UAP (Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon)

UAP (abbreviation, Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon) is a substitute term for UFO (Unidentified Flying Object) and related aerial phenomenon that is used by some investigators to broadly differentiate their area of inquiry, as well as to avoid association with ufologists and claims about extraterrestrial or interdimensional origins of such phenomenon. Joseph Gradisher, spokesperson for the United States Navy's Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Information Warfare, has been quoted as stating that the terminology is used "because it provides the basic descriptor for the sightings/observations of unauthorized/unidentified aircraft/objects that have been observed entering/operating in the airspace of various military-controlled training ranges."