According to a report first published by Politico, the U.S. Navy (USN) is currently drafting new guidelines for use by military personnel when reporting sightings of unidentified aircraft. This once again draws attention to the Pentagon’s efforts to better understand this unusual phenomenon.

“There have been a number of reports of unauthorized and/or unidentified aircraft entering various military-controlled ranges and designated air space in recent years,” the USN said in a statement. “For safety and security concerns, the Navy and the [U.S. Air Force] takes these reports very seriously and investigates each and every report.”

As part of this effort,’ the USN statement reads, ‘the Navy is updating and formalizing the process by which reports of any such suspected incursions can be made to the cognizant authorities. A new message to the fleet that will detail the steps for reporting is in draft.”

In 2017, news came to light that the Pentagon directly funded a secret investigative group tasked with the pursuit of these claims, as well as the exploration of other seemingly “far out” technological concepts that relate to them. The head of that group, Luis Elizondo, resigned from his position in protest that same year, citing the Department of Defense’s unwillingness to allocate more funding and resources to the effort. According to Elizondo, a breadth of classified evidence exists to support his assertions.