Congressman Mike Gallagher has called for a serious investigation into the unidentified flying objects (UFOs) that have been reported by military personnel and captured on video by advanced sensors, reports newsweek.com.
Gallagher, a Republican who represents Wisconsin’s 8th congressional district, made the comments on Fox News on Tuesday, after the Pentagon confirmed the authenticity of a video showing a UFO flying near a U.S. Navy ship in July 2019.
The video, which was leaked online earlier this year, shows a spherical object moving erratically in the air and then diving into the ocean. The Pentagon said it was part of an ongoing investigation by the Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force (UAPTF), which was established last year to study the UFO phenomenon.
Gallagher said he was “glad” that the Pentagon was taking the issue seriously, and urged the UAPTF to release its findings to the public as soon as possible.
“I think this is a serious national security issue,” Gallagher said. “We need to get to the bottom of it. We need to declassify as much as we can. And we need to have a public conversation about what these things are and what they’re doing in our airspace.”
Gallagher said he was not a “believer” in aliens or extraterrestrial life, but he was open to all possibilities.
“I’m not saying they’re aliens. I’m not saying they’re not aliens. I’m saying we don’t know what they are, and that’s why we need to investigate,” he said.
Another hypothesis, he said, was that “as opposed to being us from the future, it could actually be an ancient civilization that’s just been hiding here and is suddenly showing itself.”
He added that he was concerned about the potential threat that these objects pose to U.S. national security and military operations.
“These things are flying with impunity in restricted airspace. They’re outmaneuvering some of our most advanced aircraft. They’re doing things that we can’t explain,” he said. “And so we need to figure out what they are, where they’re coming from, who’s operating them, and what their intentions are.”
Gallagher also said he was frustrated by the lack of transparency and accountability from the Pentagon and other agencies involved in the UFO issue.
He said he had asked for a classified briefing on the UAPTF’s work, but he had not received one yet.
He also said he had co-sponsored a bipartisan amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act, which would require the UAPTF to submit an unclassified report to Congress within 90 days of its enactment.
He said he hoped that the report would provide some answers and clarity to the American people, who have been fascinated and perplexed by the UFO phenomenon for decades.
“I think the American people deserve to know what’s going on,” he said. “And I think we owe it to our men and women in uniform who are encountering these things on a daily basis.”
