For years, UFO enthusiasts have excitedly shared three videos captured by US Navy pilots that show unidentified aerial phenomena. The videos, captured in November 2004 and twice in January 2015, were each publicly leaked a few years after their capture. They have been publicized on the History Channel and elsewhere.

On Monday, the US Department of Defense decided to officially release the three videos, which can be downloaded here. Before releasing the "Historical Navy Videos," the military determined that each did not reveal any "sensitive capabilities or systems," nor would releasing them "impinge on any subsequent investigations of military air space incursions" by unidentified objects.

"DOD is releasing the videos in order to clear up any misconceptions by the public on whether or not the footage that has been circulating was real, or whether or not there is more to the videos," the statement reads. "The aerial phenomena observed in the videos remain characterized as 'unidentified.'"

The videos themselves are intriguing but far from conclusive. Two of them contain audio from pilots that express their surprise, such as "Look at that thing, dude." "My gosh," one pilot says. "They're going against the wind. The wind is 120 knots."

The first video, encountered by pilots from the USS Nimitz off the coast of California in 2004, does not include audio.

These releases come amidst a resurgence of public interest in UFOs after the revelation in 2017 that the US government spent $22 million from 2007 to 2012 investigating unexplained aerial phenomena as part of the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program. The program's work remains murky, with no definitive conclusions. A Popular Mechanics article from February offers a good overview of the Pentagon's secret UFO program.

Whether the public release of these videos will spur more federal funding for UFO studies is not clear. Certainly, the videos are interesting—but they do not reveal any new evidence, in that they were already widely circulating. People who want to believe in aliens-among-us will continue to believe. Those of us who want to see more evidence will probably continue to wait.