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進入《中英對照讀新聞》Does Pentagon still have a UFO program? The answer is a bit mysterious 五角大廈還有幽浮計畫嗎？答案有點神秘
美國官方宣稱，國防部幽浮計畫已在2012年告終，但記者窮追猛打，白宮發言人桑德斯19日無力招架。（歐新社）
◎周虹汶
The Pentagon acknowledged on Saturday that its long-secret UFO investigation program ended in 2012, when U.S. defense officials shifted attention and funding to other priorities.
五角大廈週六承認，它長久以來秘密的幽浮調查計畫，已於2012年終結，就在美國國防官員把注意力及經費轉向其他優先事項之時。
But as to whether the Advanced Aviation Threat Identification Program has continued to investigate UFO sightings since its funding ended five years ago could rank as an unexplained phenomenon.
至於「先進飛行威脅辨識計畫」在5年前經費結束後，是否仍持續調查幽浮目擊事件，恐怕得列為一件無法解釋的現象。
The New York Times reported on Saturday that the hush-hush program, tasked with investigating sightings of unidentified flying objects, or UFOs, ran from 2007 to 2012 with $22 million in annual funding secretly tucked away in U.S. Defense Department budgets worth hundreds of billions of dollars.
《紐約時報》週六報導，這項秘密計畫負有針對不明飛行物——或稱「幽浮」——目擊事件調查的任務，從2007年實施到2012年，其每年2200萬美元的經費則隱藏在美國國防部的數千億美元預算中。
Its initial funding came largely at the request of former Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid, the Nevada Democrat long known for his enthusiasm for space phenomena, the newspaper said.
該報說，它的最初經費，主要應昔日參議院民主黨領袖哈利．瑞德——長久以來熱中宇宙現象而聞名的內華達州民主黨人——之要求而來。
The Pentagon openly acknowledged the fate of the program in response to a Reuters query.
回應路透詢問，五角大廈公開承認該計畫的命運。
But the Pentagon was less clear about whether the UFO program continues to hover somewhere in the vast universe of the U.S. defense establishment.
（Reuters）
但幽浮計畫是否繼續在美國國防機構浩瀚天地的某處盤旋，五角大廈則含糊以對。
（路透）
新聞辭典
hush-hush：名詞，指極機密；形容詞，指非常秘密的；動詞，指守密、掩蓋。例句：They were desperate to keep the murder hush-hush.（他們死命掩蓋這件謀殺案。）
tuck away：片語動詞，收藏、藏起、大吃。例句：Her photographic memory enables her to tuck away yards of facts.（過目不忘的記憶力讓她能記住一堆事。）
hover：動詞，指徘徊、猶豫；名詞，指盤旋。例句：Don’t hover over me.（少在那邊管我。）
