UFOs: What We Know and What We Don’t Know

 

The subject of unidentified flying objects, now more commonly referred to by the U.S. government as unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP), presents an important lesson in the distinction between observation and conclusion. An object can be observed, recorded by military sensors, and officially classified as unidentified without this establishing what the object actually is. The fact that something remains unidentified means that the available evidence has not yet produced a satisfactory identification; it does not, by itself, establish an extraterrestrial origin, a secret human technology, or a violation of the laws of physics. Understanding this distinction is especially important when examining UFO evidence because the subject often involves genuinely unexplained observations alongside conclusions that go considerably beyond what the evidence demonstrates.

 

In 2020, the U.S. Department of Defense officially released three Navy videos that had previously circulated publicly. The Department confirmed that the videos were authentic Navy recordings and stated that the phenomena depicted in them remained unidentified. This was significant because it established that the footage itself was genuine rather than fabricated. It did not, however, establish that the objects were extraterrestrial or that they possessed technology beyond the capabilities of humanity.

 

The distinction becomes even more important when considering claims about the apparent movements of some UAP. Reports of objects appearing to accelerate rapidly, change direction, or behave in ways that seem inconsistent with known aircraft can certainly justify further investigation. However, an apparent violation of physics is not the same thing as a demonstrated violation of physics. The interpretation of sensor data can be affected by perspective, distance, atmospheric conditions, camera movement, tracking limitations, and incomplete information. NASA has likewise emphasized that the limited amount of high-quality data available for many UAP observations makes firm scientific conclusions difficult.

 

This is why the word unidentified is so important. It describes the state of our knowledge rather than the nature of the object. If an observation cannot presently be identified as an aircraft, balloon, natural phenomenon, sensor artifact, or some other known explanation, it remains unidentified. That is a legitimate scientific finding, but it is not yet an explanation.

 

The issue has become even more significant under the current Trump administration. In February 2026, President Donald Trump directed the government to begin identifying and releasing government files concerning extraterrestrial life, UAP, UFOs, and related matters. The Department of War subsequently established the Presidential Unsealing and Reporting System for UAP Encounters (PURSUE) to make records available to the public.

 

The most recent release as of August 19, 2026, is Release 05, made public on August 7, 2026. According to the Department of War, this release contains approximately 130 MB of documents and 513 MB of videos. Among the newly released records are a 1953 analysis of unidentified-object films, FBI records concerning reported triangular objects, and several unresolved UAP reports, including multiple reports from the Gulf of Oman dating to 2021.

 

The releases are noteworthy because they demonstrate that the U.S. government has accumulated and investigated reports of unusual aerial phenomena over many decades. They also make previously unavailable records accessible for independent examination. But the existence of these records should not be confused with evidence that their subjects are extraterrestrial. In fact, the government's historical investigations have repeatedly found that many reports can ultimately be explained by ordinary objects, natural phenomena, optical effects, or misidentification, while other cases remain unresolved because the available information is insufficient.

 

This brings us to an important question: what can we actually say about UFOs based on the evidence available today?

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What We Currently Know

• UAP sightings are real observations. Government personnel, military pilots, civilians, and other observers have reported unusual objects or phenomena in the sky, and some observations have been recorded by military sensors.
• Some officially released military footage is authentic. The Department of Defense confirmed that three widely circulated Navy videos were genuine military recordings. The phenomena depicted remained unidentified at the time of release.
• The U.S. government has investigated UAP for decades. The newly released PURSUE records include historical documents from government agencies dating back to the 1940s and 1950s, as well as more recent reports.
• The Trump administration has substantially expanded public access to government UAP records. Five PURSUE releases had been made public by August 7, 2026, with the latest release containing hundreds of megabytes of documents and videos.
• Many UAP reports eventually receive ordinary explanations. Government investigations have found that a large proportion of historical reports were attributable to ordinary objects, natural phenomena, optical effects, or misidentification.
• Some cases remain unresolved. An unresolved case means that investigators have not been able to determine what was observed from the available evidence. AARO has acknowledged that many reports remain unsolved.

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What We Still Do Not Know

• We do not know the ultimate explanation for every UAP report. Some observations remain unidentified because there is insufficient information to determine what produced them.
• We do not know whether any UAP have an extraterrestrial origin. NASA states that it has found no credible evidence of extraterrestrial life and no evidence that UAP are extraterrestrial.
• We do not know whether any UAP represent technology more advanced than publicly known human technology. An unusual appearance or movement does not, by itself, establish the technological capabilities of an object.
• We do not know whether any apparent extraordinary movements actually represent violations of known physics. Before such a conclusion could be justified, the observations would require sufficiently precise measurements that eliminate alternative explanations such as perspective, sensor limitations, and incomplete information.
• We do not know the explanation for every newly released record. The Trump administration's releases contain records explicitly categorized as unresolved, meaning that their publication provides additional evidence for investigation rather than automatically providing an explanation.
• We do not know whether humanity has encountered an intelligent non-human civilization. There is currently no publicly verified evidence establishing this conclusion. AARO has reported that it has found no verifiable evidence that UAP sightings represented extraterrestrial activity or that the U.S. government or private industry possesses extraterrestrial technology.

The evidence therefore leaves us with a genuinely interesting mystery, but it also requires intellectual discipline. It is reasonable to say that some UAP observations remain unexplained. It is reasonable to ask whether some of them could eventually reveal phenomena or technologies that are currently unknown to us. It is not reasonable, however, to treat the word unidentified as synonymous with extraterrestrial.

 

There are several possible explanations for an unexplained observation. It could represent an ordinary object that has not yet been recognized, an unusual natural phenomenon, a technological device, a sensor or observational artifact, or something genuinely new to science. Extraterrestrial technology is one hypothesis that can be considered, but the evidence currently available does not allow it to be established as the conclusion.

 

The correct response to an unexplained observation is not to immediately replace the unknown with a preferred explanation. The correct response is to investigate the observation, gather better evidence, eliminate competing explanations, and remain willing to revise the conclusion as new evidence becomes available. NASA's approach to UAP reflects this principle: the agency has emphasized improving the quality of available data so that future observations can be studied scientifically.

 

The government's continuing release of UAP records is therefore valuable regardless of what their ultimate explanation turns out to be. Transparency gives independent investigators access to evidence that can be examined rather than merely discussed. The newly released records may eventually help resolve some mysteries, while others may remain unanswered.

 

The most intellectually honest conclusion at present is neither that UFOs have been proven to be extraterrestrial spacecraft nor that every unexplained sighting has already been explained. What we can establish is that unidentified phenomena have been observed, that some government-recorded observations are authentic, that governments have investigated such reports for decades, and that a portion of the cases remain unresolved. What we cannot yet establish is what every unidentified object actually represents.

 

An unexplained phenomenon is not necessarily evidence of aliens—but neither is an unexplained phenomenon something that should simply be dismissed. The appropriate response to an unanswered question is to continue investigating it. As additional evidence becomes available, our understanding should change accordingly. That willingness to distinguish what we know from what we merely infer is ultimately more important than any particular conclusion about UFOs.

© 2026 Hazon, Nir

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The Placebo Effect is Evidence of the Innate Healing Abilities of the Mind

The placebo effect provides important evidence that the mind can influence the way we experience health, illness, and recovery. In medical and psychological research, a placebo is an inactive treatment that resembles an actual treatment but does not contain the active ingredient being tested. When participants receive a placebo, some nevertheless experience an improvement in their symptoms. This phenomenon demonstrates that a person's expectations, beliefs, and experiences surrounding treatment can produce measurable changes in their condition.

 

The placebo effect is especially significant because it shows that improvement does not always depend solely on the active chemical or physical properties of a treatment. In some circumstances, the expectation that a treatment will help can itself contribute to an improvement in symptoms. Research on mental disorders has found placebo-associated improvements in conditions including depression and anxiety, although the size of the effect varies considerably between disorders and studies.

This does not mean that an inactive substance is equivalent to an effective medical treatment, nor does it mean that every illness can be overcome simply by believing that one is being treated. The placebo response can involve several factors, including expectations, the interaction between a patient and a healthcare provider, changes that naturally occur over time, and other psychological and physiological processes. Nevertheless, the phenomenon demonstrates something important: the mind is capable of influencing the body's experience of illness and the process of recovery.

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Recent Advancements in Placebo Research

Placebo research has increasingly provided evidence that the effects associated with expectation are connected to measurable processes within the nervous system. In 2024, researchers identified a neural pathway involved in placebo-induced pain relief. In an experiment conducted on mice, manipulating this pathway was associated with changes in pain-related responses, providing evidence that placebo-related effects can involve specific biological mechanisms in the brain and nervous system.

 

This research is significant because it demonstrates that the effects associated with expectation are not necessarily imaginary or purely conceptual. Psychological experiences can be accompanied by measurable biological changes. The relationship between the mind and the body is therefore more interconnected than a simple distinction between psychological and physical processes might suggest.

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Our Natural Capacity for Self-Healing

The placebo effect is one example of the broader capacity of the human mind to influence our well-being. Our thoughts, attention, expectations, emotions, and behaviors can all affect the way we experience distress and respond to difficult circumstances.

One way of reducing distress is to deliberately shift our attention toward experiences that provide meaning, enjoyment, accomplishment, or a sense of reward. Another is to identify the underlying causes of our suffering and address them when they are within our ability to change. These approaches do not guarantee that every form of psychological suffering will disappear, but they can provide practical ways of influencing our mental state.

 

There are also practices that require sustained effort and self-awareness. The traditions of Eastern psychology, including Buddhist practices, place considerable emphasis on observing the mind and developing greater awareness of one's thoughts, intentions, emotions, and actions. Through consistent practice, a person can learn to recognize mental patterns more clearly and develop greater control over how they respond to their experiences.

The deeper lesson of the placebo effect is therefore not that we can simply think ourselves healthy. Rather, it is that the mind and body are deeply interconnected, and the mental processes through which we interpret and respond to our experiences can have real effects on our well-being.

 

Understanding this relationship gives us reason to take our own mental processes seriously. Our thoughts and expectations are not necessarily powerless observers of our physical and psychological condition. They can participate in the processes through which we experience symptoms, respond to treatment, and move toward recovery.

 

The placebo effect provides evidence that the mind has a natural capacity to influence healing and well-being.

© 2026 Hazon, Nir

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How Much Can We Trust the History We Are Taught?

We have all heard the saying, “History is written by the winners.” Regardless of how literally we interpret this statement, it is worth keeping in mind when examining the history we are taught. The history presented to us in schools, textbooks, documentaries, and online sources is based upon the evidence that has been preserved and the conclusions that historians have drawn from that evidence. Because of this, we should not assume that every historical account we are taught is necessarily complete or beyond question.

 

There are certainly historical facts that are supported by an enormous amount of evidence. However, there are also historical claims for which the available evidence may be incomplete, contradictory, or subject to interpretation. When this occurs, we should be willing to examine the evidence for ourselves rather than accepting the prevailing narrative simply because it is the narrative that has been taught to us.

 

The death of Adolf Hitler provides an interesting example of this principle. If we read a public-school history textbook or search online for information about Hitler's death, we will find that the accepted historical account is that he committed suicide in his bunker in Berlin in 1945. This account has been supported by eyewitness testimony and, most significantly, by forensic examination of his dental remains.

 

Nevertheless, there have also been historical circumstances and pieces of evidence that raise questions about how confidently we should approach the subject. Following the fall of Berlin, there were reports that Hitler had survived and escaped Europe. The FBI investigated some of these reports, and its later-released files contain numerous documents concerning allegations that Hitler had escaped to South America.

 

One FBI document dated September 21, 1945, for example, contains a report alleging that Hitler had arrived in Argentina accompanied by other individuals. The existence of this document does not, by itself, establish that the report was true, but its existence is nevertheless historically significant because it demonstrates that allegations of Hitler's survival were being investigated by American authorities shortly after the war.

 

There is also another intriguing piece of evidence concerning the physical remains attributed to Hitler. In 2009, DNA testing of a skull fragment held in Russian archives found that the fragment belonged to a woman rather than to Hitler. The discovery received considerable attention because the fragment had long been presented as part of Hitler's remains.

 

This does not necessarily settle the larger question of what happened to Hitler, because other physical evidence has been used to identify his remains, particularly his dental remains. Nevertheless, it demonstrates something important about the way historical knowledge develops: even evidence that has been accepted for decades can later be questioned when new examination produces unexpected results.

 

This is where the question of our historical education becomes important. If a piece of evidence presented to us as historical fact can later be discovered to have been incorrectly identified, then we should be careful about treating every historical claim as equally certain. Historical knowledge should be evaluated according to the quality of the evidence supporting it.

 

The purpose of skepticism is not to automatically reject the history we have been taught. Rather, skepticism allows us to ask whether the evidence actually justifies the confidence with which a historical claim is presented. We should be willing to ask questions such as: What evidence supports this conclusion? Are there conflicting pieces of evidence? Were alternative explanations investigated? Has the evidence been independently examined? And has new information emerged that should cause us to reconsider the conclusion?

 

There is an important difference between questioning a historical claim and rejecting it. We can recognize that the evidence supporting a historical conclusion is strong while still acknowledging that historical knowledge is based upon evidence that can be examined, challenged, and refined. Likewise, discovering evidence that raises questions does not automatically prove an alternative explanation.

 

This distinction is especially important because history is often presented to the public in a simplified form. Textbooks must condense enormous amounts of historical information into relatively small amounts of material. As a result, students are often presented with conclusions without being shown all of the evidence, competing interpretations, or uncertainties that historians encountered while reaching those conclusions.

 

The solution is not to distrust historians or to assume that our education is deliberately manipulating us. The solution is to develop the habit of examining historical claims rationally. We should neither believe something simply because an institution teaches it nor reject something simply because someone has presented an alternative theory.

Instead, we should ask how much confidence the evidence deserves.

 

The saying “history is written by the winners” should therefore serve as a reminder to remain intellectually independent. The history we learn may contain many truths, but our understanding of those truths is ultimately dependent upon evidence and interpretation. When evidence changes, our understanding may change with it.

 

If we want to understand history rather than merely memorize it, we must learn to distinguish between what we know, what we have good reason to believe, and what remains uncertain. 

 

That distinction is not an attack on historical education. It is an essential part of learning how to evaluate knowledge.

 

The most important question we can therefore ask about the history we are taught is not simply, “Is this the accepted version of what happened?” but rather:

“What evidence gives us reason to believe that this is what happened?”

 

That question allows us to approach history neither with blind trust nor with automatic disbelief, but with the skepticism necessary to pursue the truth.

© 2026 Hazon, Nir

 

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