WASHINGTON, D.C.: After officials in Washington D.C. admitted they could not explain the phenomena of UFO sightings, the U.S. government will intensify its efforts to investigate possible alien activity.

This week, officials said the Department of Defense has formed a new group, the Airborne Object Identification and Management Synchronization Group, which will be tasked with finding and identifying UFOs that have flown in restricted airspace.

The intelligence community has acknowledged a series of unexplained aerial phenomena sightings by the military earlier that occurred this year, but officials admitted they could not explain the UFO sightings, in a report to Congress detailing the government's knowledge of UFOs.

According to a press release, the new group will succeed the Navy's Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force, an arm of the military started last year to "improve its understanding of, and gain insight into" UFOs.

"Incursions by any airborne object..pose safety of flight and operations security concerns, and may pose national security challenges," the defense department wrote.

Earlier this year, officials confirmed they had investigated 144 UFO sightings reported by government sources since 2004, including unexplained aircraft that were reported to have traveled at speeds of up to 43,000 miles per hour.

The task force's Congressional report said most of the incidents, such as the near daily sightings of UFOs harassing a warship near San Diego in 2017, were not part of secret U.S. programs.

The report also said the government needed to change policies, offer extra training and upgrade the technology needed to further investigate and understand unexplained aerial phenomena.