Congress is holding its first UFO hearing in more than 50 years

Christopher Dean Hopkins, Giles Snyder | NPR

May 17th, 2022

Deputy Director of Naval Intelligence Scott Bray, left, and Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security Ronald Moultrie speak Tuesday during a House Intelligence, Counterterrorism, Counterintelligence, and Counterproliferation Subcommittee hearing on "Unidentified Aerial Phenomena" on Capitol Hill in Washington.
Alex Brandon / Alex Brandon

Congress is set to hold its first public hearing on UFOs in more than 50 years today, as the House Intelligence committee hears testimony from military officials. The 9 a.m. ET hearing will be livestreamed on the committee’s YouTube channel.

The session will include testimony from Ronald S. Moultrie, the Pentagon’s top intelligence official, and from Scott W. Bray, the deputy director of Naval intelligence.

It’s the first congressional hearing held on the subject of what are now called “unidentified aerial phenomena” since a push by then-Rep. Gerald Ford led to an Air Force report and hearing in 1969.

Congress recently mandated that the military regularly update Congress on UAPs, and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence released a report covering 143 sightings last year.

“This report is an important first step in cataloging these incidents, but it is just a first step,” Sen. Marco Rubio said in a statement at the time.

“The Defense Department and intelligence community have a lot of work to do before we can actually understand whether these aerial threats present a serious national security concern,” Rubio wrote.