A House Intelligence subcommittee will today hold a hearing about unidentified flying objects and the possibility that we have encounted alien life.
Testimony is expected from many high-ranking intelligence and defense officials. It follows a report on UAPs last year which found that there were 144 encounters between 2004 and 2021.
(Adam Smith. “UFO news – live: Pentagon officials to give evidence to senate panel.” https://news.yahoo.com/ufos-live-pentagon-officials-evidence-090648358.html?fr=yhssrp_catchall. Independent. May 17, 2022.)
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.”
(Adam Smith. “UFO news – live: Pentagon officials to give evidence to senate panel.” https://news.yahoo.com/ufos-live-pentagon-officials-evidence-090648358.html?fr=yhssrp_catchall. Independent. May 17, 2022.)
At the hearing, the defense officials are expected to play videos of some of the encounters that military personnel have had with UAPs (unidentified aerial phenomena) to demonstrate how investigators try to determine what is going on in the incidents, according to a U.S. Official.
The public's renewed interest in UFOs has been sparked in recent years by the leaks of once classified videos and the Navy's declassification of videos that recorded its pilots' encounters.
UFO Reality
Without a doubt, UFOs are real – people have sighted “unidentified flying objects” throughout recorded history. However, the speculation about whether these objects are alien spacecrafts continues. A UFO is simply defined as “any unexplained moving object observed in the sky” although no orthodox scientific explanation may yet be found.
The current investigation is a direct response to public pressure and indicates the response of the national government representing the citizens and their interests. The conversation about UFOs can finally be held without ridicule or stigma. It upholds the search for scientific proof and legitimizes the study. I believe it is worthy of all the fuss and conducive to progress.
Congressional oversight committees have been investigating the claims since 2017 after Politico and The New York Times dropped a series of bombshell reports on the Pentagon's secret UFO research office, and the testimonies of the Navy pilots and radar crew who had encountered the strange aerial objects.
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. If the experts still haven't ruled out an extraterrestrial explanation, representatives could also ask them to give further details on the UAPs' potential methods of propulsion, alongside any exotic material that could have been collected from them.
Tomorrow's hearing "will give the public an opportunity to hear directly from subject matter experts, and leaders in the intelligence community, on one of the greatest mysteries of our time," said Rep. Adam Schiff, chairman of the House intelligence committee. He added that the hearing would "break the cycle of excessive secrecy and speculation with truth and transparency."
(Ben Turner. “Pentagon UFO sightings will finally be publicly aired at a Congressional hearing tomorrow.” https://www.livescience.com/first-ufo-hearing-in-50-years. Live Science. May 16, 2022.)
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The “Gimbal Incident”
Ultimately, it takes one credible, meticulously analyzed incident to make a compelling case that UFOs exhibit extraordinary technology. Marik von Rennenkampff, Opinion Contributor of The Hill, writes: “Thanks to repeatable, verifiable geometrical reconstructions backed by credible witness testimony, the 'Gimbal' incident is that case.”
First revealed in late 2017 in The New York Times, the “Gimbal” video is arguably the most recognizable UFO footage in the public domain. Intense interest on Capitol Hill ultimately led the aviator who recorded the video to brief Congress on the encounter.
In recent months, a small group of UFO sleuths conducted meticulous geometrical analyses of the “Gimbal” incident. They found a highly anomalous flight path for the UFO that, combined with radar observations and credible eyewitness descriptions, confirm that the “Gimbal” object exhibited breakthrough technologies.
Allow me to use one source to describe the Gimbal incident. Please understand that the explanation is taken directly from The Hill. Access the entire article here: https://thehill.com/opinion/3488406-ufo-sleuths-make-extraordinary-discoveries-congress-should-take-note/.
The following is a summary of the case:
According to former Navy F/A-18F fighter pilot Ryan Graves, the Jan. 2015 “Gimbal” encounter occurred as dozens of aviators observed highly anomalous objects, via multiple sensor platforms, on a daily basis. The UFOs, which lacked obvious control surfaces, wings or discernible means of propulsion, remained stationary over the ground — regardless of wind — or moved at considerable speeds for far longer than conventional aircraft.
Graves, who was airborne during the “Gimbal” encounter, recalls that the object seen in the video trailed a “fleet” of four or five of the UFOs typically observed by aviators.
According to Graves, the “Gimbal” object flew remarkably slowly — around 100 knots — at an altitude of approximately 20,000 feet. At such low airspeeds, conventional aircraft are at the cusp of an aerodynamic stall (when an aircraft’s wings no longer generate sufficient lift to fly, let alone maneuver).
Graves, who observed the engagement via his overhead radar display, recalls the slow-moving UFO coming to an apparent stop and, remarkably, reversing direction without turning. Perhaps most intriguingly, the object appeared to rotate in the direction of its flight path.
Steve Justice, noted aerospace engineer and former director of Advanced Systems at Lockheed’s famed “Skunk Works” division, is perplexed by the “Gimbal” video.
According to Justice, when flying at the “Gimbal” object’s altitude, “you want to be up at several hundred miles per hour because the air density is starting to go down, the wings aren’t working so well.” “For the airplanes I would design, to do 100 knots at that altitude [would] require pretty big wings.”
Yet the “Gimbal” UFO has no discernible wings. Nor, for that matter, does it have obvious means of propulsion which under normal circumstances would create a distinctive exhaust plume in infrared video.
Moreover, according to Justice, “I just don’t know of anything that … rotate[s] 90 degrees to flight and decelerate[s] almost to a stop.”
Armed with four detailed, independent geometrical reconstructions of the “Gimbal” encounter, a small group of UFO sleuths has confirmed that the UFO’s flight path matches Justice’s comments, making a conclusive case that the object demonstrated extraordinary technology. (UFO skeptic Mick West developed the most sophisticated of these reconstructions, an interactive simulation that allows users to view the flight path for the “Gimbal” object at various distances.)
Graves, the former fighter pilot, has stated on several occasions that the UFO in the “Gimbal” encounter was approximately 10 nautical miles away from the jet that recorded the video. When viewed from above at this distance, the flight path of the object found by these four models is a remarkable match with what Graves observed on his display.
Readers can view the object’s trajectory on West’s simulator by setting “LOS Traversal Method” to “Straight Line” and “TGT Start Distance NM” to “10.”
Access the simulator by clicking here: https://metabunk.org/sitrec/.
In an interview, Marik von Rennenkampff showed the simulation to Graves, who told him that it “appeared the same, in my mind, as what I saw on the situational awareness page [an overhead radar display].” In fact, Graves reached out to the aviator who recorded the video because the simulation is “such a good replica” of the encounter.
Perhaps most intriguingly, the object’s highly anomalous rotation coincides with the curved flight path found by the four geometric reconstructions.
(Marik von Rennenkampff. “UFO sleuths make extraordinary discoveries; Congress should take note.” https://thehill.com/opinion/3488406-ufo-sleuths-make-extraordinary-discoveries-congress-should-take-note/. The Hill. May 15, 2022.)
For the reader's edification, allow me to post this CBS “60 Minutes” segment (May 16, 2021) in which Bill Whitaker reports on the regular sightings of unidentified aerial phenomena, or UAP, that have spurred a report due to Congress. Click here to watch the Youtube video of Whitaker's segment:
Von Rennenkampff writes that UFO skeptics like West have a wholly different perspective. For one, they dismiss the remarkable congruence among the eyewitness accounts, the flight path found by the geometrical models at the distance described by eyewitnesses and the rotation of the object. Instead, skeptics claim, the “Gimbal” UFO is nothing more than the infrared heat signature from the engines of a mysterious jet some 30 miles in the distance.
Von Rennenkampff ultimately concludes: “But the staggering number of ultra-low probability assumptions demanded by this theory would make Occam (of Occam’s Razor fame) spin in his grave. Perhaps most importantly, the latest iteration of West’s simulation does not show a simple trajectory for a plane 30 miles (or farther) in the distance.
While understandably uninterested in engaging in ceaseless nitpicking over the “Gimbal” encounter, Graves pushed back strongly on the “distant jet” theory, telling von Rennenkampff, “There’s zero doubt in my mind that [the “Gimbal” object] was under 10 [nautical] miles [away] … to think that there’s just [infrared] glare popping up at 30 miles away shows a lack of understanding of the tactical systems and how they operate.”
So, What's “Up”?
I really don't know about UFO origins. Do you? I do know the topic of UFOs and the investigation by the House Intelligence Subcommittee stirs the imagination of all inquisitive human beings. In doing so, I firmly believe it will stimulate new interest in the “friendly skies” above. Not only does UFO study represent an opportunity for the military to improve its identification processes, but also the careful consideration fuels minds to explore the mysteries of the universe and beyond.
I say that because the ripples of this study will surely extend into further scientific research. Perhaps, UFOs will finally rise above their status as science fiction props as the “unidentified” becomes more understood. Whatever they are, they excite our curiosity. Socrates said, “Wonder is the beginning of wisdom.” I believe this to be so true.
“Nothing whets the intelligence more than a passionate suspicion, nothing develops all the faculties of an immature mind more than a trail running away into the dark.”
– Stefan Zweig, The Burning Secret and other stories
Lisa Yaszek, a regents professor of science fiction studies at Georgia Tech, says UFOs, whether real or imagined, have long served as "funhouse mirrors to ourselves as humans."
"They represent both the familiar and the unfamiliar," she says. "When we speculate about UFOs, we're also speculating about our hopes and fears, about our best and our worst selves and our society and even our species."
(Charles Trepany. “Why are we so obsessed with UFOs? Here’s how aliens invaded (and conquered) pop culture.” https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/why-are-we-so-obsessed-with-ufos-here-e2-80-99s-how-aliens-invaded-and-conquered-pop-culture/ar-AALp34h. USA TODAY. June 24, 2021.)
The unknown, curiosity, suspicion, wonder – what's not to love? As a child I remember my first encounter with Peter Pan and the rule-bound adult world and its interaction with the wild, magical child world. The children’s make-believe world becomes a reality in Neverland, and for Peter, imagination and reality are one. That theme thrilled me to no end then, and it continues to rock my world.
Over and over, I am amazed to discover that truth is much more interesting … and considerably more challenging to accept … than fiction. In 1897 Mark Twain released a travel book titled Following the Equator: A Journey Around the World, and the fifteenth chapter presented the following epigraph: “Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities; Truth isn’t.”
What are the possibilities of alien life and UFO contact? That may depend upon future study. But, one thing is clear: to conclude that these things are “impossible” short-circuits wonder and stagnates human discovery. So, young folks, twist and bend and expand that glorious imagination as it leads you to find new and amazing discoveries every day.
I believe anything imaginable is possible. Let my soul and spirit fly on the ships that defy human knowledge of my time. I know history will support my wings.
From “On Imagination”
By Phillis Wheatley
Now here, now there, the roving Fancy flies,
Till some lov'd object strikes her wand'ring eyes,
Whose silken fetters all the senses bind,
And soft captivity involves the mind.
Imagination! who can sing thy force?
Or who describe the swiftness of thy course?
Soaring through air to find the bright abode,
Th' empyreal palace of the thund'ring God,
We on thy pinions can surpass the wind,
And leave the rolling universe behind:
From star to star the mental optics rove,
Measure the skies, and range the realms above.
There in one view we grasp the mighty whole,
Or with new worlds amaze th' unbounded soul.
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