NOT THE X FILES: Mapping Public Reports of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Across America

Abstract

In February 2023, the U.S. Air Force shot down a Chinese surveillance balloon off the coast of South Carolina after it had flown over numerous states. 1 This incident raised questions about the degree to which the U.S. government knows who is flying what across its vast airspace. 2 The United States has an estimated 5.3 million square miles of domestic airspace and 24 million square miles of oceanic airspace. 3 Like all countries, the United States has finite resources to track all objects flying overhead.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jul 01, 2023
Accession Number
AD1206696

Entities

People

  • Ashley Gromis
  • Marek Posard
  • Mary Lee

Organizations

  • RAND Corporation

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms
  • Autonomy
  • Counter WMD
  • Space

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Air Force Facilities
  • Air Power
  • Artificial Satellites
  • Department Of Defense
  • Governments
  • Information Systems
  • Military Force Levels
  • Military Operations
  • National Security
  • Public Policy
  • Regression Analysis
  • Space Force
  • Unified Combatant Commands
  • United States
  • Warfare
  • Weather Stations

Readers

  • Coastal and Marine Engineering/Sediment Transport/Hydraulic Engineering
  • Missile Defense Systems.
  • Political Violence and Terrorism Studies.

Technology Areas

  • Space