Two years ago Sunday, the New York Times broke the stunning story of a secret Pentagon program to study unidentified flying objects. That story led me to delve into this strange world. I've learned some interesting stuff about UFOs ("unidentified aerial phenomena," or "UAP," as the Pentagon refers to them) since then. But there's one problem.

The United States government makes it very hard to figure out what and where UFO-related stuff is going on.

Is that because the government is behind some great conspiracy to cover up the proof of alien visitation to Earth? Is it because the government is in cahoots with alien species to create human-alien hybrids?

Perhaps, but I suspect not.

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What I believe is really going on here is that the few individuals in the U.S. government who know about this issue believe the phenomena might be a threat. And that they don't know how to deal with it.

So, what informs the government's fear?

Well, first off, the nuclear issue.

If you ask a Pentagon representative about a specific UFO incident, as I did most recently last week, you'll get a boring response like: "Our aviators train as they fight. Any intrusions that may compromise the security of our operations, tactics, or procedures is of great concern. As the investigation of unidentified aerial phenomena sightings is ongoing, we will not discuss individual sighting reports or observations."

By "aviators," the Pentagon is referencing the particular frequency with which UFOs tend to interact with U.S. naval aviators operating off aircraft carriers. But what the Pentagon is leaving out is why the UFOs tend to run into those naval aviators. And that cuts to the heart of why the Pentagon is concerned about UFOs.

Because the government's assessment, though they won't admit it, is that the UFOs are popping up near the aircraft carriers due to those carriers being nuclear-powered. Note also that UFOs also like to pop up near nuclear submarines and Air Force nuclear weapons bases. Now recognize that this paradigm has been occurring since the Manhattan Project operations at Los Alamos, New Mexico, and also at nuclear sites in the Soviet Union and Russia.

Oh, and as Robert Hastings documents, these UFOs have sometimes even temporarily shut down U.S. nuclear weapons systems. Interesting, right?

Now recall what I just said: The modern UFO phenomena really gets going at exactly the same time as the Manhattan Project. Has humanity's perfection of nuclear energy piqued someone or something's curiosity in us?

Don't get me wrong.

This isn't to say that these UFOs are hostile (although it must be noted that the diverging shapes, behaviors, and capability patterns of UFOs suggest more than one originating source). On the contrary, UFOs appear to be quite friendly, except when rather ill-advised Russian aircrews attempt to engage them.

But pretend you're a senior military or intelligence officer.

You see the nuclear connection point, and you're struck by something odd going on. Now, add to the nuclear issue that some UFOs are intelligently operated machines capable of instantaneously reaching hypersonic speeds. Oh, and that they're also anti-gravity and invisibility capable, and they have been tracked moving in and out of Earth orbit, the atmosphere, and underwater. Suddenly, you have something that is making the U.S. military's most advanced capabilities, and those of every other military on Earth, look like an absurd joke in comparison.

You're left with an unpleasant conclusion: If whatever is controlling these things intends harm, we don't have a chance.

Again, put yourself in the military officer's shoes. Something has repeatedly shown it can easily find carrier strike groups, which are designed and operated to be hidden in the far oceans, and to find nuclear ballistic missile submarines running near totally silent deep under the water. Something can penetrate the most securely guarded areas of the most important areas in the U.S. military and render our most critical deterrent platforms improbable. For Pentagon planners, this is Armageddon-level stuff.

But the truth is clear: If it wanted to, something strange could defeat America without raising a sweat.

The extension is that even if the U.S. government believes, as it does, that these UFOs aren't Chinese or Russian, publicizing the issue itself risks another danger. Namely, that if the U.S. shares what it knows about UFOs, China or Russia (the Russian government has long been very interested in UFOs) might learn enough to replicate the associated technologies behind UFOs for themselves. And seeing as those technologies are almost certainly built around space-time manipulation, if Beijing or Moscow figures it out before the U.S. does, we have a rather large problem.

This isn't to say that the U.S. government is sitting idle. Whatever one thinks about the claims of those such as Bob Lazar, who says he worked on crashed UFOs at Area 51, and I'm not convinced of his story, civilian and military government agencies retain active programs to ascertain the source, capabilities, and intent of UFOs. Indeed, at least some material from crashed UFOs is in U.S. government possession.

Just don't count on the military to share more of what it knows anytime soon. Their understanding of the phenomena and professional instincts weigh heavily toward more secrecy.

What of the politicians?

President Trump has admitted he has been briefed on UFOs, and Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama likely were too. Interestingly, when asked about it, both former presidents jump to joking nondenials. But seeing as they have few good answers, they likely believe there's no point in scaring folks and scarring social norms absent a solution.

Where does this leave us?

We'll need to keep pushing the issue. But also with confidence. It will take time, but we'll get to the truth eventually. After all, the UFOs keep popping up. And considering their ability to cloak, there's only one obvious answer as to why they let themselves be seen.

At least sometimes, they want to be seen.