The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) said in its annual UAP report, on Thursday, that US personnel engaged in researching unexplained aerial phenomena (UAP, often known as UFOs) have documented over 500 UAP incidents.

"In addition to the 144 UAP reports covered during the 17 years of UAP reporting included in the ODNI preliminary assessment, there have been 247 new reports and another 119 that were either since discovered or reported after the preliminary assessment’s time period. This totals 510 UAP reports as of 30 August 2022," the report said.

It is worth noting that the Director of National Intelligence is obligated by law to submit an annual UAP report to Congress.

UAP reporting is increasing, owing in part to a better awareness of the potential hazards that UAP may represent, according to ODNI.

The agency also added that UAP incidents continue to occur in restricted or sensitive airspace, raising concerns about aircraft safety or enemy collection operations.

Commenting on the report, Defense Department Press Secretary Pat Ryder said, "The safety of our service personnel, our bases and installations, and the protection of US operations security on land, in the skies, seas, and space are paramount. We take reports of incursions into our designated space, land, sea, or airspaces seriously and examine each one."

It is worth noting that the All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) leads the Defense Department's UAP operations in collaboration with ODNI and other federal agencies. According to Ryder, the group is entrusted with documenting, assessing, and resolving UAP reports utilizing a rigorous scientific methodology and data-driven approach.

AARO's preliminary review of the 366 newly discovered reports found that more than half exhibited unimpressive features, including 163 classified as balloon or balloon-like entities and another 26 classified as drone-like entities, ODNI said.

The agency concluded by stressing that the majority of new UAP reporting comes from US Navy and Air Force aviators and operators who witnessed the occurrences while on duty. There have been no recorded crashes between US aircraft and UAP to date, but they do pose a collision risk to air assets.