Alleged UFO sightings are "frequent," a Defense Department official told lawmakers during a hearing on Capitol Hill.

Ronald Moultrie, the undersecretary of defense for intelligence and security, and Scott Bray, the deputy director of the Office of Naval Intelligence, appeared in front of the House Intelligence Committee's Subcommittee on Counterterrorism, Counterintelligence, and Counterproliferation on Tuesday — the first congressional hearing on the subject in more than 50 years.

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Moultrie announced that the Pentagon is creating a new office under the purview of the Office of the Secretary of Defense. Its mission is “to facilitate the identification of previously unknown or unidentified airborne objects in a methodical, logical, and standardized manner,” Moultrie said during his opening statement. It will be working to develop “data and intelligence requirements" and will be “standardizing and integrating processes and procedures for collection.”

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence released a highly anticipated assessment last June of 144 reports of UFOs originating from government sources between 2004 and 2021. It found that 80 were observed with multiple different sensors, and most reports described the UFOs as objects that interrupted preplanned military training or other military operations.

“A handful” of the UFOs “appear to demonstrate advanced technology,” and “in 18 incidents, described in 21 reports, observers reported unusual UAP movement patterns or flight characteristics,” the report also explained.

The number of alleged sightings that have been reported is now roughly around 400, the officials told the committee.

The Pentagon announced the formation of the Airborne Object Identification and Management Synchronization Group, or AOIMSG, last November.

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The group will “synchronize efforts across the Department and with other Federal departments and agencies to detect, identify and attribute objects of interests in SUA, and to assess and as appropriate, mitigate any associated threats to safety of flight and national security,” according to a memo from Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks outlining its mission.

A Department of Defense spokesperson clarified to the Washington Examiner that there will only be one office and that the AOIMSG office will change its name. That new title has not been announced yet.

Moultrie noted that there is a "cultural stigma" surrounding UFO reporting and said the "goal is to eliminate this stigma by fully incorporating our operators and mission personnel into a standardized data gathering process.