Although the mainstream press have not yet paid a great deal of attention to it, our country is about to hold Congressional hearings on the subject of UFOs --as unlikely an event as I could possibly imagine. In part these hearings were set in motion by an order from the present administration making it possible for whistleblowers to come forward without fear of reprisal. Pressure from Congress on military and intelligence community sources was also hastened by recent revelations, albeit based on 3rd party assertions, from a seemingly credible member of a government agency suggesting that alien craft and technology have been in our possession for some time. On the face of it, that is an astounding statement, but hardly dispositive.
Public interest in and speculation about unidentified aerial phenomena (UFOs in 1970 speak) has been around at least as long as I have been alive, but Government inquiries date back to the late Senate Majority leader, Harry Reid. Folklore about Area 51, Roswell New Mexico and the existence of Alien beings began largely in the 50's and has only gained credence over the years. If you spend even a little time delving into the community of true believers and flim flam artists, as well as credible former military and civilian pilots and bureaucrats who populate that community your head will spin with claims and counterclaims. Tantalizing videos and photos of something—are abundant, they are the Loch Ness and Bigfoot of aerospace, but what exactly these images reveal and why they appear in our skies is abundantly murky.
What is clear is that recently, under pressure from some members of Congress the military and intel communities among others have been asked to come forward and testify and it appears they are decidedly opposed to doing so, citing issues of national security as their reason for declining. Whenever there is resistance to testimony most people assume there must be a cover up. It takes rather less to ignite the conspiracist community, which goes into overdrive. As you might imagine, any and everyone with an agenda is making noise and speculating wildly right now including those who claim NASA faked the moon landing. YouTube videos of supposedly mummified alien lizard people, interviews with former military and CIA operators are a dime a dozen. You just can't make this stuff up--well actually you can and it seems probable most of it is just that, made up.
I am of two minds on the subject--fascinated by the possibility and highly skeptical. Whenever a conspiracist claims a massive cover up by thousands or in this case tens or hundreds of thousands of individuals over many decades across multiple nations and over the course of dozens of administrations I find the logic suspect. Secrets that big are not easily kept, certainly cannot be kept for long, and cannot be kept by governmental entities. They leak like sieves. But some would say that the existence of Aliens has been leaked--hundreds --even thousands of times and then intentionally discredited by the mysterious powers that be--the men in black suits. Judge for yourselves, I'm standing by Occam's Razor.
But, all of this got me to thinking about the implications of contact with another advanced intelligence, aliens if you will. Everything stands to be up ended. What we think we know about ourselves, our planet, science, technology, and our belief systems would likely be thrown into some degree of doubt if not outright chaos. So, the stakes are high, very high, and all of this is in the oh so capable hands of members of Congress. Perhaps I am being a bit too ironic.
Now normally I regard any and all Congressional hearings as Kabuki. Political theater to put it nicely. Rarely in my lifetime has anything of consequence come from a Congressional hearing, although to be sure there are consequences as a byproduct of media attention and public perception. These hearings could be what one pundit described as a great big nothing burger or they could be an insight into advanced capabilities that our country and others do not wish to make public for precisely the reasons they have claimed. I certainly don’t know and won’t speculate on what we might hear. But just for fun allow me to offer some thoughts and questions for your consideration.
If an alien race, potentially more advanced than our own exists and has been visiting us for what may have been centuries, why do we think they are hostile? After all, if they are that far advanced they could have erased us in the blink of an eye at any time. What if we find out that it is we humans that are the hostile race?
Do Aliens believe in God? Could they shed any light on humanity’s most vexing questions—why we are here, how we were created and what is expected of us? What if they don’t believe in a higher power, or are a higher power? What do we Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus and sundry others do then?
What if we look in the mirror and see ourselves for who we are in their eyes? Will we be able to face ourselves honestly? What might Aliens think about the way we have husbanded our planet, our race?
It is exciting and not a little frightening to contemplate the idea that we are not alone. I’m not holding my breath that any great revelations are about to occur, but anything is possible given what we have already experienced in our lifetimes. In the words of Aldous Huxley, “There are things known and things unknown, and in between are the doors of perception.”
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