US military 'made up' UFOs to hide its advanced stealth weapons, report finds

A report claims the U.S. Military faked UFO images for decades. (Image: Getty)

The US military spent decades spreading fake UFO myths, including staged photos, to hide classified weapons programs, according to a Department of Defense review.

The armed forces even founded a fictitious alien-hunting unit, dubbed 'Yankee Blue', to which it inducted a dozen recruits as part of a hazing ritual.

Yankee Blue candidates would be sworn to secrecy before enrolling into the fake program in an attempt to 'reverse-engineer alien aircraft'.

Misinformation was also released to the public, with one such example includes an Air Force colonel who, during the 1980s, handed fake photos of flying saucers to a bar owner near the infamous top-secret Area 51 base in Nevada.

The military chief later admitted to Pentagon investigators in 2023 that he did so under official orders to deflect attention away from the then-classified F-117 Nighthawk stealth fighter.

Communities close to testing tests, such as Area 51, were targeted with misinformation. (Image: Getty)

The All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) published the report after being commissioned to sift through decades of military records and claims of UFOs.

Investigators noticed many apparent UFO sightings would be sightings of drones, rockets, birds or, in some rare cases, misidentified experimental space, rocket or air systems in use.

"These episodes reveal how secrecy and misinformation, even when well-intentioned, can spiral into myth," asserted former AARO director, Sean Kirkpatrick.

Kirkpatrick told the Wall Street Journal that many prevalent conspiracy theories can be traced to efforts by the US military to obscure weaknesses or capabilities from adversaries.

AARO found that, though the full scope of disinformation programs remains classified, much of the alleged extraterrestrial sightings could be traced back to the US Government itself.

It also documents that several prominent UFO sightings were purposely staged to mislead the world about advanced weapons in the military's possession.

The full contents of the investigation are yet to be released. (Image: Getty)

This included forging images and stories across local communities near testing sites such as Area 51. Other examples mentioned in the report detail how the Pentagon used the myths as "camouflage" while disinformation helped hide the testing of advanced equipment like stealth jets.

The Wall Street Journal concluded that the investigation turned up no evidence of the existence of extraterrestrial beings, other world crafts or attempts to cover up such findings, but added the report had “omitted key facts... both to protect classified secrets and to avoid embarrassment."

The Pentagon has pledged to publish a follow-up report later this year with further details on the disinformation programs as it is not yet known if orders were made from a centralised source or local officers.

Kirkpatrick added that not all findings from the review have been made public, but promised more details in a forthcoming report.