Top 10 Moments from the Nov 13 UAP Hearing

Spearheaded by the Committee on Oversight and Accountability, the November 13th, 2024 hearing on UAPs — entitled “Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena: Exposing the Truth” — got off to a fiery start, courtesy of outspoken Republican congresswoman Nancy Mace of South Carolina. True to the committee’s goals and intentions, Mace explained that the hearing had been convened in the interest of transparency to taxpayers. Specifically, Rep. Mace addressed the need for results, whether they identify the cause and true nature of UAPs… or yield nothing at all. In perhaps her boldest moment, Mace noted that the Pentagon “has failed six consecutive audits,” and that it had never successfully passed one.

Author and media personality Elizondo held nothing back during his testimony. This probably wasn’t all that surprising to those who have followed his career. The self-described former Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program director has, since at least 2017, been vocal about what he claims is a wide-ranging government conspiracy. That would be to keep the public in the dark about UAPs, and particularly, their possible extraterrestrial origins. Although Elizondo’s statement was by far the briefest of the men called to testify in front of Congress, it’s hard to argue that it packed the biggest punch — Elizondo openly accused a “a small cadre within our own Government” of “[creating] a culture of suppression and intimidation” over the topic.

Michael Shellenberger’s testimony expressed the environmental journalist’s belief that there is “a growing body of evidence that the government is not being transparent about what it knows about unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP), formerly called UFOs.” To his point, Shellenberger shared several examples from a whistleblowers’ report that described several confounding military encounters with supposed UAPs. Most notably of all, Shellenberger revealed that he had been informed of a “3-minute-long, high-definition, full-color video of a white orb UAP coming out of the ocean approximately 20 miles off the coast of Kuwait,” declining to name his source.

Don’t worry — we’ll get to the secret, shadowy “Immaculate Constellation” and what exactly that means in a little bit. For now, though, we’ll focus on Colorado representative Lauren Boebert’s commentary on it. The controversial, outspoken congresswoman has been a staunch ally of President-elect Trump, and has repeatedly reaffirmed his false claims that his 2020 electoral defeat to Joe Biden was illegitimate. In a move that was perhaps unsurprising to those familiar with Boebert’s previously stated positions, she jokingly rattled off a list of claims that might get her in trouble with the Department of Defense — including a pointed comment about President Biden’s 2020 vote count.

Luis Elizondo’s 2024 memoir “Imminent: Inside the Pentagon's Hunt for UFOs” was an instant smash hit, debuting at #1 on the New York Times Best Seller list. Elizondo’s book details seemingly unbelievable accounts of extraterrestrial activity on U.S. soil, as well as clandestine government efforts to cover it up. Testifying before congress, Elizondo claimed that a previously-signed document limited his ability to speak publicly about UAPs, and that the material covered in “Imminent” represents what he is legally permitted to discuss. As such, Elizondo stated unequivocally that the U.S. government has been involved in UAP crash retrieval operations — and that the search for alien life definitely had an impact.

See? We told you we were getting there! Perhaps the most mysterious aspect of the much-anticipated congressional hearing, multiple participants in “Exposing the Truth” semi-seriously remarked that simply mentioning the existence of the top-secret government UAP research would get them “put on a list.” Shellenberger emerged as the main proponent of not only the program’s existence, but of its potential dangers. The author testified that “[a] source warned that simply printing the name “Immaculate Constellation” could trigger government surveillance of me under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) of whoever publishes it.” As we mentioned earlier, Shellenberger declined to divulge the nature of any of his sources, but confirmed that they are either present or former U.S. government officials.

In stark contrast to Elizondo and Shellenberger’s testimonies, ex-NASA official Michael Gold struck a light, even occasionally humorous tone in his. Gold emphasized the instrumental roles that science and academia carry out in helping to shape our understanding of the world, and included the formal study of UAPs under that umbrella. For context, Gold has worked as NASA’s former associate administrator of space policy and partnerships and is currently the chief growth officer at Redwire, an aerospace manufacturer. It also seems important to note that, while employed at NASA, Gold was a member of its independent UAP study team. In his testimony, Gold was optimistic about the part his former employer could play in combatting the stigmatization of UAP research.

The former Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere under President Donald Trump is a well-known member of the UFO community, and a major proponent of declassifying UAP research in the interest of public awareness. Gallaudet’s testimony painted an alarming picture of not only what UAPs may be capable of, but the dangers inherent in allowing for overprotective, overreaching government secrecy on the matter. The retired Rear Admiral described his involvement with the “Go Fast” video, one of the most famous depictions of a UAP to date. Gallaudet testified that an email containing the video had been scrubbed from his account, as well as the accounts of other officials to whom he’d spoken.

While the content of its testimonies varied significantly, one theme was a constant presence throughout “Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena: Exposing the Truth,” and could even be described as its goal. That theme? The fact that Americans should never fear the consequences of speaking out in service of what they feel is right. In this case, that would be the stigma associated with UAP whistleblowing — Gold, Shellenberger, Elizondo, and Gallaudet all decried the alleged culture of silence and fear that prevented further study of UAPs. In particular, Gold noted that “[t]he stigma prevents scientific inquiry, the best tool that we have to understand anomalies, from being fully applied.”

Overall, members of the public who were hungry for drama or earth-shattering revelations may have left the hearing disappointed. The general tone was cordial, and everyone involved spoke their mind without any great resistance from the congressional panel. However, this is with the notable exception of what threatened to be a heated exchange between Luis Elizondo and Florida house rep Jared Moskowitz. The congressman jokingly referred to himself as a “recovering lawyer” before pressing Elizondo on the documents that would guarantee his silence. At one point, a comparison to the 1999 film “Fight Club” caused the chamber to burst into laughter. Refreshingly, the exchange never devolved into mudslinging or name-calling — an outcome that seems almost unfathomable in 2024.


What do you think will come of “Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena: Exposing the Truth?” Let us know in the comments below!