Artifacts from public reports of UFOs stored at Air Force Museum

A recently uncovered Pentagon operation to study unidentified flying objects called the Advanced Aviation Threat Identification Program has been confirmed by a Pentagon spokesman, according to the New York Times. Documents showed the program started in 2007, and was defunded in 2012.

The Department of Defense has also released a video made by U.S. Navy F/A-18 Super Hornet Pilots that shows an unknown object captured with an infrared targeting camera.

>> PHOTOS: 7 ridiculous things that were reported as UFOs to the government

The Air Force itself ran Project Blue Book from 1957 through 1969 to comprehensively study UFO reports from its pilots and the public. Artifacts collected from public reports of UFOs are now stored at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force on Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.

Fueled by the jet age, the space race and popular culture at the time, many of the artifacts reported as UFOs or alien spacecraft parts were deemed hoaxes by the Air Force.

The Air Force Museum also has a huge collection of research and development aircraft in shapes and sizes that could leave the casual observer wondering about their origins.

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