Watch Live As The US Congress Holds Its First UFO Hearing In 50 Years
Almost a year ago, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence submitted a preliminary report regarding Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP) that detailed the progress the UAP Task Force had made in understanding the baffling encounters. The intelligence report could only explain one of the military's 144 encounters with UAP (UAP is the military's new term used to describe UFOs). The report did not include the words "alien" or "extraterrestrial" and stated that the unexplained incidents would require further study.
Ronald Moultrie, the Pentagon's top intelligence official, and Scott Bray, the Deputy Director of Naval Intelligence, will be appearing before Congress today to answer questions and provide any updates. Mully and Sculder are apparently unavailable.
Today's hearing will be live-streamed. Carson warned 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."
Carson went on to state, "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." He added, "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."
In November 2021, the Department of Defense announced the formation of the Airborne Object Identification and Management Synchronization Group. The DOD stated in a release at the time that the purpose of the new program would be to synchronize efforts across the US government to "detect, identify and attribute objects of interest," in restricted airspace, "to assess and mitigate any associated threats to the safety of flight and national security."
In a statement ahead of the hearing, Carson remarked, "The American people expect and deserve their leaders in government and intelligence to seriously evaluate and respond to any potential national security risks, especially those we do not fully understand."
