Suspicion Surrounds U.S. Navy Patent for Creation of Laser Induced Plasma 'UFOs'

Updated 5/20/20

A U.S. Navy patent application published in February of 2020 has some wondering if perhaps it might be related to the recently released reports of UFOs seen by military pilots.

The proposed patent is for the creation of laser induced plasma, “a method where a laser beam is configured to generate a laser-induced plasma filament (LIPF), and the LIPF acts as a decoy to detract a homing missile or other threat from a specific target.”

In essence, the system would create a phantom aircraft capable of distracting missiles fired at military fighter jets.

According to the proposed patent, “In one potential embodiment, a laser system would be mounted on the back of an air vehicle such that the beam can be rastered using optics and mirrors to generate a large ‘ghost’ image in space.”

Since the “laser induced plasma emission spectra covers a wide electromagnetic spectrum, from Infrared (IR) to Visible (VIS) and up to Ultraviolet region (UV) … [and] it is possible to generate multiple wavelengths just by ‘tuning’ the laser parameters,” one could assume that the device would be capable of creating a ‘UFO’ that is visible not only to the sensors of an IR homing missile, but also to the naked eye.

In light of the patent application’s publication, speculation in the UFO community has turned to whether or not such a system could have been responsible for the unidentified flying objects present in the three videos recently officially released by the Department of Defense (DoD).

According to a report acquired by journalist George Knapp in early 2019, the objects performed maneuvers unlike any with which the military pilots were familiar, including descending from "approximately 60,000 feet down to approximately 50 feet in a matter of seconds. [The objects] would then hover or stay stationary on the radar for a short time and depart at high velocities and turn rates.”

The method this patent application describes “allows for an ultra-fast response time. Due to the fact that the effect is generated by the laser beam interaction with air, the time required to produce the [LIPF] is less than a millionth of a second.”

This could, theoretically, explain the maneuvers witnessed by the pilots. That, combined with the Pentagon’s attempts to confuse and obfuscate the UFO narrative—especially prevalent since 2017, when the existence of their secretive program to study UFOs was revealed to the general public—has some wondering if the reason for their deception was to cover up this new technology.

However, this line of reasoning is not without flaws. The device is not proven to exist outside of its patent, for instance. But even if it does, many question whether or not the U.S. government would test such a device on their own personnel with no warning. This raises the question of if a foreign power—such as the Russians or Chinese—might have similar technology that they’re testing on U.S. military personnel. However, the device, at least in this recently published patent, is required to be mounted to a vehicle in order to be used—something that should have been detected during the sightings.

The other most immediately obvious issue is one of timing, the first of the three videos in question was recorded in 2004, while the remaining two were recorded between 2014 and 2015—in all cases having occurred well before the patent’s application filing date of August 6th, 2018.

So, while the patent application certainly introduces a number of interesting questions regarding the capabilities of current military technology, it does not conclusively show that the device described within—or anything similar—was responsible for any recent UFO sightings.

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