The science fiction television series, Invasion premieres on Apple TV Oct. 22, which begs the question, could your military unit defeat an alien insurrection?

Experts will tell you that an opponent cannot be defeated if the defender does not know or understand the opponent. Situational awareness on the battlefield is everything. But first, do we even need to worry that what we see on our television screens can hurt us.

Given the recent news reports about our government's grudging acknowledgment of unidentified aerial phenomena, or UAPs (unofficially known as UFOs, or unidentified flying objects), there is a significant growing awareness that UAPs could pose a threat to the United States.

"The government has already stated for the record that they're real," said Lue Elizondo during a May 16 60 Minutes interview. "I'm not telling you that. The United States government is telling you that."

A highly experienced intelligence American operative, Elizondo is not kidding. In 2008 he was asked to join a group at the Pentagon called the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program, or AATIP.  A collection of scientists, electro-optical engineers, avionics and intelligence experts, AATIP's mission was simple: collect and analyze any and all information involving UAPs.

After decades of the government telling the nation that Area 51 did not exist and that the United States had no official interest in UAP or aliens, the Pentagon confirmed in 2017 that the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program did exist.

Elizondo said that the program followed due diligence and determined that in some cases there were plausible explanations as to what people had witnessed.

But questions remain.

"Is it some sort of new type of cruise missile technology that China has developed? Is it some sort of high-altitude balloon that's conducting reconnaissance?" asked Elizondo rhetorically.

"Ultimately when you have exhausted all those ‘what ifs' and you're still left with the fact that this is in our airspace and it's real, that's when it becomes compelling, and that's when it becomes problematic."

If the Defense Department determines - or admits - that UAPs powered by unknown technology pose a threat, then how does the nation and its military respond in the event of an attack?

The answer to this question may be found in an incident that occurred off the coast of Southern California. Documented by radar, camera and the testimony of four naval aviators, two of those flyers have spoken on the record.

In November 2004, the USS Nimitz carrier strike group was training about 100 miles southwest of San Diego. During the exercise the advanced radar on the USS Princeton had detected what operators called "multiple anomalous aerial vehicles" over the horizon which were descending 80,000 feet in less than a second.

Former Lt. Cmdr. Dave Fravor and former Lt. Alex Dietrich were diverted to investigate. They found an area of roiling whitewater in otherwise calm, blue seas.

"We saw this little white Tic Tac-looking object," recalled Fravor, "and it's just kind of moving above the whitewater area. 

There was "no predictable movement, no predictable trajectory," added Dietrich.

At that point, Fravor descended to get a better look; when he did so the UAP began to copy his action.

"It starts mirroring me. So as I'm coming down, it starts coming up. It was aware that we were there," he stated. That's when the UAP got right in front of his F-18 Hornet before it vanished.

"Disappears. Like, gone," he said. Talk about one cool move in the twinkling of an eye!

Dietrich witnessed this too, and within seconds the USS Princeton radioed to let the two pilots know the UAP was 60 miles away. Now we're talking about pure, mind-blowing speed.

"It was - after 18 years of flying - I've seen pretty much about everything that I can see in that realm, and this was nothing close," concluded Fravor.  "I think it was not of this world."

All kidding aside about little green persons flying aircraft that rewrite some of the laws of physics making nice with us, questions do remain as to if UAPs pose a threat.

Does the American military possess the technology to build such an aircraft that can do this? While the technology exists to track and film UAPs, there is no known technology that allows any military aircraft to move like the UPAs move. How does a nation defend against that?

It also raises the question of what - or who - might come later if the UAPs give way for alien intergalactic landing craft to land, well, troops.  What might these soldiers be using as weapons?

Whether or not UAPs pose a clear military threat to this country remains to be seen; however, it does appear that they have vastly superior technology.