The Pentagon's inaugural UFO chief is resigning after issuing a warning that unidentified aerial phenomena (UAPs) – the modern name for UFOs – is either aliens or advanced technology of U.S. rival nations, calling the latter far more terrifying.
"The best thing that could come out of this job is to prove that there are aliens," All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) Director Sean Kirkpatrick told Politico.
"If we don't prove it's aliens, then what we're finding is evidence of other people doing stuff in our backyard, and that's not good."
Kirkpatrick's resignation is official next month after he has overseen the investigation of 800 UAP cases.
He has been a controversial figure at the head of a touchy subject amid decades-long allegations of military pilots witnessing UAPs and Chinese spy balloons under President Joe Biden.
Kirkpatrick has slammed allegations of a secret U.S. government investigation in recovery of alien spaceships as made by former intelligence officer whistleblower David Charles Grusch, which he denounced as "extremely unethical, and immoral."
But Kirkpatrick was critical of a leaked draft academic paper he co-authored, which suggested the AARO is studying potential alien probes from a mother ship sent to surveil Earth, according to Politico.
"I'm ready to move on," Kirkpatrick told Politico. "I have accomplished everything I said I was going to do."
The Pentagon will name a new full-time UFO director, but Kirkpatrick deputy Tim Phillips will serve as acting director in the short term.
Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
© 2024 Newsmax. All rights reserved.