The long-awaited hearing, which promised to “pull back the curtain” on UFOs, heard from witnesses about suspected secret crash recovery programs, communications with non-human intelligence and government threats against whistleblowers.
Wednesday's U.S. Congressional hearing on UAPs entitled “Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena: The Truth Revealed” featured the following testimony: Dr. Tim Gallaudetretired U.S. Navy rear admiral and former Department of Defense official Luis Elizondoformer NASA administrator michael gold and independent journalists michael shellenberger.
Much of the testimony was rehashed from previous public allegations, including those made in Elizondo's book. August Memoir Little new evidence was also presented about his role in the Pentagon's UFO program.
“This hearing was designed to help Congress and the American people learn about the scope of our government's programs and activities regarding UAPs and the knowledge they have generated,” said Republican Co-Chair Nancy Mace. “We're here,” said Republican Co-Chair Nancy Mace. opening statement.
“This, of course, includes any knowledge of technology of extraterrestrial or non-human origin. If government-funded research on UAPs yields no useful knowledge, we need to know that as well. Taxpayers have a right to know how much is being spent. They should not be kept in the dark to avoid any embarrassment to the Department of Defense.”
Most importantly, Mr. Shellenberger provided the Committee with a copy of an 11-page whistleblower report describing various types of whistleblowing. UAP evidence It has been illegally withheld by the U.S. Congress, including an unauthorized Special Access Program (USAP) that collects military intelligence data on UAPs called “Immaculate Constellation.”
The Pentagon categorically denied the existence of such a program last month after some of the anonymous whistleblower's claims were first reported in Shellenberger's book. public Substack blog.
The full text of the document includes numerous records of UAP encounters or observations, such as a “large disc-shaped UAP” 200 to 400 meters in diameter seen on satellite images emerging from thick clouds and then suddenly changing direction. listed.
“This behavior was evasive in nature and implied that the saucer-shaped UAP was aware that it was being monitored by a space-based collection platform,” the document said.
It also describes the form and operation of the most common types of UAPs as reported by government witnesses, including pilots, from 1991 to 2022.
The most commonly reported shape is a sphere or orb, followed by a saucer or saucer, and an oval vessel such as a “tic-tac.”
Triangle, boomerang, and arrowhead shapes were “the rarest,” but there were also rare reports of “irregular or organic” shapes like “floating brains” and “jellyfish.” It has “multiple arms or spars hanging downward.”
The US government is said to have infrared footage of such “Jellyfish” UAPs flying across the southern border with Mexico.
“Video footage of this unmanned aircraft violating airspace on the southern border was similar in appearance and behavior to similar unmanned aircraft observed near Department of Defense facilities in Iraq and Afghanistan,” the document said.
Gallaudet said in written testimony that he became “convinced that UAPs were interacting with humanity” in January 2015, when an email mysteriously disappeared from his inbox on the Navy's secure network. He said that was when he witnessed it.
At the time, Gallaudet was serving as the commander of Naval Meteorology and Oceanography, and his men were participating in naval exercises off the east coast of the United States.
An email from an operations officer at Fleet Command to all subordinate commanders had the subject line “Urgent Flight Safety Issues” and said, “If anyone knows what these are, please let me know as soon as possible.” Please.'' was written on it. Multiple mid-air collisions have occurred, and if they are not resolved quickly, the exercise will have to be canceled. ”
Attached was a now declassified document, “Go quickly.” A work depicting an encounter between a Navy F/A-18 and an unknown object.
Gallaudet said the email disappeared from all recipients' inboxes the next day without explanation, and his superiors never discussed the incident again.
“This lack of follow-up was alarming,” he said.
“My primary mission as the Navy's Chief Meteorologist at the time was to reduce flight safety risks. But no one at the flag officer level was addressing the safety risks posed by UAPs. It was clear: Instead, pilots had to mitigate these threats on their own, without guidance or assistance. I concluded that it must have been classified within the program, a highly fragmented program that even senior officials, including myself, could not read.
Gallaudet and other witnesses decried the government's level of secrecy on the issue, arguing it poses national security and economic risks.
Elizondo said a small number of people in the government have “created a culture of repression and intimidation” and that “excessive secrecy has led to grave misdeeds against loyal public servants, military personnel and citizens. This is to hide the fact that it is.” You are not alone in the universe. ”
Kim called for an end to the “stigmatization of the UAP phenomenon.”
Democratic committee member Jared Moskowitz agreed: “Unnecessary overclassification has led to gaps in information that have fostered theories for decades.”
In response to questions from Mace, Gallaudet said he had seen a 2017 satellite image depicting the UAP, but could not reveal many details because it was “classified.”
“That was a UAP, ma’am,” he said. “The term analysts used was calling it a 'button.' It was a disc-shaped object.”
Asked if the U.S. government had run a secret UAP crash recovery program “aimed at identifying and reverse-engineering alien aircraft,” Elizondo answered emphatically, “Yes.”
He added that he was aware of discussions within the Pentagon that alien remains had been recovered “since before I was born.”
“To your knowledge, have you ever communicated with any non-human life form?” asked Republican Rep. Eric Burleson.
“The word communication is a bit of a deceiver. There's verbal communication, but the problem is there's also nonverbal communication. So I would definitely say yes,” Elizondo said.
“When Russian reconnaissance aircraft entered U.S. airspace, we scrambled two F-22s to ensure they communicated their intentions and capabilities. I think this is no different. We do these things. over U.S. controlled airspace, making it pretty clear that they even have the ability to sabotage our nuclear preparations.”
Wednesday's hearing was a sequel to a July 2023 Congressional hearing that heard from witnesses, including former intelligence officer David Groush, who claimed the U.S. had recovered a crashed non-human aircraft and remains. .
In the face of increasing calls for transparency from Congress, the Department of Defense established a new UFO investigation agency in July 2022, the All Area Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO).
AARO’s first report, released in March, “ [US government] Investigations, academically sponsored studies, or official review boards have confirmed that any sighting of a UAP represents extraterrestrial technology. ”
“AARO believes that inaccurate claims such as: [US government] is reverse engineering extraterrestrial technology and hiding it from Congress, largely as a result of circulating reports from a group of individuals who believe so despite the lack of evidence. the report states.
