Inside the U.F.O. Report

Recently, the government released a long-awaited report: a look at unexplained aerial phenomena.

We explore the report and what implications it may have. Will it do anything to quell theories of extraterrestrial visitors?

Guest: Julian E. Barnes, a national security reporter for The New York Times. 

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Background reading: 

• The United States has no explanation for unidentified objects, but the report stops short of ruling out aliens.
• Rather than explaining when sightings of U.F.O.s were really just sightings of top-secret planes, the government has sometimes allowed public eagerness about the possibility of aliens to take hold.
• U.F.O.s were once a taboo topic for the federal government, but not anymore. Why are we all talking about them now?

For more information on today’s episode, visit 

nytimes.com/thedaily

. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.