This week saw the release of declassified footage from the US Navy Air force of strange objects captured on film by its pilots, including a video, which has caused a surge in interest across our region, especially for those who have seen for themselves objects in the sky that can't be explained. But has Gwent ever been visited by beings from other worlds? Argus Columnist Jon Powell took a look into Gwent's own X-Files...

STRANGE sightings have been seen across South Wales for decades, with documented reports in Newport, Pontypool, Abergavenny, and Blaenavon to name but a few locations - but many to date with no credible explanation.

Following on from a now closed U.S. government project known as The Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program, which looked into such aerial phenomenon for years, the Pentagon published the US Navy videos in an attempt to clear up misconceptions about the incidents following previously unauthorized releases of the footage.

The three pieces of film, one taken in November 2004 and the other two in January 2015, show unidentified objects performing manoeuvres at incredible speeds leaving the pilots bemused but equally enthralled.

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Gwent Sightings

Between 2002 and 2005, files released by the Ministry of Defence documented three sightings in Gwent - two in Newport, one in Croesyceiliog.

A further 4,400-page document relating to sightings reported between 2007 and November 2009 in Gwent was also released by the MoD, which revealed sightings had been reported in Newport, another in Argoed.

Further later documented sightings refer to two objects seen over Blaenavon in March 2009, and in December 2018, strange lights were spotted in the sky over Tranch, Pontypool.

One of the most memorable encounters in recent years includes the spherical floating object filmed by a South Wales police helicopter whilst officers were flying 1,000ft over the Bristol Channel in 2016.

Explanations

All manner of explanations have been offered for the strange sightings, from weather balloons and sky lanterns, to mistaking the bright planet Venus as a UFO.

However, while many sightings can be explained away, others cannot and remain a mystery. Bt linking them to extra-terrestrial activity is another question.

Nick Pope, a former MoD UFO Investigator who worked on Project Condign, the UK Ministry of Defence's study of UFO phenomena told Forces.Net, a website containing the latest news from the UK Armed Forces, that for the Pentagon to release such footage was "a hugely significant move" adding "for the Pentagon to make it official… just gives this whole subject, I think, a level of credibility it’s never had before".

South Wales Argus:

When asked whether or not these sightings were of extra-terrestrial nature, Mr Pope concluded: “I’m sure there’s life out there, as to whether we are being visited or not, I’m undecided but cases like this really, I think, give one pause for thought.”