An unexplained collision between a U.S. military aircraft and an unidentified flying object, detailed in declassified documents, has sparked renewed questions about whether aliens have entered American airspace.

The incident occurred in January 2023, when an unidentified object struck the left side of an F-16 Viper fighter jet during a training exercise near Gila Bend, Arizona.

Fox News reports:

The flying object impacted the clear "canopy" at the top of the aircraft and was first seen by an instructor pilot seated in the rear of the plane, officials said. An initial investigation found no damage to the nearly $70 million jet, and officials ruled out a possible bird strike. Authorities ultimately concluded that the aircraft had been hit by a drone. However, the drone’s origin and operator remain unknown, a spokesperson said.

According to Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) documents obtained by The War Zone, the crash marked the first of four encounters with unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) reported the following day.

The unusual incident was confirmed to Fox News by an Air Force spokesperson.

"According to military personnel I’ve personally met with, there were objects 200 miles off the East Coast that were extensively loitering and had no visible means of propulsion,” UFO expert James Fox said in an interview with Fox News. “So a report from 2023 about an actual impact with a UAP doesn’t really surprise me.”

Previously declassified documents from the Department of Defense reveal that between May 1, 2023, and June 1, 2024, there were 757 reported incidents involving unidentified flying objects. Of those, only 49 have been deemed “case closed” by the Pentagon.

While the presence of unidentified flying objects may raise alarms, James Fox says the phenomenon is far from new.

"There are reports dating back to the 1930s and 1940s,” the UFO researcher said. “Where you had mysterious, glowing, and orb-like objects that emitted very bright light that could just fly rings around the military planes from World War II."

"This has been well-documented for decades,” he added. “So either we’ve managed to track the same thing it’s been, [possibly] non-human intelligence, since the 1940s. Or someone has managed to replicate the technology, reverse engineer it and they’re flying it around.”

In 2020, President Donald Trump hinted at intriguing knowledge about the infamous Roswell incident during an interview with his son, Donald Trump Jr.

“I won’t talk to you about what I know about it, but it’s very interesting,” Trump said.

Not everyone is convinced. Elon Musk remains skeptical that aliens have ever visited Earth.

"I've not seen any evidence of aliens," Musk told the Milken Institute Global Conference last year. "And SpaceX, with the Starlink constellation, has roughly 6,000 satellites, and not once have we had to maneuver around a UFO. [...] Never. So I'm like, okay, I don't see any evidence of aliens."