The US has “scientific evidence” of unidentified flying objects thanks to the Pentagon’s secret UFO unit, the senator who set it up has said.

Harry Reid, a retired former Democratic Senator, succeeded in launching the Advanced Aviation Threat Identification Programme (AATIP) in 2007 after requesting initial funding for the project.

The unit, which the Department of Defence (DoD) insists was terminated in 2012, produced documents that described sightings of aircraft that travelled at extremely high speeds with no visible signs of propulsion.

“If this movement took place in anything we now have available to us, it would kill everybody,” Mr Reid told Las Vegas news channel KLAS Channel 8, in reference to reported encounters with UFOs. They couldn’t withstand those g-forces. Something sitting there, ‘whoom’, down it goes.”

Previously classified footage released by the DoD showed US fighter jet pilots as they tracked an unidentified aerial object gliding above the Pacific ocean in 2004. The object had been detected appearing suddenly at 80,000 feet by the USS Princeton, a naval cruiser, which had been tracking mysterious aircraft for two weeks.

Commander David Fravor told The New York Times the object was about 40ft long, had no plumes, wings or rotors, and outpaced their F-18s. It was big enough to churn the sea 50ft below it, he said.

“I have no idea what I saw ... It accelerated like nothing I’ve ever seen,” he added, admitting he was “pretty weirded out”.

Revealed: eerie UFO sightings recorded in MoD files Show all 17 1 /17 Revealed: eerie UFO sightings recorded in MoD files Revealed: eerie UFO sightings recorded in MoD files Undated National Archives handout image of a drawing and description of a UFO sighting over Knutsford, Cheshire, one of the previously top-secret files released by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) National Archives/PA Wire Revealed: eerie UFO sightings recorded in MoD files Undated National Archives handout image of a drawing and description of a UFO sighting over Cornwall, West Yorkshire, one of the previously top-secret files released by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) National Archives/PA Wire Revealed: eerie UFO sightings recorded in MoD files Undated National Archives handout image of a drawing and description of a UFO sighting over Wakefield, West Yorkshire, one of the previously top-secret files released by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) today The National Archives/PA Wire Revealed: eerie UFO sightings recorded in MoD files Undated National Archives handout image of a drawing of a Toblerone shaped UFO, one of the previously top-secret files released by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) today National Archives/PA Wire Revealed: eerie UFO sightings recorded in MoD files Undated National Archives handout image of a drawing and description of a UFO sighting over Llandudno, one of the previously top-secret files released by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) The National Archives/PA Wire Revealed: eerie UFO sightings recorded in MoD files Undated National Archives handout image of a drawing and description of a UFO sighting over Malmesbury, one of the previously top-secret files released by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) today The National Archives/PA Wire Revealed: eerie UFO sightings recorded in MoD files Undated National Archives handout image of a drawing and description of a UFO sighting over Smethwick in the West Midlands, one of the previously top-secret files released by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) National Archives/PA Wire Revealed: eerie UFO sightings recorded in MoD files Undated National Archives handout image of a drawing and description of a UFO sighting over Highbury PA Revealed: eerie UFO sightings recorded in MoD files Undated National Archives handout image of a drawing and description of a sighting of a UFO sucking up water PA Revealed: eerie UFO sightings recorded in MoD files Undated National Archives handout image of a drawing and description of a UFO sighting over Wakefield, West Yorkshire PA Revealed: eerie UFO sightings recorded in MoD files Undated National Archives handout image of a drawing and description of a UFO sighting over Colsterworth in Lincolnshire Revealed: eerie UFO sightings recorded in MoD files Undated National Archives handout image of a drawing and description of a UFO sighting over Watford PA Revealed: eerie UFO sightings recorded in MoD files Undated National Archives handout image of a drawing and description of a UFO sighting over Smethwick in the West Midlands PA Revealed: eerie UFO sightings recorded in MoD files Undated National Archives handout image of a drawing and description of a UFO sighting over Smethwick, West Yorkshire PA Revealed: eerie UFO sightings recorded in MoD files Undated National Archives handout image of a drawing and description of a UFO sighting over France PA Revealed: eerie UFO sightings recorded in MoD files Undated National Archives handout image of a drawing and description of a UFO sighting over France PA Revealed: eerie UFO sightings recorded in MoD files A drawing of a UFO sighting from a flight out of Heathrow airport PA

Mr Reid said countries including China, Russia and Japan were already taking UFOs seriously, and that it was important the US did the same. Asked if he was glad the revelations had been made public, Mr Reid responded: “I’m very glad, because now we have scientific evidence.”

KLAS Channel 8 reported Mr Reid had told them one factor in the shutting down of AATIP was intelligence officials’ fears the findings would end up on the front page of a newspaper. He also said some officials had religious objections to the unit.

Most of the $22m (£15m) funding for the research went to an aerospace research company run by a billionaire and friend of Mr Reid’s, Robert Bigelow. Mr Bigelow has said he is “absolutely convinced” UFOs have visited Earth.