Ex-Navy Pilot Ryan Graves Tries to Explain Mysterious Aerial Phenomena

With the recent takedowns of unexplained flying objects in the sky — and mass speculation they may be of another world — one former Navy pilot says the convo is long overdue.

We talked to Ryan Graves — a retired naval lieutenant who used to fly F-18s and who’s attested to seeing UAPs — to help make sense of these latest mysterious incidents … namely, the U.S. government shooting objects down but not knowing what they are.

On “TMZ Live” Wednesday, Graves weighed in on the latest piece to this wonky puzzle … the alarming cockpit audio that was just released, where the pilots are baffled by what they were seeing over Lake Huron this past weekend … ultimately calling it an apparent balloon.

According to RG, they probably only landed on “balloon” because that’s the best thing they could refer to describe this — even though it’s clear that whatever they saw fell outside the parameters of a typical orb they might normally see floating around.

With the White House now explicitly saying “alien” — specifically, to deny that the UFOs that were shot down were E.T.-related in any way — Graves says this topic is finally breaking through in a meaningful way … this after years of military personnel having seen them.

He tells us there are likely things in this world, and universe, that we simply don’t understand and can’t quite explain … and now that we’re zeroing in on some of this stuff — by actually seeking it out, he adds — it’s going to be a difficult road in making sense of it all.

The best thing Uncle Sam can do, he suggests, is to be upfront and transparent about what we know or don’t … as that’s the best way to maintain trust and get to the truth.