Is it crazy NOT to believe in aliens? Within hours, the US government will release a groundbreaking new report detailing what it has learnt about a series of mysterious flying objects.

A tiny white object, dazzlingly bright against the darkness of the night, is soaring through the air.

Far below, on a US patrol boat, one American navy pilot can hardly believe his eyes. "There's a whole fleet of them, my gosh," he calls out to his colleagues. "They're all going against the wind. Look at that thing, dude!"

His voice is muffled by the static, but his emotions - shock, awe, a tinge of fear - are crystal clear.

It was an extraordinary and life-changing experience. But incredibly, the pilot is not alone. Over the last 20 years, more than 120 incidents of Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs) have been reported by the US military.

For decades, UFO sightings have been dismissed as the result of overactive imaginations or simple tricks of the light. People who reported them were either cunning fraudsters - or simply delusional.

But last year, the Pentagon, the home of the US Department of Defense, decided it could no longer ignore the sightings. In August, it set up a task force to investigate.

Now, after almost a year of intense speculation, the wait is nearly over. Within hours, the Pentagon will release its report.

According to some insiders, the findings will send shockwaves around the world. The Pentagon will make two key conclusions. Firstly, UFOs - or Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAPs) - are real. And secondly, they could, just possibly, be the result of alien activity.

Of course, the PentagonThe headquarters of the US Defence Department, so-called because it has five sides. In 1967, peace protestors attempted unsuccessfully to levitate it (making it rise into the air) until all evil emissions had fled, in the hope of ending the Vietnam War. does not believe this is the most likely scenario. The investigation found no evidence, let alone proof, of extraterrestrial life. And US military leaders warn that hostile nations like Russia or China - and not aliens - could be behind the flying objects.

But for some ufologists, the very existence of the Pentagon report is a vindication. "For the UFO community, it's like all their Christmases have come at once," says former UK Ministry of Defence UFO investigator Nick Pope.

Philosopher Samuel Loncar believes UFO researchers, armed with video evidence and radar signals, cannot be dismissed as conspiracy theorists. "This group has something that has always been rare: a thirst for truth at all costs, even if it means being regarded as odd or crazy."

It is a search for truth that mainstream scientists hired by governments and universities are beginning to take more seriously. Last June, astrophysicistsThe branch of astronomy looking at the physical laws of space.  at the University of Nottingham estimated that there could be more than 30 intelligent civilisations throughout the Milky Way alone.

Flying saucers

Aliens or not, the American report has brought the work of UFO observers around the world into the mainstream. "I don't think it's going to deliver any answers," says Phenomena Magazine owner Steve Mera. "But the Pentagon report reflects the fact that these things are real, they are out there and it's not such a laughing matter anymore."

Is it crazy NOT to believe in aliens?

Yes, say some. Aliens may not look like the cartoons, with green skin and humanoid faces. But that does not mean they do not exist. The sheer scale of the universe is beyond human comprehension. Dismissing the possibility of life outside Earth is ridiculous. After years of scepticism, the Pentagon report confirms UFOs are real. Now it is time to accept that aliens might be too.

Definitely not, say others. It is true, life may exist on another planet - perhaps a few cells or a blade of grass. But complex civilisations, capable of sending mysterious objects to fly over Earth, are the stuff of science fiction. The unidentified flying objects identified in the government report are more likely the work of hostile humans than extraterrestrial visitors.

Pentagon: The US defence headquarters is named for its five sided building. It was one of the targets of the 911 attacks nearly 20 years ago.

Ufologists: Ufology is the investigation of unidentified flying objects. The term UFO was coined by a US Air Force officer to replace the term "flying saucer", which suggested that all unidentified objects must be round.

Nick Pope: The British Ministry of Defence division that Pope worked for in the 1990s was shut down in 2009.

Astrophysicists: Scientists who study objects in the universe, including galaxies and stars, to understand what they are made of, their history and what their future holds.

Milky Way: The galaxy that includes our Solar System, named after its hazy appearance from Earth. It contains as many as 400 billion stars.

Phenomena Magazine: The UK's leading UFO magazine. It has 1.8 million online subscribers.