Top US Defense Officials Testify about Unexplained Flying Objects
2022-05-19
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1Two top U.S. Defense Department officials have testified in Congress about military sightings of unexplained flying objects.
2The officials told a House Intelligence subcommittee Tuesday the U.S. military is fully prepared to keep investigating the origins of the objects.
3The Defense Department calls the objects "unidentified aerial phenomena," or UAPs.
4UAPs are also commonly known as unidentified flying objects, or UFOs.
5The two defense intelligence officials were testifying in the first public congressional hearing on the subject in more than 50 years.
6The last such hearings took place in the 1960s.
7The House hearing came after the release of a U.S. government intelligence report on UAPs last year.
8That report, ordered by Congress, documented more than 140 cases of UAPs observed by U.S. military pilots since 2004.
9One of those testifying at Tuesday's hearing was Scott Bray.
10He is deputy director of naval intelligence.
11He told House members that the official number of UAP sightings recorded by a newly formed Defense Department group had grown to more than 400.
12The two officials said investigations were ongoing into the reported sightings.
13They added, however, that many of the cases remain outside the government's ability to explain.
14The defense officials were asked whether some of the sightings might have originated from extraterrestrial beings.
15The term extraterrestrial describes things that exist or originate from outside Earth or its atmosphere.
16Bray told the hearing that, so far, the Defense Department had discovered no "material" suggesting that any of the sightings were "non-terrestrial in origin."
17However, he added that military and intelligence experts have not ruled that possibility out.
18The officials said department investigators aimed to follow any evidence of UAP sightings as far as it leads them.
19They noted that the military's main interest in unexplained objects is that they present possible national security threats.
20The other official who testified was Ronald Moultrie.
21He is the Defense Department's undersecretary for intelligence and security.
22He also heads the Pentagon's latest UAP investigative team.
23Moultrie told the hearing that UAP sightings by military members represent possible flight safety risks, as well as general security concerns.
24Because of this, he said, investigators hope to "determine their origins."
25Moultrie said the department had sought to urge pilots and other military members to report any unusual objects they see.
26He told lawmakers, "We want to know what's out there as much as you want to know what's out there."
27Bray presented two short videos of UAP sightings.
28One showed flashing, triangle-shaped objects in the sky.
29The objects were later judged to be elements of light passing through night-vision glasses.
30The other showed a bright, rounded object speeding past a military aircraft's window.
31Bray said that sighting remains unexplained.
32Last year's report on UAPs described sightings of unexplained objects that appeared to show speed and movements not seen in existing flying technology.
33Such objects appeared to lack traditional propulsion or flight control systems.
34Propulsion is the force that moves something forward.
35Bray said those incidents, including one described by Navy pilots, are among the cases still considered "unresolved."
36The 2021 report said more data and examinations were needed to identify whether such objects might represent new systems being developed by a foreign power such as China or Russia.
37The subcommittee's top Republican, Rick Crawford, said he was in favor of the UAP investigative effort.
38But he added that he was "more interested" in gaining a better understanding of Chinese and Russian hypersonic weapon development.
39Hypersonic is a term that relates to speeds of more than five times the speed of sound.
40In addition to flying at extremely high speeds, hypersonic weapons are also designed to move in ways that make them difficult to find and destroy in flight.
41Crawford added: "The inability to understand objects in our sensitive operating areas is tantamount to intelligence failure that we certainly want to avoid."
42I'm Bryan Lynn.
1Two top U.S. Defense Department officials have testified in Congress about military sightings of unexplained flying objects. 2The officials told a House Intelligence subcommittee Tuesday the U.S. military is fully prepared to keep investigating the origins of the objects. The Defense Department calls the objects "unidentified aerial phenomena," or UAPs. UAPs are also commonly known as unidentified flying objects, or UFOs. 3The two defense intelligence officials were testifying in the first public congressional hearing on the subject in more than 50 years. The last such hearings took place in the 1960s. 4The House hearing came after the release of a U.S. government intelligence report on UAPs last year. That report, ordered by Congress, documented more than 140 cases of UAPs observed by U.S. military pilots since 2004. 5One of those testifying at Tuesday's hearing was Scott Bray. He is deputy director of naval intelligence. He told House members that the official number of UAP sightings recorded by a newly formed Defense Department group had grown to more than 400. 6The two officials said investigations were ongoing into the reported sightings. They added, however, that many of the cases remain outside the government's ability to explain. 7The defense officials were asked whether some of the sightings might have originated from extraterrestrial beings. The term extraterrestrial describes things that exist or originate from outside Earth or its atmosphere. 8Bray told the hearing that, so far, the Defense Department had discovered no "material" suggesting that any of the sightings were "non-terrestrial in origin." However, he added that military and intelligence experts have not ruled that possibility out. 9The officials said department investigators aimed to follow any evidence of UAP sightings as far as it leads them. They noted that the military's main interest in unexplained objects is that they present possible national security threats. 10The other official who testified was Ronald Moultrie. He is the Defense Department's undersecretary for intelligence and security. He also heads the Pentagon's latest UAP investigative team. 11Moultrie told the hearing that UAP sightings by military members represent possible flight safety risks, as well as general security concerns. Because of this, he said, investigators hope to "determine their origins." 12Moultrie said the department had sought to urge pilots and other military members to report any unusual objects they see. He told lawmakers, "We want to know what's out there as much as you want to know what's out there." 13Bray presented two short videos of UAP sightings. One showed flashing, triangle-shaped objects in the sky. The objects were later judged to be elements of light passing through night-vision glasses. The other showed a bright, rounded object speeding past a military aircraft's window. Bray said that sighting remains unexplained. 14Last year's report on UAPs described sightings of unexplained objects that appeared to show speed and movements not seen in existing flying technology. Such objects appeared to lack traditional propulsion or flight control systems. Propulsion is the force that moves something forward. Bray said those incidents, including one described by Navy pilots, are among the cases still considered "unresolved." 15The 2021 report said more data and examinations were needed to identify whether such objects might represent new systems being developed by a foreign power such as China or Russia. 16The subcommittee's top Republican, Rick Crawford, said he was in favor of the UAP investigative effort. But he added that he was "more interested" in gaining a better understanding of Chinese and Russian hypersonic weapon development. 17Hypersonic is a term that relates to speeds of more than five times the speed of sound. In addition to flying at extremely high speeds, hypersonic weapons are also designed to move in ways that make them difficult to find and destroy in flight. 18Crawford added: "The inability to understand objects in our sensitive operating areas is tantamount to intelligence failure that we certainly want to avoid." 19I'm Bryan Lynn. 20Reuters and The Associated Press reported on this story. Bryan Lynn adapted the reports for VOA Learning English. 21We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page. 22____________________________________________________________________ 23Words in This Story 24testify - v. to say what you know or believe is true in a court of law or a congressional hearing 25origins - n. the cause of something or where something comes from 26aerial - adj. in or from the air, especially from an aircraft 27phenomena - n. something that exists or happens, usually something unusual 28determine - v. to discover the facts or truth about something 29flash - v. to shine brightly and suddenly 30tantamount - adj. to be almost as bad as something else