The Pentagon wants to remove any shame in reporting ¡°unidentified aerial phenomena¡± because what the public knows as UFOs could represent national security threats such as enemy drones or dangerous debris, two senior intelligence officials said.

¡°Our goal is to eliminate this stigma by fully incorporating our operators and mission personnel into a standardized data-gathering process,¡± Ronald Moultrie, the undersecretary of defense for intelligence and security, told U.S. lawmakers Tuesday at the first congressional hearing into UFOs since the 1960s.

¡°The message is now clear: If you see something, you need to report it,¡± Scott Bray, the deputy director of naval intelligence, told the House Intelligence subcommittee on counterterrorism, counterintelligence, and counterproliferation at a hearing that also delved into questions about extraterrestrials and the stuff of science fiction.