On April 27 the Department of Defense issued a statement confirming the release of three videos showing US Navy jets chasing "unidentified aerial phenomena" -- that's the approved military term for what the public calls UFOs. The videos had been in the public domain for some time, but there was always a degree of doubt about them. The Pentagon statement made it official: Yes, the videos are genuine, and no, the DOD still doesn't know what these things are -- the official categorization is "unidentified".
The timing of the Pentagon's announcement drew a lot of comment. Why release these videos now, people asked, with the world's attention focused on the coronavirus? Was this a classic example of "a good day to bury bad news"? If that was the Pentagon's plan, it backfired badly. Perhaps because we've been so saturated with COVID-19 coverage, everyone was looking for something else. Far from being buried, the story made headlines all around the world.
