Afterwards when NASA refused to give the planes back and sent the message “finders keepers” to the USAF, that’s when the problems began.

The original isn't Aeris or Aerith, it's エアリス, which transliterates directly to "Earisu," but which could be a transliteration of Aeris or Aerith, because there isn't a "th" sound in Japanese (and "-su" is typically used instead).