Mysteries in the Sky: Hundreds in Maryland report UFO sightings as Congress, NASA investigate, push for transparency
Almost two thousand people in Maryland have reported seeing something unexplained in the sky over the past two decades.
Commonly known as UFOs, the unknown objects have a new name and new attention from the government.
WJZ Investigator Mike Hellgren takes you inside the Mysteries in the Sky.
America has long been fascinated by whether there is life outside of Earth and whether that life is trying to somehow contact us.
Earlier this year, Congress held oversight hearings about what used to be called UFOs and are now called UAPs or "unidentified aerial or anomalous phenomena," objects that defy an easy explanation.
The UAP issue gained widespread attention from lawmakers and the public in recent years with the release of several video recordings of the encounters, which typically show seemingly nondescript objects moving through the air at very high speeds with no apparent method of propulsion.
"It's heartening to me that so many people are coming forward now. We are getting significantly more reports than just six months or a year ago," said Peter Davenport who directs the National UFO Reporting Center.
Davenport has tracked hundreds of reports from Maryland on his website, the National UFO Reporting Center.
"There have been 1,923 reports from the state of Maryland," he said. "I don't know what the future has in store for us, but I am encouraged that more people are coming forward and the government recognizes the UFO phenomenon that's something worthy of their attention."
Many of the thousands of reports worldwide are centered on the United States' East and West coasts, the Middle East and the South China Sea.
Experts disagree about whether the UAPs are extraterrestrial but agree there should be no stigma about reporting them.
Greg Facelo of Port Deposit recently went outside to plug in his car and saw something very strange flying low over the sky in Cecil County.
"It went across the sky this way and only lasted for maybe 30 to 45 seconds," Facelo told WJZ. "If it was a shooting star, a comet, some natural occurrence, I wouldn't have bothered to send it to you, but this thing looked made by some intelligent life form. It was nothing like I've never seen before."
Facelo said, "It broke apart then it streamed out and just faded in the sky."
In September, NASA called for better data and more study of these types of objects.
"This is the first time NASA has taken concerted action to seriously look into UAP," said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson.
Here is NASA's preliminary report
"If you ask me 'Do I believe there is life in a universe that is so vast that it's hard for me to comprehend how big it is?' My personal answer is yes," Nelson told reporters.
Some are concerned about the risks UAPs pose to military and commercial aircraft and whether the mysterious sightings are part of surveillance by China or Russia.
"These pilots, they see it as urgent for a national security reason to have domain awareness," Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-New York) told CBS News in June. "They could crash into the objects."
Back in Port Deposit, Facelo may never know what flew over him.
"Whatever it was traveled the sky at a much lower rate than the planes. It could be extraterrestrial life. I don't know. It didn't look natural," he said.
Like so many others, he questions what is really out there—and with more attention on UAPs, researchers with NASA and other government agencies hope they will soon answer some of the Mysteries in the Sky.