New US congressional hearings on UFOs?

Introduction

In their 21 December 2017, I-Team report, titled 'Pentagon UFO study catches attention of Congress,' George Knapp and Matt Adams, reported that:

"Former Nevada Senator Harry Reid thinks it might be time to hold Congressional hearings into the mystery surrounding UFOs."

Politico Magazine

"Politico Magazine," one of the two December 2017, US mainstream media sources to almost simultaneously publish the original story about what was then called the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP), recently launched "Politico Space." "Politico Space, the weekly must-read briefing on the policies, programs and personalities shaping the second Space Age in Washington and beyond."

On 12 April 2018, Bryan Bender and Jacqueline Klimas of Politico, hosted a panel which included House of Representatives, Representative Ami Bera, and Representative Randy Hultgren, both members of the Space Subcommittee of the House Science, Space and Technology Committee.

The following is my transcription of a video recording of the panel.

Bryan Bender: "I thought I would get all of you to weigh in on something that's a little bit out there, but we reported, as others did, late last year that the Pentagon for a number of years had run a UFO research office, that Senator Harry Reid got funded. Something he thought was important. Reports from military pilots of - they don't call them UFOs anymore. I think the term is unexplained aerial phenomenon. But I am curious of your take. I mean, you hear these reports. We have been hearing them for decades. From many credible people. Other countries take it more seriously. They have dedicated researchers in government who in the open, not in secrecy, try to explain the unexplainable. Maybe all three of you. Should we be doing more? Or is this just crazy sci-fi stuff that is a waste of time?"

Representative Bera" "Certainly piqued my interest, and I mean, I think it piques a lot of the public's interest. So yes, I got to talk to the Chairman of the subcommittee Brian Babin, as well as Lamar Smith, Chairman of the full committee. I said we ought to have a hearing on this. We ought to bring some folks in. Look, if we want to boost our C-SPAN ratings - a lot of people would be really interested, and since Lamar is retiring this year. This, this would be a great hearing to go out on.

Representative Ami Bera

I think its fascinating. We don't know what these phenomena are. Obviously, it was important enough to allocate some funds. We ought to talk about what we can talk about openly."

Representative Hultgren: "I agree. It definitely piques interest. It gets people engaged. I don't think it should be the priority of our focus, but certainly we want to get answers. There's a lot of things we don't understand and this is one of those areas we don't understand."

Representative Randy Hultgren

To The Stars Academy drops hints

In more recent times, Tom Delonge of To The Stars Academy has been dropping comments that TTSA member shave been talking to various Congressional committees, about this topic. (See update below.)

Which Committee?

So, is it likely that a Congressional committee, in 2018, will call hearings on the subject of UFOs, or perhaps, more specifically on the 2004 USS Nimitz series of incidents? If so, what committees would likely be involved?

Perhaps the most relevant are:

1. House of Representatives Armed Services Committee - Chair - Mac Thornberry.

2. House of Representatives Science, Space and Technology Committee - Chair - Lamar Smith.

3. Senate Armed Services Committee - Chair - John McCain.

Past history

Blog readers of a certain age, may recall that the US Congress previously held Congressional hearings on the subject of UFOs, way back in 1966 and 1968.

In 1966, the House Armed Services Committee convened a hearing. [5 April 1966. House Armed Services Committee (89th Congress, 2nd session.) Committee Print No. 55. "Unidentified Flying Objects."]

In 1968, the House Science and Astronautics Committee held a hearing. [29 July 1968. House Science and Astronautics Committee (90th Congress, 2nd session.) Committee Print N. 7. "Symposium on Unidentified Flying Objects.]

Update: 29 June 2018

Thank you to Paul Scott Anderson who sent me a screenshot of one of Tom Delonge's communications which, in part, read:

"To The Stars Academy has proudly been working behind the scenes for weeks briefing hi-level staff in the US government to help inform new National Security Policy dealing with the UFO subject..."

Update: 18 July 2018

Grant Cameron, on Face Book, provided the following, taken from a 'Coast to Coast' interview between George Knapp and Luis Elizondo on 15 July 2018.

Elizondo: [00:29:46] 'as far as the rumors (that Congress is looking at UFOs) are concerned I don't usually listen to rumors, but you know what they say, "usually there is some grain of truth in rumors." If members of congress are looking at this I would hope that people would give them so degree of privacy so they can look at this without any type of political pressure that may be coming from maybe some of their constituents. A lot of people are very emotional about this topic, and rightfully so. I would hope that those friends in congress, if they are being briefed on this, that they get a chance to look at all the data, not just pieces of it of the data because there is a lot, and it is not just what the Department of Defense. There are other departments and agencies who have information as well, that I have been privy to. Let them come to the conclusion themselves. Once they see all the data and talk to all the people - people like Dave Fravor who are absolute heroes. Now those people are heroes - true heroes - the Dave Fravors and the Jim Slaights of the world - and by the way there are lot more. They have not come publicly forward so I want to protect their privacy. Those are the true heroes. These are the people that are putting their professions and credibility on the line to tell the American people what they saw.I think that is tremendous, and I think the members of Congress, if they are receiving indeed receiving some of this information, if they get a chance to talk to them, they will come to the same conclusion that my office came to. I am not sure there is any other conclusion you can come to

Knapp: Can you say if you have been asked to testify? Have you appeared in front of any committee and give information?

Elizondo: I think that is a question that you would probably want to ask Congress, and the reason I say that is out of respect for Congress, whether they have or they have not. I would not want to say something that puts someone else so that now they have to answer. It is kind of like a kid with divorced parents. You don't want to ask mom something knowing that dad may or may not agree. Best to ask both at the same time.

Knapp: Ok. Well you didn't say no so we will just take it from there.'