House Panel Holds Highly-Anticipated , Public Hearing on UFOs.
On May 17, a livestreamed hearing was convened by the House Intelligence Committee's Counterterrorism, Counterintelligence, and Counterproliferation subcommittee.
Panel chair Rep. André Carson of Indiana issued
a warning about the dangers of UFOs or UAPs
(Unidentified Aerial Phenomena) in his opening remarks.
This hearing and our oversight work has a simple idea at its core: Unidentified Aerial Phenomena are a potential national security threat. And they need to be treated that way, Rep. André Carson, via opening remarks, as reported by CNN.
For too long, the stigma associated with UAPs has gotten in the way of good intelligence analysis. Pilots avoided reporting, or were laughed at when they did. DOD officials relegated the issue to the back room, or swept it under the rug entirely, fearful of a skeptical national security community, Rep. André Carson, via opening remarks, as reported by CNN.
Today, we know better. UAPs are unexplained, it’s true. But they are real. They need to be investigated. And any threats they pose need to be mitigated, Rep. André Carson, via opening remarks, as reported by CNN.
CNN reports this is the first time in
over 50 years that a congressional
public hearing has been held on UFOs.
It comes after a report was released last year by the U.S. intelligence community detailing flying objects that have been documented passing through restricted military airspace.
In that report, 144 cases of
"unidentified aerial phenomenon" were examined.
The creation of the Airborne Object Identification and Management Synchronization Group was announced by
the Department of Defense in November 2021.
Its purpose is to “detect, identify and attribute objects of interest” in restricted airspace “to assess and mitigate any associated threats to safety of flight and national security.”.
While extraterrestrial life remains a possibility, officials remain more concerned that countries such as Russia or China might have gotten their hands on next-gen tech in American airspace.
While extraterrestrial life remains a possibility, officials remain more concerned that countries such as Russia or China might have gotten their hands on next-gen tech in American airspace.
CNN reports that a private, classified briefing will be held following the public hearing