Aliens visiting Earth are theories that have existed for decades, often in response to mysterious sightings above military bases. During the 1960s and 70s, UFOs were seen hovering near important installations around military bases in the United States, creating speculations about possible invasions by aliens. Even though these reports have largely been dismissed over the years, new claims have arisen that these sightings may have some merit.

UFO expert Robert Hastings recently stated that UFOs visited "every major nuclear missile base" in the past and continue to do so. This revelation is documented in his new book, UFOs and Nuke, where he draws on interviews with many Army personnel. "The ones that are currently operational have been visited repeatedly year after year according to the sources that I have interviewed," Hastings stated.  He says over 120 former service members report sightings of flying objects around nuclear weapon storage and testing facilities, suggesting a continued focus from extraterrestrial forces on nuclear capabilities.

Hastings speculates on the reasons for this alien curiosity:  "Perhaps they have a use for our planet, let's say for scientific purposes, and know that global nuclear warfare will disrupt their data-gathering and/or experiments." He further accuses deep layers of secrecy encasing the facts.

These allegations surface in response to newly released government reports showing multiple UFO sightings adjacent to military bases. Most remarkably, 17 different reports were made during last year's December over Joint Base Langley-Eustis. Although the Pentagon, local police, and NASA WB-57F high-altitude research plane were all investigating, no information about those UFOs was released to the public.

This year, a study on UFO sightings concluded that "this intelligence understands atomics, and they understand atomic weaponry."  Researchers, led by former US Air Force staff sergeant Ian Porrit, affiliated with the Harvard Galileo Project, analyzed more than 500 credible UFO reports from the Cold War era. Official military and police accounts from between 1945 and 1975 were consulted, in preference for cases with supporting evidence from multiple witnesses.

The researchers argued that from 1948 to 1975, extraterrestrials or another form of intelligence closely monitored America's rise as a nuclear power. There were also UFO sightings over non-nuclear army bases and civilian areas in their immediate vicinity, thus demonstrating broader interest in military activities in this critical period of history.

The debate about UFOs and what they may mean to the national security of our countries has kept experts thinking about rethinking how such phenomena are investigated, leaving one wondering what—if anything—these sightings truly signify about our place in the universe.