FORT WORTH, Texas - Fighter jets were training nearby the night dozens of Stephenville-area residents reported seeing a UFO this month, Air Force Reserve officials said Wednesday, backtracking on earlier statements.

The announcement did little to satisfy residents of Texas dairy country who swear that what they saw in the sky Jan. 8 was no airplane. Some said it even bolstered their claims, because several people reported seeing at least two fighter jets chasing an object.

"This supports our story that there was UFO activity in that area," said Kenneth Cherry, the Texas director of the Mutual UFO Network, which took more than 50 reports from locals at a meeting last weekend. "I find it curious that it took them two weeks to 'fess up. I think they're feeling the heat from the publicity."

Officials at the Joint Reserve Base Naval Air Station in Fort Worth initially said none of their planes had been in the area, but on Wednesday they said 10 F-16s were there that day. The officials said they were mistaken and wanted to set the record straight "in the interest of public awareness."

Maj. Karl Lewis, a spokesman for the 301st Fighter Wing at the base, declined to comment on the nature of the military training or say whether it took place on other days.

Lewis had said earlier this month that residents might have seen an illusion caused by two commercial airplanes and reflections from the setting sun. On Wednesday, he said he should not have speculated about the reported sightings.

From well-respected business owners to a county constable, several dozen people say they saw a flying object that was larger, quieter, faster and lower to the ground than an airplane. They also said its lights changed configuration, unlike those of a plane.

"I guarantee that what we saw was not a civilian aircraft," Steve Allen, a pilot and freight company owner, said Wednesday.

The planes' training area in the Brownwood Military Operating Area includes Stephenville's Erath County, but Allen said it does not include the airspace where he saw the object. Also, Jan. 8 was not the only day sightings were reported.

Anne Frazor, who owns a fabric store in Stephenville, about 70 miles southwest of Fort Worth, said many in town have seen military aircraft zoom overhead from time to time as part of training operations. But she said that wasn't what she saw Jan. 8.

"I couldn't begin to say what it was, but to me it wasn't planes," Frazor said.

Since the reported sightings two weeks ago, the 17,000-resident city is having fun with the international publicity. Some high-schoolers made T-shirts depicting a flying saucer beaming up a cow with the messages: "Stephenville: the new Roswell" and "They're here for the milk!" Several stores put new messages on their marquees, including "Aliens welcome."

This week Tarleton State University is even hosting a lecture by a UFO researcher on the U.S. government's secret response to UFOs, based on previously classified documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act.

The U.S. Air Force says it has not investigated UFO sightings since 1969 when it ended Project Blue Book, which examined more than 12,600 reported UFO sightings — including 700 that were never explained. That program started a few months after the 1947 crash near Roswell, N.M., of an aircraft the government said was a top-secret weather balloon but others have claimed was an alien spacecraft.

"What we want is the government to admit there are UFOs and what they know about them," Cherry said.

There is a video clip on the page by the story.

What I don't get is why the air force said they were doing a night flying training, when the clip was filmed during the day.

One of the original articles.

Personally, I find it extremely hard to believe that ours is the only planet in an endless and infinite universe that contains intelligent (I use the term lightly) life. What began (in my opinion) as a cover-up to quell any mass public hysteria, I believe has degenerated into a Cover-Our-Arses campaign. Years ago, the idea of "space aliens" was a relatively new idea to many people just being introduced to science-fiction and the ideas of space travel. Imagining aliens landing on earth would likely put a bit of fear into most people in that era. Thus, governments around the world may well have decided to mislead the public (and rightfully so, in the interest of public safety) and create cover stories for the "unexplained". However, in the years following, the public has grown more accustomed to the idea of extraterrestrial life, if not accepting of it. Today, in my opinion (and I may likely be WAY off base), the public as a whole would not be quite so terrified to find out aliens "exist". Fear would exist, I am sure, but possibly not on the global "the end is nigh" level. So, maybe the issue for governments these days isn't to "calm" the public, but rather to try to preserve any credibility they believe they still hold with the public en masse. Rather than admit they have been covering up alien visits, and thus opening a HUGE can of worms about other possible cover-ups, they must now continue the charade...

"Oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive..."

Maybe I am just a conspiracy theorist... who knows... All I know is that the aluminum foil helmet DOES prevent mind reading by government agencies.... now where did mine go???

I didn't realise F16's were completely silent and can do complete 180 degree turns, how technology has evolved!

Seriously though, if f16's were buzzing around over the town, don't you think all the people who saw the lights, would've reported the loud noise they were making?

Unreal

If they WERE f16's, then it's abit worrying the base commander who initially said "We had no aircraft in the air" somehow lost track of 10 f16 planes

hehehe.... and if it was F-16's, considering they are not nearly the "cutting edge" of USAF technology, imagine what the newer fighters are capable of! wow... kinda mind-blowing...

Probably got cloaking devices, torpedoes and phasers on em

A study has shown that a tinfoil hat can actually amplify certain electromagnetic frequencies:

OMG! See?!?! Another conspiracy! For years and years, they have allowed the general public to believe they were safe by using tinfoil! Heck, maybe THEY started that rumor! Oh my... now what will I do?!?!?

Pucker up for safety.

load up with TP and Bunker yourself We all know in the future everyone want TP... (Now what movie was that from.. )

Back to topic..

My guess is that they were testing a new kind of technologie..

Have in mind that the first Stealth plane was made in 70s We saw it first in erm... 90s? and it then looked very alien looking...
Hell thats 20 years of keeping something hidden.. Imagine what they got now?

I DO know that in the D/FW area there is a facility that builds and tests all sorts of new flying stuff. You know those planes that take off straight up, then the engines turn and they zoom off like normal? I saw one of those being tested years before it went 'public.' That thing stopped traffic back then, I tell ya!

But, given the general area this happened, it was miles and miles away from the test center. They don't usually fly the billion dollar babies very far from the center, they test them a little then send them elsewhere. So who knows?