprised of the Defense Department and intelligence community membership, will provide oversight to the AOIMSG.

"Incursions by any airborne object into our SUA [Special Use Airspace] pose safety of flight and operations security concerns, and may pose national security challenges," Department of Defense said in a statement.

Pentagon said it takes reports of such incursions, by any airborne object, identified or unidentified, "very seriously" and it investigates each one.