Italians are increasingly asking the question as to what is going on in their skies. Last year more UFO sightings were recorded in Italy than any year prior and this is catching the attention of the media. The Vatican has recently warmed up to the idea of life on other planets which begs the question as to whether Rome knows more about the topic than they are giving away.

Now an Air Force chief is conceding that aliens might be behind UFO incidents.

In the last few weeks a number of high profile media outlets ran stories on UFOs. '055 News 'noted that the Italian Air Force has recorded 38 sightings of UFOs since 2001. In 2008 alone three sightings of interest were seen by the Air Force or picked up on their radars.

The first and perhaps the most interesting occurred on March 2 in the evening where 'A spherical object, coloured white and glowing with a red halo was seen flying at around 200m above ground over Teresina'.

The second sighting dates to July 28 when numerous people in Riccione including members of the Air Force saw a irregular object change shape, 'Twirl in on itself' and then disappear.

The third sighting recorded by the Air Force occurred on August 21 when citizens of Riccone again saw a mysterious object in the sky-this time a glowing red sphere.

Roberto Di Giorgio, head of general security for the Italian Air force commented to Italian media outlets that all 38 cases recorded by the Air Force are ones that have no immediate explanation. He stressed 'We cannot rule out the possibility of extraterrestrial intelligence (in relation to these sightings)' although noted also that 'We cannot prove that ETs are behind these sightings'.

The media reports mentioned other incidents that occurred last year:
- On September 27 the pilot of an airliner saw and reported a white spherical UFO crossing the sky to his west.
- A civil airline flying from Catania to Naples on October 15 noticed a black object following it leaving a grey trail. This event was seen by some on the ground.
- A white spherical object was seen on November 16 both from the ground and by pilots of an Airliner. It flew to the side of the plane and then turned and vanished.

Many Ufologists are now counting down the years, months or days until governments of the world come clean and tell their countrymen what they know about UFOs.