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How have governments and scientists investigated UFO sightings?

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Governments and scientists have investigated UFO sightings through various projects and studies. Project Blue Book, run by the U.S. Air Force from 1952 to 1969, recorded more than 12,000 sightings, of which 701 remained “unidentified.” The CIA created the Robertson Panel in 1953 to review UFO sightings.

A more recent government-funded study, the Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force, was launched in 2020 by the U.S. Department of Defense. Some countries, such as the United States, the former Soviet Union, and China, have used UFO sightings as cover for secret military tests.