Congress Holding UFO Hearing Wednesday: How The Topic Went From Taboo To Mainstream
Topline
Congress is set to hold a hearing Wednesday on UFOs in an effort to compel the Defense Department to release more information about the phenomena that was was once seen as taboo, but has become a focus for lawmakers in recent years after a series of bombshell reports revealing hundreds of military observations of mysterious airborne objects—prompting accusations that the Defense Department has been both dismissive and secretive about the findings.
Timeline
The New York Times revealed the Department of Defense conducted a secretive UFO research program, dubbed the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program, at the behest of former Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) a decade earlier after Reid attended a series of clandestine meetings with a group of high-powered businessmen, scientists and engineers to explore the existence of UFOs and extraterrestrial life—a move Reid later acknowledged could have put his political future at risk.
The Times reported that Navy pilots had encountered flying objects with no visible engine or exhaust plumes impeding on Navy aircraft formations and flying at “hypersonic speeds” off the coast of the Atlantic Ocean in 2014 and 2015, prompting the Navy to introduce new guidelines for reporting UFOs.
A series of classified congressional briefings on UFOs prompted members of Congress to begin speaking publicly about their interest in the Pentagon’s knowledge of sightings, thrusting the subject into the mainstream—Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) and then-Sen. Mark Walker (R-N.C.) were among those who received the briefings and expressed concerns that the Department of Defense was stifling reports of UFO sightings by Navy and Air Force members.
Then-President Donald Trump said he had also been briefed about Navy pilots reporting an increase in UFO sightings, though he casted doubt on their existence.
The Pentagon released a series of previously classified videos of Navy pilots appearing to observe UFOs in three separate incidents in 2004 and 2015, and while intelligence officials said there was no evidence of extraterrestrial activity associated with the objects, they did not rule it out.
The Senate Intelligence Committee, then chaired by Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), ordered the Defense Department to commission a report cataloging UFO sightings.
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence released the report ordered by the Senate Intelligence Committee that revealed the Pentagon had recorded 144 observations of “unidentified aerial phenomenon,” or UAP, dating back to 2004, but could not determine the origins of all but one, including whether they were atmospheric or extraterrestrial.
Congress members expressed concerns about the lack of Department of Defense data on UFOs and urged the Pentagon to continue analyzing the sightings and improving their reporting standards—Rubio accused the Pentagon of having “ignored and ridiculed” military members who reported the sightings.
Congress established the All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office administered by the National Intelligence Agency and the Defense Department to study UFOs as part of its annual defense spending bill, under the requirement that the office provide regular updates to Congress on UFO sightings and its analysis of the objects.
Congress held its first hearing on UFOs in more than 50 years, and heard testimony from Defense officials who said the department had recorded about 250 additional UFO sightings, up from the 144 disclosed in the June 2021 report.
Sens. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) and Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) introduced legislation to require the U.S. government to report all UFO sightings to a review board that would have the authority to declassify the information.
Congress announced the Subcommittee on National Security, the Border and Foreign Affairs will hold a hearing on UFOs in an effort to “assess the federal government’s transparency and accountability” regarding the objects and the threats they might pose to national security.
Big Number
510. That’s the total number of UFO sightings the federal government has recorded since 2004, according to a January report by the Director of National Intelligence. The government has said it closed many of the cases after determining the objects were airborne trash, drones or Chinese surveillance devices, but 171 were marked “uncharacterized and unattributed.”
What To Watch For
Congress will hear testimony from a former Defense Department intelligence officer, David Grusch, who worked in a special unit to study UFOs and claimed in a June article in the Debrief that the government had recovered partially or fully intact UFOs of “exotic origin” for decades. Grusch recently filed a complaint against the department alleging it retaliated against him for providing information about the secretive findings to Congress and the Intelligence Community inspector general. Ryan Graves, executive director of Americans for Safe Aerospace, which collects data from people who claimed to have witnessed UFO sightings, along with David Fravor, a former commanding officer of the Navy’s Black Aces Squadron, are also scheduled to testify.
Further Reading
House Plans Hearing On UFOs Next Week: ‘We’re Done With The Cover-Ups’ (Forbes)
UFO Sightings Just Skyrocketed, Feds Say—Here’s Why (Forbes)
NASA Launches Study On UFOs (Forbes)
