A small percentage of military encounters involve objects that move in ways that defy our current understanding of aviation.

Although most sightings are solved, some remain deeply strange. In a 2021 report by the US Office of the Director of National Intelligence, investigators looked at 144 encounters, mostly from Navy pilots. They found that 18 of these objects moved in bizarre ways, like staying perfectly still in strong winds or moving incredibly fast without any visible engines. These events were caught on multiple sensors, including radar and thermal cameras, which means they were likely real, physical objects rather than just pilot imagination.