(MENAFN- Asia Times) Close encounters, are nothing new on the high seas.
In fact, in 2009, the Russian Navy declassified its records of Cold War UFO sightings.
It turns out, 50% of UFO encounters are connected with oceans, and 15% more, with lakes, a Russian officer explained in a report from Wired online .
'On several occasions the instruments gave reading of material objects moving at incredible speed,' a sub commander recalled.
'Calculations showed speeds of about 230 knots, or 400 km/h. Speeding so fast is a challenge even on the surface. But water resistance is much higher.
'It was like the objects defied the laws of physics. There's only one explanation: the creatures who built them far surpass us in development.'
In perhaps the most compelling account, military divers in Siberia's Lake Baikal, the world's deepest lake, encountered 'a group of humanoid creatures dressed in silvery suits' at a depth of 160 feet.
Three humans died during the ensuing chase, FOX News reported .
More recently, the New York Post reported that mysterious flying objects repeatedly harassed three US warships off the coast of California in 2019 — at one point matching the speed and bearing of one destroyer for 90 minutes.
The unidentified crafts, described in the ship's logs as 'Unmanned Aerial Vehicles,' buzzed three destroyers for several days, according to records obtained by The Drive through the US Freedom of Information Act.
As many as six of the drones swarmed around the USS Kidd, USS Rafael Peralta and USS John Finn over several days in July 2019, at times performing 'brazen' maneuvers, the report said.
'Kidd reported UAV overhead,' one of the ship log entries from July 14, 2019, reads.
'White light identified hovering over ships flight deck,' said another entry.
'Two UAV's spotted off the starboard wing,' the Rafael Peralta log read, followed by another entry six minutes later: 'Four UAV's spotted off the starboard bridge.'
The Navy vessels, which are equipped with sensors, radar, thermal imaging and electro-optical systems, were nonetheless unable to track the drones when they disappeared.
And it seems, the issue is not going away.
A leaked photo from the Pentagon shows a documented UFO in the air above the Atlantic ocean. Credit: Pixabay/Representational Image.
At a roundtable with reporters this week, Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Michael Gilday, the US Navy's top officer, was asked straight-up questions about the incidents.
The War Zone was the first to report in detail on this series of mysterious events after the incident was originally uncovered by filmmaker Dave Beaty.
Asked by Jeff Schogol of Task & Purpose if the Navy had positively identified any of the aircraft involved, Gilday responded by saying:
'No, we have not. I am aware of those sightings and as it's been reported there have been other sightings by aviators in the air and by other ships not only of the United States, but other nations – and of course other elements within the US joint force.'
'Those findings have been collected and they still are being analyzed,' Gilday added.
'I don't have anything new to report, Jeff, on what those findings have revealed thus far.
'But I will tell you we do have a well-established process in place across the joint force to collect that data and to get it to a separate repository for analysis.'
It is unclear if Admiral Gilday was referring to the Department of Defense's Navy-led Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force (UAPTF), created last August to examine 'incursions by unauthorized aircraft into our training ranges or designated airspace.'
A Senate-requested report on Unidentified Aerial Phenomena is expected later this year. Representatives from the UAPTF could not be reached for comment.
A preliminary response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) inquiries indicates that the Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI) possesses documents about the incident and that they are intermingled with records from several other agencies.
Schogol also asked if there was any suspicion that the aircraft described as drones were 'extraterrestrial.' Gilday responded, 'No, I can't speak to that — I have no indications at all of that.'
As many as six drones reportedly flew around the warships at a time in often low-visibility conditions near Southern California's Channel Islands over a number of days, with the drones flashing lights and prompting security precautions onboard, NBC News reported .
The drone flights took place near San Clemente Island, which is home to sensitive military facilities, including a Navy SEAL training site, the Navy's only ship-to-shore live firing range and an airfield.
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