UFOs 'are real' and 'need to be investigated,' House committee chair says

The U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday conducted its first hearing on UFOs since 1966, CNN reports.

"Unidentified Aerial Phenomena are a potential national security threat. And they need to be treated that way," said Rep. André Carson (D-Ind.), who chairs the House Subcommittee on Counterterrorism, Counterintelligence and Counterproliferation.

The hearings revealed that there have been 11 near misses between unknown objects and U.S. military assets but that no direct evidence has been found that would indicate "either extraterrestrial life or a major technological advancement by a foreign adversary," per CNN.

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In 2020, the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence created the Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force to "destigmatize" reporting UAPs and to "standardize the collection and reporting of UAPs across the intelligence community at the unclassified level."

Witnesses said Tuesday that sightings are "frequent and continuing," with a database that tracks UAPs having grown to around 400 incidents.

"Today, we know better. UAPs are unexplained, it's true. But they are real. They need to be investigated. And any threats they pose need to be mitigated," Deputy Director of Naval Intelligence Scott Bray told the panel.