It is a great narrative to get more funding, get people interested in space and the MIC, etc.
The timing is suspect, it seems like just another manufactured crisis.
If the government wanted to create fear and panic in order to justify funding, they had numerous real-world scenarios to draw on. Manufacturing a meme about UFOs is a stupid way to do that, assuming "it was clear that we were headed for cold war 2.0."
The report itself didn't even manufacture a crisis. It was lackluster at best, failing to reach a definite conclusion, much less hype up an imminent threat that presumably needs funding.
Never let a good crisis go to waste, etc.
For example with project bluebook, UFO sightings have been discredited through ridicule and served double duty as smokescreen for legitimate secret military development such as the U2 spy plane.