The declassification of the videos late Monday was to "clear up any misconceptions by the public on whether or not the footage that has been circulating was real," the Pentagon said in a statement Monday. The footage, which shows unidentified objects flying at high speeds in the Earth's atmosphere along with audio of Navy pilots expressing shock and awe, was initially leaked in 2007 and 2017. The U.S. Navy formalized a reporting process last year for pilots to report incidents of UFO sightings.

The Department of Defense released three videos taken by U.S. Navy pilots revealing mysterious flying objects that to this day remain unidentified.

The declassification of the videos late Monday, one of which was taken in 2004 and the subsequent two taken in 2015, was meant to “clear up any misconceptions by the public on whether or not the footage that has been circulating was real, or whether or not there is more to the videos,” the Pentagon said in a statement Monday.

The footage, which shows unidentified objects flying at high speeds in the Earth’s atmosphere along with audio of Navy pilots expressing shock and awe, was initially leaked in 2007 and 2017. The videos were taken during training flights and the 2017 leaks were published by the New York Times.

“The U.S. Navy previously acknowledged that these videos circulating in the public domain were indeed Navy videos,” the Pentagon’s statement read. “After a thorough review, the department has determined that the authorized release of these unclassified videos does not reveal any sensitive capabilities or systems, and does not impinge on any subsequent investigations of military air space incursions by unidentified aerial phenomena.”

“The aerial phenomena observed in the videos remain characterized as ‘unidentified’,” it said.

For access to live and exclusive video from CNBC subscribe to CNBC PRO:
https://cnb.cx/2JdMwO7

» Subscribe to CNBC TV: https://cnb.cx/SubscribeCNBCtelevision
» Subscribe to CNBC: https://cnb.cx/SubscribeCNBC
» Subscribe to CNBC Classic: https://cnb.cx/SubscribeCNBCclassic

Turn to CNBC TV for the latest stock market news and analysis. From market futures to live price updates CNBC is the leader in business news worldwide.

Connect with CNBC News Online
Get the latest news: http://www.cnbc.com/
Follow CNBC on LinkedIn: https://cnb.cx/LinkedInCNBC
Follow CNBC News on Facebook: https://cnb.cx/LikeCNBC
Follow CNBC News on Twitter: https://cnb.cx/FollowCNBC
Follow CNBC News on Instagram: https://cnb.cx/InstagramCNBC

#CNBC
#CNBC TV