Aliens or not? Harvard scientist Avi Loeb shares his thoughts on latest UFO files release

The U.S. Department of War released the sixth batch of UFO files under the Presidential Unsealing and Reporting System for UAP Encounters (PURSUE) on Friday, September 18. Containing several PDF files, videos, and one audio recording, this latest release spans more than seven decades (1952-2025). 

But do they really hint at extraterrestrial activity? Or are they just exaggerated interpretations of things we are all too familiar with? Avi Loeb, the chair of the newly formed UAP Science Advisory Council to the White House and director of Harvard University’s Galileo Project, shared his assessment of the reports on his Medium blog soon after the release.

As his first case study, Loeb takes a 1-minute video clip submitted by the United States Central Command to the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) last year. The footage, recorded in the Middle East by an infrared sensor aboard a U.S. military platform, shows “six small spherical objects grouped together” that were “frequently changing their direction.” Interestingly, the reporter estimated the speed of the objects to be a whopping 480 miles per hour.

Such speed alone is enough to discount a flock of birds as the UAP. Loeb entertains the possibility of them being a drone swarm but does so only momentarily, writing, "In that case, it represents extraordinary physical characteristics.” 

In an interaction with NewsNation, Loeb said that there aren’t any drones that can move that fast. Moreover, the drones flying in such a close formation as the UAP move at much slower speeds lest they collide with each other. Not to mention, drone clusters “can’t really communicate fast enough to move together at that speed.”

“Does this report imply some advanced drone technology in China or alien technology?” he asked in his blog.

Another video captured in 2023 by an infrared sensor on a U.S. military platform shows a glowing white orb making its way through thick clouds. Loeb sees the trail that it leaves behind in the clouds as proof that it’s an actual object and not a camera gimmick. As to what it was exactly, Loeb could not say.

U.S. Navy Warrant Officer Delber C. Newhouse observed and filmed similar airborne objects over Tremonton, Utah, all the way back in 1952 and reported the same to the U.S. Air Force. The footage, which also features in the latest UFO release, was picked up by Project Blue Book, the 1952-69 Air Force program that looked into UFOs. But it could not come to a definitive conclusion due to the lack of reference points. 

The release also contained an audio recording from 1952 of remarks made by Air Force officer Edward Ruppelt, who was the first director of the program. In the recording, Ruppelt was heard saying that about 20% of the 800 cases taken up by the Air Force in 1952 remained unexplained. The reports puzzled Loeb as well. “Project Blue Book reports about UAP that exceed the speed of sound by up to a factor of 5 without making a detectable sound,” he wrote. “Supersonic motions of this magnitude naturally result in a sonic boom.”

Loeb also drew attention to the documents related to the Advanced Aerospace Weapon System Applications Program (AAWSAP), which began in 2008. The Pentagon reportedly spent $22 million on the program so that it could look into UAPs before stopping the funding in 2012. He also points out that the latest batch marked the first time reports of physical injuries related to UAP encounters were released. 

But as "remarkable" as he found the revelations to be, Loeb didn't see them as undeniable proof of aliens.

“Despite these remarkable UAP disclosures, the Pentagon’s All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) maintains the view that while these files are labeled “unresolved” due to a lack of sufficient data, they have not found any verifiable evidence linking the above-mentioned incidents to alien technologies,” he wrote. “The UAP Science Advisory Council will do its best to uncover and analyze any such evidence if it exists.”