UFO hearing - live: Sightings are ‘frequent and continuing’, Navy tells Congress
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A House Intelligence subcommittee will today hold a hearing about unidentified flying objects and the possibility that we have encounted alien life.
The hearing on “unidentified aerial phenomena” will be broadcast on the House Intelligence’s YouTube page at 9:00am ET (2:00pm GMT).
Testimony is expected from many high-ranking intelligence and defence officials. It follows a report on UAPs last year which found that there were 144 encounters between 2004 and 2021.
Although the report said that the evidence was “largely inconclusive”, it stated the most of the phenomena reported “do represent physical objects” and that the United States currently lack data to indicate any UAP are part of a foreign collection program or indicative of a major technological advancement by a potential adversary.”
The proceedings will be chaired by Representative Andre Carson, who said that people needed to be informed about the events.
“Congress hasn’t held a public hearing on unidentified aerial phenomena (UFO’s) in over 50 years”, he tweeted. “Americans need to know more about these unexplained occurrences.
House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff has also said that “there’s much to learn about unidentified aerial phenomena” and that “the American people deserve full transparency.”
15:28 , Adam Smith
The hearing is now recessed, to resume for the closed session where they will discuss matters that cannot publically be shared.
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“We have pulled analysis in from Space Force”, Mr Bray says.
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Leaks of material are stopped by compartmentalising information, special access programs, and controlled access programs. These are in place, with the goal to be sharing information with the appropriate analysis, according to Mr Moultrie.
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“There are elements of our government engaged in ... looking for extraterrestrial life”, Mr Moultrie says. “Our goal is not to potentially cover up something, it’s to understand what’s maybe out there”.
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There’s two competing but different narratives: no-one knows if there’s extraterrestrial life, on the other hand as the DoD there is the responsibility to maintain national security
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There have been 11 near collisions and no attempts at communication with UAPs
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“The UAP task force doesn’t have any wreckage that isn’t consistent of being with terrestrial origin”, Mr Bray says.
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Said that this is a “pretty high profile incident”, Mr Moultrie says that it was not “officially brought to our attention”.
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UAPs have flown over areas housing nuclear forces, and 10 ICBMs were rendered inoperable while a glowing red orb was seen overhead.
“That data is not within the holdings of the UAP task force”, Mr Bray said. “I have heard stories, I have not seen the official data on that”.
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“We have no material, we have [not] detected ... anything that would suggest it is non-terrestrial”, Mr Bray says, but says “we’ll go whereever the data takes us”
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“Allies have seen these. China has set up a UAP task force”, Mr Bray says. “We share data with some and some share data with us”, but not with all.
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“Many of the objects we have are physical objects”, Mr Bray says
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The hypothesis on a video of a series of triangular UAPs is that they are a series of drones due to the nature of night-vision goggles, Mr Bray says. “UAP task force are aware of studies that have [tested his hypothesis]”, Mr Brays says.
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“We make no assumption about the origins of this”, Mr Bray adds.
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18 in the report could “move at considerable speed without discernable means of propulsion”. Mr Schiff asks if we have knowledge of a foreign adversary that could manage this. Mr Bray says no, but there could be sensor artefacts that could be hiding it or other variables.
“There are a number of events where we do not have an explanation ... those are obviously the ones that are of the most interest”.
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Of the 144 reports, 80 per cent were recorded on multiple sensors. “The majority had multi-sensor data”, Mr Bray says. There are currently 400 reports, but some of these are narrative-based and historical.
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When seeing an unexplained spacecraft, aviators would contact their intelligence officer, preserve the data, fill out a form about what they would observed and other information - then that form goes through the oeprational chain of command and to the UAP task force so they can have individuals from the task force investigate, Mr Bray says
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“Sometimes it’s very fleeting data that we have”, he continues, but wants to ensure that sensors are calibrated to this data, that the data is stored in a standardised method, and have “high fidelity information”
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Mr Moultrie says he wants to encourage reporting this information becoming the norm
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“It’s not about finding alien spacecraft”, Mr Crawford says, but asks how AOIMSG can stop “intelligence surprises”
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“I don’t necessarily dress up”, he adds, but says the organisation has “character” and “we want to know what’s out there as much as you”
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“I am an inquisitive mind”, Mr Moultrie says, when asked if he is a science fiction fan.
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“There’s no other higher priority we have”, says Mr Moultrie.
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Mr Carson: “What can you say to give the American people confidence that you aren’t just focusing our attention on low hanging fruit with easy explanations?”
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“I’m impatient. I want immediate understanding as much as anyone else”, Mr Bray says, but “we’ve had to be less forthcoming ... than many would hope”
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Most UAPs fall into five categories: airborn clutter, national atmospheric phenomena, US industry development programs, foreign adversaries, or “other”, Mr Bray says
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Mr Bray is now showing an obersation in real time - the smallest flicker of a bright light in the blue sky whizzing past a pilot
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“The message is now clear: if you see something, you need to report it”, Mr Bray says.
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Incursions in our training ranges are serious hazards, Mr Bray says. Second, intrusions by unknown aircraft pose potential threats to the security of our operations because pilots “train as they would fight”.
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Scott Bray, the Deputy Director of Navy Intelligence, is now giving testimony. “Reports of sightings are frequent and continuting”, he says.
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The deparment is fully committed to the principle of transparency to the American people, but it is a “delicate balance”, Mr Moultrie says
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“We know that services members have identified unexplained ariel phenomenon”, Mr Moultrie says
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Ronald Moultrue has now began his testimony
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“The last time congress had a hearing on UAPs, it was half a century ago. I hope it does not take 50 more years for congress to hold another, because transparency is desperately needed.
Rep. Carson now turns to Mr Crawford for his statements - who says he is interested more in the intelligence that can be gathered about China and other “potential adversaries”
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“You have to convince the audience today and most especially our military and civilian aviators the culture has changed”
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Rep. Carson asks for an update on AOIMSG - “the group does not even have a named director”.
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“For too long the stigma associated with UAPs has gotten in the way of good intelligence analysis”, Rep. Andre Carson says
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The hearing has now begun - with a moment of silence for the victims of the Buffalo shooting
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At the end of last year, a US military pilot apparently tracked a “fleet” of UFOs above the South China Sea.
The video was filmed on 24 November and, according to American Military News, was uploaded to a UFO tracking website on 4 December.
The pilot can be heard saying, “I don’t know what that is,” and adds: “That is some weird s***”. The video ends with the alleged UFOs vanishing from thin air, to which the pilot says “gone”.
He was reportedly flying at an altitude of 39,000 feet above the South China Sea, not far from Hong Kong, when he witnessed the lights.
The footage, which lasts for 53-seconds, shows three sets of four lights that were flying above the clouds in unison, and that resemble no known aircraft.
A pilot claims he saw a fleet of #UFOs over the Pacific Ocean. The video was shot at around 39,000 feet. 🛸👽
The suspected #alien aircraft took the form of ‘weird’ rotating lights moving across the sky. 😳
What are your thoughts on the footage? 👀🤔 pic.twitter.com/N0I2WS2kYq— Watched (@_watched) December 7, 2021
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This month, it was reported that lawmakers are frustrated by the progress being made at the Pentagon’s Anomaly Surveillance and Resolution Office.
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It adds: “UAP clearly pose a safety of flight issue and may pose a challenge to US national security. Safety concerns primarily centre on aviators contending with an increasingly cluttered air domain. UAP would also represent a national security challenge if they are foreign adversary collection platforms or provide evidence a potential adversary has developed either a breakthrough or disruptive technology.”
Senior US officials briefing reporters anonymously about the report pointed out many of the UAP cases included in the report had been detailed by US naval aviators who told of craft showing impossible-to-explain speeds and manoeuvrability.
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A total of 143 UFO sightings since 2004 cannot be explained, the US intelligence report stated last year.
The report, by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), said that of that total, there were 21 reports of unknown phenomena related to eighteen reported events, that were beyond the known technological capabilities of America.
It also underscores a rapid and remarkable shift in the official view of UFOs, or “unidentified aerial phenomenon” (UAP), and the people who report them.
Once dismissed as the confused or misguided beliefs of conspiracy theorists, the issue has taken on a far more solid position in public discourse, mainly because so many of those reporting the sightings were members of the military. Indeed, the US Navy worked with the ODNI as part of a taskforce to probe UAP.
“This report provides an overview for policymakers of the challenges associated with characterising the potential threat posed by UAP while also providing a means to develop relevant processes, policies, technologies, and training for the US military and other US Government (USG) personnel if and when they encounter UAP, so as to enhance the Intelligence community’s ability to understand the threat,” says the report.
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After this public hearing, Congress will hold a closed, classified hearing on the activity of the Pentagon group
The group, called the Airborne Object Identification and Management Synchronization Group (AOIMSG) aims to uncover explanations for the sightings.
What the hearing will reveal isn’t clear, but pertinent questions include whether UAPs could be satellites, belong to foreign governments or be purposeful fakes.
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US representatives will question Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security Ronald Moultrie and Deputy Director of Naval Intelligence Scott Bray on UAPs.
Are UFOs being mistaken for something else?
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However, there is a concern that some of the strangest incidents are being conflated with reports about human activities such as drones and space debris.
“They’re like, you know, five things out of 5,000, we weren’t sure what they were,” said an anonymous intelligence official at the Department of Defence. He claimed that that his superiors want to treat all UAPs as “all air trash” and that the department is not addressing “the whole tapestry of the multi-tech problem that we have.”
The official added: “They really dragged their feet on this. I don’t think they have taken it very seriously.”
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“There has to be something to hold people accountable but also give them a chance to come out clean for a period of time,” the official also said, and added that there are people with knowledge of the UAPs that are yet to contribute.
“These people exist and they are protecting very interesting information,” the official said.
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According to Politico, there is a ‘tug of war’ among factions that will make it challenging to reveal information about UFOs.
“Without forcing peoples’ hand, it is going to be very difficult to uncover legacy ventures and programs that we know about based on oral interviews we dug up,” said a Defense Department official. “There has to be a forcing mechanism.”
Watch the hearing live
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The hearing will be played on the House Intelligence’s YouTube channel. The livestream - when it starts in four hours - can be watched below.
Pentagon officials to talk about UFOs
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Hello, and welcome to The Independent’s liveblog on the US House subcommittee on “unidentified aerial phenomena”
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Following this hearing, Congress will hold another, classified hearing.
This will focus on the activity of the Pentagon group — known as the Airborne Object Identification and Management Synchronization Group (AOIMSG) — which aims to provide explanations for the sightings.
It is likely that questions will include whether UAPs could be satellites, craft that are developed by international governments, or be purposeful fakes.
