Pentagon officials testified Tuesday on Capitol Hill for the first time in half a century about the possibility that we are not alone in the universe.
Two members of the Pentagon's new task force investigating unidentified aerial phenomena shared newly declassified video of strange objects flying near U.S. fighter jets.
The defense officials told lawmakers they're analyzing about 400 reports of UFOs from military personnel they say the pentagon has not recovered any wreckage that leads them to believe the crafts were built or piloted by aliens, but they're still concerned.
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"UAPs pose a potential safety and security risk, we're committed to a focused effort to determine their origins," said Ronald Moultrie, the under secretary of defense for intelligence and security.
The hearing was closely watched by local UFO researchers because California has the most UFO sightings of any state, like one 2004 sighting off the coast of San Diego known as the tic tac incident.
"I am encouraged to see there is serious discussion of this subject, but I'm a little disappointed they're not being more forthcoming," said Preston Dennett, a UFO researcher and author from Reseda.
There have been hundreds of unidentified craft spotted in the air and even entering the ocean. He documented many of them in his book "Undersea UFO Base: An In-Depth Investigation of USOs in the Santa Catalina Channel" about activity near Catalina Island.
"It's clear these are material craft that are appearing on radar. They are accelerating at very high speeds. They're not using propellants as we know it, clearly an advanced technology," he said.
After Tuesday public hearing, lawmakers were given a classified briefing behind closed doors. Dennett hopes the U.S. government is slowly moving towards full disclosure.
"The majority of Americans do believe in UFOs. I think we're ready to learn the truth about this subject."
