Department of Defense Releases Statement on "Jellyfish" UFO Video

Department of Defense (DOD) spokesperson Susan Gough told journalists and UFO researchers Jeremy Corbell and George Knapp in a statement last week regarding the “jellyfish” UFO video released earlier this month that the Pentagon would “not comment on the authenticity of alleged DOD material that may have been leaked.”

We do not comment on the authenticity of alleged DOD material that may have been leaked. DOD takes public interest in unidentified anomalous phenomena [UAP; the current government nomenclature for UFOs] seriously and is committed to openness and accountability to the American people. This commitment must be balanced with the department’s obligation to protect sensitive information, sources, and methods. To that end, AARO [All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office] will provide updates to the public via its website as it resolves UAP cases, including sharing the analytic approach and method used for each case, as well as imagery, when approved for public release.
The Department of Defense takes the potential unauthorized disclosure of national security information very seriously. DOD organizations, including AARO, regularly emphasize to their workforces the importance of protecting national security information in accordance with information security laws, regulations, and processes.

The video in question was reportedly filmed over a United States joint operations base in Iraq in 2018, and features a mysterious object that, due its appearance, has been dubbed the “jellyfish” UAP.

According to the video’s description on Corbell’s YouTube channel, a “UAP of unknown origin displayed transmedium capability—and has been officially designated by the United States intelligence agencies as a UAP (Unidentified Aerial Phenomena). This designation is currently maintained.”

As some have pointed out, the DOD statement does not dispute the UAP designation claimed by Corbell.

“I must say it’s very revealing for what it doesn’t say. It doesn’t reveal a categorical denial. It’s the last resort of governments and intelligence services when they don’t want to answer a question. Essentially, it’s a neither confirm nor deny," NewsNation special correspondent Ross Coulthart said. "Mr. Corbell is making the direct accusation that this was a designated UAP. That’s not something that’s denied by the Pentagon. I don’t know why it couldn’t be denied if it was untrue. And I think it really does put pressure on the Pentagon to start being more open and transparent with the public.”

Accusations of a DOD coverup have intensified following a congressional hearing last July, during which several former military members testified about their experiences with the UFO phenomenon.

Among them was David Charles Grusch, 36, who said, “I was informed, in the course of my official duties, of a multi-decade UAP crash retrieval and reverse-engineering program, to which I was denied access.”

That hearing also displayed the interest Congress has shown in UFOs over the past several years, beginning back in 2017 when news broke of the Pentagon’s secretive UFO project—known then as the Advanced Aviation Threat Identification Program (AATIP).

Congressman Tim Burchett (R-TN), who co-leads the congressional investigation into UFOs, told Newsweek in early 2023 that he believes “we have recovered a craft at some point, and possible beings."

"I think that a lot of that's being reverse-engineered right now, but we just don't understand it," he said.

Prior to that statement, Burchett told fellow congressman Matt Gaetz (R-FL) in an interview that he believes the U.S. Government has "recovered craft" that could represent extraterrestrial technology.

And in another congressional hearing held last April, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) expressed concern over the UFO enigma and how much of mainstream society's dismissal of the phenomenon is affecting its research.

The new AARO website mentioned in the above statement appears to be an attempt by the DoD to address the concerns of politicians like Burchett and Gillibrand, while bringing the Pentagon’s investigation of the UFO phenomenon into the 21st century.

You can see AARO's new website at https://www.aaro.mil.