Taking liberties with Tennyson, “In the Spring a young man’s fancy lightly turns to thoughts of,” you guessed it – UFOs. If not all young men, Congress, at a minimum, believes it’s time for a hearing on unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP, or UFOs as most people over ten years old know them). On May 17, the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence subcommittee on counterterrorism, counterintelligence, and counterproliferation will hold a hearing on UAPs. The first portion of the hearing will be open to the public, with a committee member-only classified briefing to follow.
“Congress hasn’t held a public hearing on unidentified aerial phenomena (UFOs) in over 50 years. That will change next week when I lead a hearing in @HouseIntel on this topic & the national security risk it poses. Americans need to know more about these unexplained occurrences,” Representative Andre Carson (D-IN), chairman of the sponsoring subcommittee, said in a May 10 tweet. Congressman Carson has been a long-time advocate for more congressional interest in promoting clarity about UAPs. But as important, Carson believes many more people have seen aerial phenomena they cannot explain but have become snowflakes on the subject, fearing intimidation if they come forward. “This hearing is about examining steps that the Pentagon can take to reduce the stigma surrounding reporting by military pilots and by civilian pilots,” Carson stated.
Liberty Nation has been writing about the renewed interest in efforts to explain the sightings of mysterious craft since the topic received national coverage when the Pentagon acknowledged 144 UAP sightings since 2004 by a host of observers. Most famous and recent were observations by US Navy aviators and the crew of the destroyer USS Russell with compelling 2019 video footage leaked to civilian filmmaker Jeremy Corbell, who then made the UAP images public. At the direction of Congress, the Pentagon established the Airborne Object Identification and Management Synchronization Group, or AOIMSG. The AOIMSG will be the responsibility of the under secretary of defense for intelligence and security (USD(I&S)).
The primary subject matter expert witnesses at Carson’s hearing will be USD(I&S) Ronald Moultrie, and Scott Bray, the deputy director of naval intelligence for the Department of the Navy. It’s been some months since forming the AOIMSG, and it’s time to see what the group has been doing. Mr. Moultrie’s group is charged with the job to “detect, identify, and attribute objects of interest in Special Use Air Space and to assess and mitigate any associated threats to safety of flight and national security,” according to the AOIMSG mission statement. The committee will, no doubt, be interested in any progress the group has made.
“This may be the very thing that brings Democrats and Republicans together, at least for an hour or two,” Carson said. Indeed, both parties have been very public about being interested in getting to the bottom of the UAP conundrum. Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL), Roy Blunt (R-MO), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) all supported the bipartisan legislation prompting the Defense Department to dig into the UAPs and keep Congress and the American people informed. But more important, identifying the unidentified craft flying in airspace critical for national security is vital to ensure US military and civilian aircraft are danger-free.
To his credit, Congressman Carson, in a self-deprecating manner, explained his enthusiasm for getting an understanding of UAPs. “I’ve gotten some chuckles but it’s something I’m passionate about and I think I can take the heat,” the legislator admitted. There may be a chance the combination of congressional passion and the Defense Department bureaucratic process will bring a greater understanding of a persistent aviation enigma. Failing such an epiphany of clarity, the market in tinfoil hats will continue to boom.
The views expressed are those of the author and not of any other affiliation.
