UFO vs. UAP: What Are the Similarities and Differences?

Unidentified flying objects (UFOs) and unidentified aerial phenomena (UAPs) are often interchanged because they refer to the same thing. However, they also have differences.

UFO vs. UAP

Since the late 1940s, UFOs have captivated the attention of the country and served as the impetus for conspiracy theories and beliefs of extraterrestrial life beyond Earth.

In 1947, the UFO mania hit the country when pilot Kenneth Arnold reported seeing bright, indiscernible objects flying in the sky close to Mount Rainier in Washington in June of that year. A few weeks later, a local rancher in Roswell, New Mexico, discovered odd debris on his property, leading the military to declare they had found a "flying disc."

Conspiracy theorists asserted decades later that the government concealed the Roswell disc incident and that it was a UFO.

"I think there's always this anticipation of, did something really happen in Roswell, and are there really extraterrestrial beings," said Juanita Jennings, Roswell's public affairs specialist.

The United States introduced the term "UFO" to the global language. Air Force in 1952, merely five years after the sighting of Roswell, as stated by USA Today.

Since then, the idea that there is alien or extraterrestrial life beyond Earth has been linked to UFO sightings. According to HowStuffWorks, people have given such flying objects a variety of titles, including "flying saucers," "hovering lights," and "floating discs."

It's crucial to remember, though, that UFO sightings don't always indicate extraterrestrial visitors. Other objects in the sky, like weather balloons or drones, can also be called UFOs.

Meanwhile, UAP is used to describe more than simply unknown flying objects. It also describes unexplained views of the sky. Though relatively new, the word has gained traction among officials, researchers, and studies when addressing sensitive material related to possible sightings of UFOs or UAPs.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration created the UAP acronym for sky sightings inconsistent with any recognized object or phenomenon.

Government authorities started using UAPs instead of UFOs in 2021 to quiet some conspiracy theories that were inundating the public, even though both acronyms refer to the same unexplained incidents recorded in the sky.

The problem with employing UFOs is that most people associate them with extraterrestrials or aliens. Eliminating the connotations associated with the name "UFO" is the aim of adopting the term "UAPs."

ALSO READ: NASA, CIA Investigate Man From North Carolina Who Claims To Encounter Extraterrestrials With Red Eyes, Receive Regular Visits From Glowing Orbs

AARO Denies Hiding Alien Technology

The All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO), a government office dedicated to looking out for "anomalous, unidentified space, airborne, submerged, and transmedia objects" and mitigating risks related to them, released the results of its investigation about UAPs earlier this month.

Per the report, no evidence exists that any official review panel, university-sponsored study, or US government inquiry has concluded that any observation of an unexplained abnormal phenomenon (UAP) constitutes proof of alien technology.

Based on all the material available thus far, AARO has concluded that the assertions about certain individuals, known places, technological experiments, and papers purportedly related to or involved in the reverse engineering of extraterrestrial technology are untrue.

They released the report in response to the deluge of allegations and reports that the US government was working on reverse-engineering alien technology.

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Check out more news and information on UAP in Science Times.