UFOs In The US? Congressional Hearing Presents Historical Testimonies From Pentagon Officials

THE WASHINGTON POST The US Congress held a rare public hearing on Tuesday the 17th on the existence of what the administration is calling for unidentified aerial phenomenabetter known as UFOobject of investigation Pentagon and the secret services of United States of America after an increase in military and pilot sightings in recent years.

By obtaining testimony from senior government officials, lawmakers intended to “bring out of the shadows” a Department of Defense tracking these sightings, said Rep. André Carson, chair of the House Intelligence Subcommittee on Counterterrorism, Counterintelligence and Counterproliferation.

That effort, revealed in 2017, garnered eyewitness accounts, including from naval aviators, who said they had seen flying objects that appeared to have no visible means of propulsion, challenging human understanding of aerodynamics and physics.

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Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence Ronald Moultrie testifies before Congress on UFOrelated investigations Photo: Kevin Dietsch / AFP

The audience was the first time in over 50 years that US officials provided testimony about their UFO investigation to the public. The Air Force completed its investigation into the matter, Project Blue Book, in 1970.

“We know our military has encountered unidentified aerial phenomena,” Ronald S. Moultrie, Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security, told the bipartisan panel of lawmakers. “We are striving to determine its origins.”

While the hearing marked a significant moment in the government’s effort to find out more about what is known about unexplained objects in the sky, revelations were few. Scott W. Bray, deputy director of naval intelligence, showed a short video of what he described as a “spherical object” with a reflective surface as it flew past the cockpit of a US F18 fighter jet.

“I have no explanation as to what this particular object is,” Bray said.

Lawmakers asked Bray to play the video and stop the fastmoving object, which was difficult due to its speed.

Deputy Director of Naval Intelligence Scott W. Bray shows Congress a short video taken by an American fighter pilot of an unidentified object.Photo: Kevin Dietsch/AFP

The video was recently declassified and was shown for the first time at the hearing. Previous images of planes and ships have revealed other unexplained phenomena observed over longer periods of time.

One of the most famous of these sightings, made by jets from the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz in 2004, shows an object appearing to be shooting through the air in different directions at very high speeds. UFO researchers have nicknamed it Tic Tac because of its capsule shape.

The highly qualified pilots who witnessed the object which Bray says remains unexplained have said publicly that they were perplexed and reluctant to discuss their experiences due to a stigmatized and dogged culture towards aviators reporting UFOs.

Bray and Moultrie said the military wants to change that culture. In recent years, personnel have been encouraged to report sightings and the military now has a standardized system for tracking and analyzing information. “The message is clear: if you see something, you have to report it,” Bray said.

Military sightings were particularly high, leading some to speculate that military equipment and facilities may be of particular interest to those behind the unidentified vessel, including foreign military personnel.

Bray said the US also had reports from nonmilitary sources but did not elaborate.

Officials said the unidentified objects could pose a threat to national security. This helped create more openness to the topic. In their testimony, Pentagon officials focused primarily on the potential danger the objects posed to military equipment and personnel, avoiding speculation as to whether the vehicle was extraterrestrial.

Bray noted that US military pilots had “11 near misses” with UFOs. There were no collisions, he said. He added that the military never tried to communicate with the objects or fired on them.

Officials say they doubt the handful of sightings, for which there is no clear explanation, point to sophisticated, classified military technology Russiaa China or own other US opponents.

Last year’s intelligence report found that US government investigators had no data to suggest the ship “is part of a foreign collection program or indicates a major technological breakthrough by a potential adversary.”

The government could not determine whether more than 140 UFOs were atmospheric events pranking sensors, vehicles piloted by foreign adversaries, or extraterrestrial objects.

Department of Defense investigators have no physical evidence that visitors from other worlds came to Earth, Bray said. But he implicitly acknowledged that the US collected tangible objects in the course of its investigation.

“How about wreck?” asked MP Raja Krishnamoorthi. “Did we find any debris from objects you are examining now?”

Bray responded that US investigators “have no debris that is unexplainable that is inconsistent with terrestrial origin”.

Krishnamoorthi asked if the military had “underwater sensors” that could have detected submerged objects. Moultrie intervened, saying the issue was best dealt with in a closed and confidential session after the public hearing.

In their public discussions of UFOs in the past, officials have been careful not to reveal too much about sensors and other technology used by the military to track known adversaries. Moultrie said the same technology that collects UFO evidence is used for routine intelligence operations.

“There are no separate UAP sensors,” he said, using the government’s preferred acronym for unidentified aerial phenomena. “It’s not a separate UAP processing computer. It is not a separate UAP distribution chain or anything else.”

While the audience’s main focus was on the known evidence linked to the strange vehicle, the “alien” in the middle of the room was difficult to avoid.

Video of unidentified object presented to Congress: US wants to change stigmatized culture of military reporting on UFOs Photo: Kevin Dietsch / AFP

Beginning his observations, Moultrie said that like many Americans, he has long been fascinated by man’s quest to explore space and find evidence of life beyond our planet.

But the Pentagon’s assessments, he said, are driven by data and evidence and would not speculate on the provenance or nature of objects that could not be positively identified.

But Moultrie nodded to the apparent fascination with extraterrestrial beings, saying he’s a longtime scifi fan and has attended conventions, although he didn’t “necessarily dress up like the attendees”.

“We’ve got to break the ice somehow,” Moultrie said in the courtroom, amid nervous laughter.