# Should Congress hold hearings about UFOs? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [May 10, 2001, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-congress-hold-hearings-about-ufos/65009 "2001-05-10T17:07:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![minty\_green](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@minty\_green](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minty_green)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2001, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-congress-hold-hearings-about-ufos/65009/1 "2001-05-10T17:07:59Z")
There’s a new twist on the otherwise tired old story of flying saucers. According to this [abcnews.com story](http://abcnews.go.com/sections/scitech/DailyNews/ufo010509.html), a group of former government workers who claim to have knowledge of a UFO cover-up are calling for Congressional hearings on the subject. So what do you think? Is a House Subcommittee on UFOs a good idea or a bad one? Personally, I can’t see that it would do any good, since the true believers will just chalk up any negative findings to the usual conspiracy to hide the little green men and their double-exposed spacecraft. But I suppose it would be interesting to let the buffs open up the National Archives and see what they come up with. Incidentally, anyone who has information debunking the story’s alleged witnesses should feel free to debunk to your heart’s content. I’m especially interested in this story, since I haven’t ever heard the claim before: > [@](#): > > Former Air Force Maj. George Filer III told reporters that when he was at McGuire Air Force Base in New Jersey, an alien craft came down, and an alien got out and was shot by a military policeman. > > "Our security police went out there and found him at the end of the runway dead, Filer said. > > “They asked me to brief the general staff,” he said, but was later told not to. He said he would tell the story in front of Congress. ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2001, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-congress-hold-hearings-about-ufos/65009/2 "2001-05-10T19:14:32Z")
There have already been congressional actions related to UFOs. It was a congressman’s determination over the Roswell incident that eventually got the Project Mogul documents declassified. (Not that this deterred any of the Roswell-alien buffs, of course.) ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2001, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-congress-hold-hearings-about-ufos/65009/3 "2001-05-10T21:16:21Z")
What happened to the alien craft? When will Congress investigate the Bermuda Triangle? What about the Philadelphia incident? Why am I asking these questions? ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2001, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-congress-hold-hearings-about-ufos/65009/4 "2001-05-10T22:12:53Z")
> [@](#): > > Why am I asking these questions? I blame the mind-control rays coming from that secret Major League Baseball satellite. ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2001, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-congress-hold-hearings-about-ufos/65009/5 "2001-05-11T02:29:52Z")
[_giggling helplessly, barely able to type_] Oh, absolutely, and [here’s](http://www.pulsarnet.com/petition.htm) a link to an e-mail petition, to beg Congress to take the matter of UFOs in hand and give America the Straight Dope. Notice that it specifies that anyone who agrees to testify will be given immunity. From what, exactly, it doesn’t say. Maybe violation of the Prime Directive? [_going out to kitchen to renew tinfoil_] ---
**Author:** ![minty\_green](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@minty\_green](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minty_green)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2001, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-congress-hold-hearings-about-ufos/65009/6 "2001-05-11T03:08:41Z")
Dang it, **Duck** , you don’t actually believe I think the loonies are right, do you? Besides, I’ve already fulfilled the SDMB’s [quota for the day.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?postid=1310823#post1310823) My question is serious. Would it be worthwhile on any level to have Congress look into the allegations that “the government” is covering up evidence about UFOs? [loonie-retardant suit] I do not believe for a second such hearings would reveal even the tiniest bit of convincing evidence that flying saucers exist, much less turn up alien autopsy photos or a plasmatronic hyperspacial warp drive quisinart. [/loonie-retardant suit] The question is whether hearings would serve any worthwhile purpose. ---
**Author:** ![Tejota](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@Tejota](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tejota)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2001, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-congress-hold-hearings-about-ufos/65009/7 "2001-05-11T04:35:35Z")
I mean, if there really _were_ some sort of vast coverup and the hearings exposed everything, then it would be worthwhile. But that doesn’t seem very likely. [sub]understatement[/sub] So if congress held hearings and found there to be no basis for believing that there was a coverup. Wouldn’t the loonies just think that the hearings were part of the coverup? There isn’t any way to demonstrate to them that they are wrong, and it isn’t possible to show they are right. So just ignore them. tj ---
**Author:** ![Abe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f1d935/32.png) [@Abe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Abe)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2001, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-congress-hold-hearings-about-ufos/65009/8 "2001-05-11T05:19:24Z")
Like Tj said, there would be no point. The claims of UFO buffs are all unfalsifiable and it is therefore pointless to address them. There is no evidence acceptable to the UFO buffs that will prove that there is no reliable information on being visited by aliens. Whenever one of their avenues collapses, they come up with unfounded qualifiers (e.g. “even though the vast majority of UFO sightings have been explained as human or natural phenomena, there are still unexplained sightings and those must be real”) or with entirely new avenues (e.g. “in fact, the aliens have mastered invisibility and we cannot see them until they abduct us”). “I want to believe” is not at all the same thing as “I want to find out the truth”. I’m surprised they used the former in the X-Files when Mulder’s purpose was supposedly to uncover the truth–that’s a massive contradiction. In fact, I suspect the X-Files have contributed to the UFO buff cause. The only way to get rid of these beliefs and conspiracy theories is to educate the population, and that’s a long way away. Abe ---
**Author:** ![jack\_ss](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c77e96/32.png) [@jack\_ss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jack_ss)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2001, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-congress-hold-hearings-about-ufos/65009/9 "2001-05-11T05:49:38Z")
> [@](#): > > in fact, the aliens have mastered invisibility and we cannot see them until they abduct us"). I don’t know about invisibility, but I know they can shape-shift. I have noticed that UFOs turn into 747s when approching a commercial airport. I’ve _seen_ 'em do it! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2001, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-congress-hold-hearings-about-ufos/65009/10 "2001-05-11T06:05:05Z")
Why not? It might be fun. Our government’s gotten way too stodgy in the last few months. I’ll go read **minty green’s** link now. Peace, mangeorge ---
**Author:** ![Abe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f1d935/32.png) [@Abe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Abe)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2001, 10:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-congress-hold-hearings-about-ufos/65009/11 "2001-05-11T10:33:02Z")
> [@](#): > > I don’t know about invisibility, but I know they can shape-shift. I have noticed that UFOs turn into 747s when approching a commercial airport. I’ve seen 'em do it! Goddamnit! I hope for the sake of humankind that 747s come with licence plates! ---
**Author:** ![Wrath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ee7513/32.png) [@Wrath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wrath)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2001, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-congress-hold-hearings-about-ufos/65009/12 "2001-05-11T12:22:49Z")
> [@](#): > > I don’t know about invisibility, but I know they can shape-shift. I have noticed that UFOs turn into 747s when approching a commercial airport. I’ve _seen_ 'em do it! > \*\* I’m _pretty_ sure that’s illegal by order of the FAA. You’d think these extraterrestrial masterminds could at least _study_ the laws of the people they intend to invade. Sheesh. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Miskatonic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.miskatonic/32/310_2.png) [@Mr.Miskatonic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Miskatonic)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2001, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-congress-hold-hearings-about-ufos/65009/13 "2001-05-11T16:42:20Z")
Has anyone noticed that UFO’s are in a real decline as a newage subject. I mean, sure there’s still the usual background noise of mindless support any such gobblde-gook gets, but if you look at things: 1. When was the last real big “UFO” incident? This field has been feeding off the corpse of a bunch of deacdes old reports and cases. I think a london based UFO group folded due to the lack of new cases. 2. Technology kills: Why is it that in spite of the proliferation of video cameras since the late 80’s, the number of filmed & or photgraphed photos has gone down? You’d think all those cameras would mean UFO’s video’s galore, but instead we get useless stuff like a blinking light at a mexican airshow (that behaved a lot like a child’s mylar balloon). If the pre-video revolution was any indication, we should have seen tons more of this stuff around. 3. Side-step to paranoia: IT seems that UFO buffs these are less concerned with case and more concerned with just plain ol’ being paranoid about the guv’mint. They’ve either concentrated on Area 51 nonsense, or are now gazing at jet contrails and declaring them to be ‘chemtrails’. What a waste of time. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2001, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-congress-hold-hearings-about-ufos/65009/14 "2001-05-11T16:52:49Z")
“I don’t know about invisibility, but I know they can shape-shift.” —Ahhh, that’s nuthin’, so can I. Twenty years ago I was a shapely pin-up girl, and I have shape-shifted into a middle-aged dowager. ---
**Author:** ![manhattan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manhattan/32/7_2.png) [@manhattan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manhattan)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2001, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-congress-hold-hearings-about-ufos/65009/15 "2001-05-11T17:00:41Z")
I think that Congress should. It’d keep them out of the over-legislating business for a while, and it would provide some laughs. Because I tell ya, this Robert Blake thing isn’t going to be _nearly_ as entertaining as OJ, and we don’t have Clinton around anymore, so we need something. ---
**Author:** ![Pyrrhonist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/919ad9/32.png) [@Pyrrhonist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pyrrhonist)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2001, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-congress-hold-hearings-about-ufos/65009/16 "2001-05-11T17:45:07Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mr. Miskatonic \* > \*\*Has anyone noticed that UFO’s are in a real decline as a newage subject. \*\* I read an article on net somewhere, I’m too lazy to look it up, that claims UFOs aren’t sighted in great numbers anymore because they’re finished with Project Earth. Kind of a cop out explanation if you ask me. Maybe the magickians can cast a spell for the UFOs to return. As for the congress holding hearings—-okay, but only it’s on pay per view. Taking money from fools would be easy this way. The funds collected could reduce taxes and reduce the debt and pay for another round of congressional raises. ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2001, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-congress-hold-hearings-about-ufos/65009/17 "2001-05-11T17:52:12Z")
Well, actually, Minty, the first thing that popped into my head when I read your thread title was, “Oh, yeah, right, we all know how effective Congressional hearings are at actually changing anything.” :rolleyes: I mean, look at the Alar thing. We the American Public got to hear Meryl Streep testify about bad stuff on apples, and then–and then the whole thing just sort of went away. So maybe we _should_ have Congressional hearings about UFOs. We’d get to hear movie stars testify about their personal UFO experiences, which would IMO be much more entertaining than hearing about their personal drug experiences, and then–and then the whole thing would just sort of go away. So maybe it’s not such a bad idea. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2001, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-congress-hold-hearings-about-ufos/65009/18 "2001-05-11T18:42:42Z")
Duck Duck Goose wrote: > [@](#): > > “Oh, yeah, right, we all know how effective Congressional hearings are at actually changing anything.” :rolleyes: > > I mean, look at the Alar thing. We the American Public got to hear Meryl Streep testify about bad stuff on apples, and then–and then the whole thing just sort of went away. [This](http://www.acsh.org/publications/priorities/0301/alar.html) may have had something to do with it. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2001, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-congress-hold-hearings-about-ufos/65009/19 "2001-05-11T22:58:56Z")
Or maybe [this](http://www.ewg.org/pub/home/reports/alar/alar.html). ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2001, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-congress-hold-hearings-about-ufos/65009/20 "2001-05-12T00:55:38Z")
Both of those sites talk of panic. So have other articles I’ve read.I don’t remember any panic. Quite a bit of blah-blah and tossing of apples, but nothing like a panic, fer crissakes. Lookee here; from [m-w.com](http://m-w.com); > [@](#): > > 1 : a sudden overpowering fright; especially : a sudden unreasoning terror often accompanied by mass flight Mass flight? 😃 Peace, mangeorge [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-congress-hold-hearings-about-ufos/65009.md?page=2)