US Congress to hold first public UFO panel in more than 50 years

The hearing follows a government report that recorded 144 cases of ‘unidentified aerial phenomena’ since 2004

Two top United States military officials are set to testify in the first public congressional hearing on “unidentified flying objects” (UFOs) in more than 50 years, Qazet.az reports.

The hearing on Tuesday comes 11 months after a US government reportdetailed 144 UFO – or as they are officially called “unidentified aerial phenomena” (UAP) – sightings by the military since 2004.

Those testifying will be Ronald Moultrie, the US defence under-secretary for intelligence and security who oversees the department’s Airborne Object Identification and Management Synchronization Group, and Scott Bray, the deputy director of naval intelligence.

Sightings of aircraft that do not appear to match known technology or that appear to defy the laws of physics have long been cited by amateur observers and sleuths as evidence of extraterrestrial life, with many speculating the US government has more evidence of alien visitors than it has revealed.

The US government has commissioned several programmes and commissions in recent decades, sometimes secretively, to look into confounding events.

Tuesday’s hearing, to be conducted by a subcommittee of the US House intelligence, will largely focus on the findings of last year’s report, which focused less on the possibility of alien life and more on the implications for US national security and aviation safety.