VOA慢速英语2021--美国即将公布有关UFO的报告

The United States has been taking a closer look at unidentified flying objects, or UFOs. A report detailing what the government knows about UFOs is expected to be made public this month.

While it is not known what new information the report will include, two officials with knowledge of it said no aliens will be uncovered. The officials, speaking to The Associated Press, said the report found no link to aliens from unexplained sightings also captured on video.

The two officials did not want to be named because they did not have permission to publicly discuss the report. They said the report will not rule out the possibility that unexplained sightings could be linked to military activities involving other nations.

The main conclusions about what the U.S. government knows about UFOs have already been reported. But the full report is expected to present a more complete picture of available data.

U.S. lawmakers ordered an investigation¹ into UFOs because of concerns about national security threats from enemies. The government resisted talking about UFOs for generations.

Republican Senator Marco Rubio of Florida was one lawmaker who wanted the investigation. He said, "there is stuff flying in our airspace." He continued, "We don't know what it is. We need to find out."

Congress late last year told the director of national intelligence to report on UFO data from multiple government agencies within 180 days. That time period is about up. The intelligence office has not said when the full document will be released.

The bill passed by Congress asked the intelligence director to provide any evidence that a possible enemy may have flight technology that could put the United States at risk.

Flight technology has become much more developed in recent years. There is concern among some U.S. officials that enemies may have technology that could be a risk to U.S. military sites, including nuclear missile bases.

But sometimes when lawmakers talk about the issue, they leave room for explanations that might not be from this planet.

"Right now there are a lot of unanswered questions," Democratic Representative Adam Schiff of California recently told NBC. "If other nations have capabilities² that we don't know of, we want to find out. If there's some explanation other than that, we want to learn that, too."

Luis Elizondo is the former head of the Pentagon's Advanced Aerospace³ Threat Identification Program. He said he does not believe that unexplained sightings were another country's technology because it would be impossible to keep that secret.

Elizondo accused the Defense⁴ Department of trying to discredit⁵ him. He said there is much more information the U.S. has on UFOs that is kept secret.

Pilots and sky-watchers have long reported UFO sightings in U.S. airspace. They seem to travel at unusual speeds or directions. In most cases, however, such mysteries are explained after an investigation.

In 1960, the CIA said 6,500 objects had been reported to the U.S. Air Force over a 13-year period. The CIA said the Air Force concluded there was no evidence that those sightings were hostile or related to alien spaceships.

Reports of UFOs have continued since then. Some people who study the subject say investigations⁶ have been limited by the stigma⁷ of the subject. They also note the government has a history of staying silent or lying about investigations of UFOs.

In 2017, The New York Times reported on a five-year U.S. Defense Department program to investigate UFOs. The Pentagon then released videos, leaked earlier, of military pilots seeing objects they could not identify.

The Navy announced in 2019 it would create an official process for its pilots to report UFOs. And in August, the Defense Department created a special group to study, search for, and record UFO sightings.

Words in This Story

alien – n. a creature that comes from somewhere other than the planet Earth

conclusion – n. an opinion reached after considering all the facts and information related to a subject

stuff – n. materials, supplies, or equipment

capability⁸ – n. the ability to do something

stigma – n. a set of negative and often unfair beliefs that a society or group of people have about something

1 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

2 capabilities   

n.能力( capability的名词复数 )；可能；容量；[复数]潜在能力

参考例句：

• He was somewhat pompous and had a high opinion of his own capabilities. 他有点自大，自视甚高。 来自辞典例句
• Some programmers use tabs to break complex product capabilities into smaller chunks. 一些程序员认为，标签可以将复杂的功能分为每个窗格一组简单的功能。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

3 aerospace   

adj.航空的，宇宙航行的

参考例句：

• The world's entire aerospace industry is feeling the chill winds of recession.全世界的航空航天工业都感受到了经济衰退的寒意。
• Edward Murphy was an aerospace engineer for the US Army.爱德华·墨菲是一名美军的航宇工程师。

4 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

5 discredit   

vt.使不可置信；n.丧失信义；不信，怀疑

参考例句：

• Their behaviour has bought discredit on English football.他们的行为败坏了英国足球运动的声誉。
• They no longer try to discredit the technology itself.他们不再试图怀疑这种技术本身。

6 investigations   

（正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究

参考例句：

• His investigations were intensive and thorough but revealed nothing. 他进行了深入彻底的调查，但没有发现什么。
• He often sent them out to make investigations. 他常常派他们出去作调查。

7 stigma   

n.耻辱，污名；(花的)柱头

参考例句：

• Being an unmarried mother used to carry a social stigma.做未婚母亲在社会上曾是不光彩的事。
• The stigma of losing weighed heavily on the team.失败的耻辱让整个队伍压力沉重。

8 capability   

n.能力；才能；(pl)可发展的能力或特性等

参考例句：

• She has the capability to become a very fine actress.她有潜力成为杰出演员。
• Organizing a whole department is beyond his capability.组织整个部门是他能力以外的事。