Five unanswered questions in Congress UFO hearing – from mystery ‘disarmed nukes’ and underwater craft to jammed weapons

CONGRESS held a landmark hearing on UFOs which saw spy chiefs grilled by lawmakers - but not every question was answered.

Intelligence officials repeatedly said they would have to wait for the classified section of the briefing or sometimes said they could not answer due to a lack of data.

Ronald S Moultrie, under secretary of defence for intelligence and security, and Scott W. Bray, deputy director of naval intelligence, answered questions from lawmakers on the highly controversial topic.

Security officials were forced to admit there have been 400 unexplained sightings reported by the US military - up from the 144 which were revealed last year in the Pentagon report published last June.

They also confessed there have been 11 near misses with unidentified objects and US military aircraft - and they showed two UFO videos, including one that had never been seen before, during the session.

UFOs have taken centre stage in Washington DC in a turnaround which has seen a traditionally fringe topic treated as a national security concern.

It came as the Pentagon made the historic admission last year there are objects in US airspace and near US military assets which remain unknown.

The intelligence chiefs attempted to drive home how difficult it was to identify these objects, and explained efforts to improve reporting of UFOs.

And while they did not confirm there are anything obviously alien about the craft, they did say they will chase down all possible origins.

Bray acknowledged that there have been some sightings that U.S. officials "can't explain" - only further frustrating those desperate from answers on the bizarre phenomena.

'Shut down nukes'

Congressman Mike Gallagher quizzed intelligence chiefs on the infamous 1967 Malmstrom Air Force base incident - where its claimed a UFO shut down 10 nuclear missiles.

Captain Robert Salas has gone on record - along with a number of other nuclear weapons personnel - claiming the phenomena has interfered with America's atomic arsenal.

However, when Rep. Gallagher raised this during the hearing - UAP Task Force chief Mr Bray said he had not "seen the official data".

"You're the guys investigating it, who else is doing it?" the Congressman said, appearing visibly frustrated at the answer.

Mr Moultrie then conceded the Pentagon would "take a look" if they received an official request to investigate the case.

Rep. Gallagher said: "I am bringing it to your attention, this is pretty official."

UFOs and nuclear weapons have long been intertwined, with many sightings occurring near nuke bases of nuclear-powered warships.

The hearing offered no clues as to this apparent link - and its unknown if this will be addressed in the classified section the hearing this afternoon.

Underwater UFOs

Another long speculated link is between UFOs and the sea, with some reports claiming objects have been seeing rising from or diving into the world's oceans.

Some of the most famous UFO footage appears to show an object moving seamlessly between the air and the sea.

And there have been rumours of US military submarines encountering objects travelling at "unprecedented speeds" while they are submerged.

Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi raised the issue during the hearing, but the topic was quickly shut down.

He asked if the US had any censors designed to detect such submersible objects.

Moultrie said it would have be discussed in the classified "closed session" - meaning the public may never know what is said.

Jamming weapons

Fighter pilot Lieutenant Commander Chad Underwood who encountered the infamous "Tic Tac" has previously claimed his weapons systems appeared to be jammed when he tried to lock on.

Radar jamming purposefully sends radio frequency signals which can give the receiver false information.

He said: "Once I got the target of interest on my radar I took a lock and that’s when all the kinda funky things started happening.

"The erratic nature of the tic-tac. The air speed was very telling to me. Then we started seeing what we call jam strobe lines."

Commander David Fravor - another witness to the encounter - called this an "act of war" .

He said: "The radar is smart enough that when the signal comes back, if it's been messed with, it will tell you - it will give you indications that it's being jammed.

"It's being jammed into about every mode you can see."

He then added: "When you actively jam another platform, yes it's technically an act of war."

However, Moultrie said the US currently do not know if the UFOs are actively attempting to jam US military equipment.

He explained the apparent "jamming" could be down to the way the objects are being controlled using radio frequencies.

UFO injuries

Something which remains unanswered - and was not even mentioned during the hearing - is reports of witnesses being injured by UFOs.

It has been suggested some pilots who have encountered the mysterious aircraft have suffered radiation burns.

And secret documents released from a previous UFO investigation programme revealed a host of symptoms.

Pentagon insider Lue Elizondo told  that recently declassified reports showing links between alleged sightings and injuries is likely the result of contact with “advanced technology”.

He compared potential biological damage to getting close to the engine of an aircraft.

He said: “If I'm in the cockpit or … in the aircraft, there's no real threat. But if I stand behind the engine when the engine is firing up, chances are I'm going to get burned, I'm going to lose my hearing.

“There are medical consequences.”

But as this element of the UFO mystery flew under the radar of the hearing, it is yet another unanswered question.

Russian and Chinese UFOs

If the US is experiencing a surge of UFO sightings, surely it must follow that other powers - such as Russia and China - are seeing the same?

It is an important question, especially when considering if the mysterious phenomena could be hypersonic drones used by Moscow and Beijing.

But when it was raised in the hearing, once again it was shut down and saved for the "closed session" by Moultrie.

UFOs are believed by many to be a global issue, but right now it appears the US are taking the lead on talking about it in the open

Some allied nations - such as Canada and Japan - have ordered measures to firm up reporting of the encounters, but haven't gone as far as the US.