Is This An Episode of the X-Files?

I am a life long science fiction fan and that includes the X-Files, Fringe, and Millennium.  I consider these shows to be high quality sci-fi but at the same time don’t believe that any of this stuff happens in real life. Recent events suggest that we seem to be in the midst of some kind of mass belief system that we have not only been visited by aliens but we also possess their aircraft and have been attempting to reverse engineer it.  If that is not enough, we have biological specimens from these extraterrestrial beings and confirmation that they are not human. Further that there has been a conspiracy to cover up these events that has resulted in homicide(s) and that the motivation is the power source technology in these aircraft could destroy the fossil fuel business – hence the conspiracy.  X-Files creator Chris Carter could not have come up with a better storyline.  The only thing we are missing - agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully.  

This story rapidly unfolded as a result of Congressional testimony by Maj. David Grusch (retired) who is described as an intelligence officer.  In the introduction he described learning about the acquisition of unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP) aircraft and a reverse engineering program operating at levels of secrecy above the level of the government.  Cmdr. David Fravor described his encounter with a high-speed large Tic Tac shaped UAP object.  It was the only UAP incident that he encountered as a pilot.  The other aviator to testify was Ryan Graves described as a former F-18 pilot.  His statement emphasizes that aviators are trained observers and that there have been no credible UAP explanations to account for the perceived technology.  The message from all three witnesses endorses the need for transparency, protection for witnesses who are generally military and commercial pilots that may be stigmatized by these reports, and the need for a systematic reporting system that is transparent (to a point), and allows for adequate investigation of these phenomenon since they may represent a risk to flight safety and national security.

The follow up on the evening news was a report on TMZ that consisted a segment entitled UFO Whistleblower Makes Bombshell Claims. TMZ leader Harvey Levin is an attorney and journalist by training and generally takes an affiliative approach to people he interviews.  The TMZ web site has a section devoted to the UAP/UFO issue. On the July 27 program (10:36 mark) he interviewed Congressman Tim Burchett (R-TN) about the testimony specifically about whether murders had been committed to cover up the whereabouts of alien spacecraft.  Harvey Levin’s  specific questions: “Do you have evidence of somebody or people being murdered who were potential whistleblowers?” and “That intelligence officer was telling you guys I want to lead you to the right authorities – is Congress pursuing that?”   

Congressman Burchett said that in order to get the classified testimony the panel needs to go to the skiff  or a highly secure area to hear it and that he has requested that access. The Congressman makes it seem like there is an orchestrated attempt to prevent that from happening: “It’s like whack-a-mole man – you hit that thing and another one pops up.”  Given the tenor of Grusch’s testimony and the fact that he is no longer an intelligence officer and probably does not have security clearance it seemed like standard protocol rather than whack-a-mole to me.  The Congressman goes on to say that “he knows where the bodies and the craft are.”  He continues to say that he has seen things that “you would not believe” and agreed with a colleague that these objects were nothing that the US or it’s adversaries have so “it had to be something from out of that realm.”  He alludes to a conspiracy against UAP/UFO investigations: “We’re getting close to the target that’s why they are firing at us.  They put up every obstacle imaginable.”  When Harvey Levin asks about the motivation for this conspiracy Burchett replies: “Because it’s an energy source that would put a lot of billionaires out of work.,,, it’s about power, it’s about money it’s about deceit and that’s what defines Washington DC – both parties.”

To recap – we have testimony of aviators, an intelligence officer, and these statements by a US Congressman outlining a conspiracy to conceal alien spacecraft and life forms from the people and the Congressman was good enough to provide a rationale. But are there any inconsistencies in that story? It turns out there is.  Only 1 of the 3 witnesses testifies that people have been harmed and possibly murdered as part of the coverup. In fact, one witness explicitly said that he and several other pilots reporting the UAP phenomenon had never heard of such a thing. Then there are the suggested remedies for the current problem including a systematized reporting system, guarantees of no repercussions for the reporting pilots, and concerns about the security of the US air space.  If these were really EAP/UFOs would any of that be necessary? The testimony included speculation that the technology of the observed vehicles greatly exceeded anything available here on earth.  That implies that if these really are extraterrestrials – they can do whatever they want. I can extrapolate to say that if enemies of the US had that level of technology, they could easily do the same. There was also the theme of underreporting due to stigma.  The USA already has by far the most UFO sightings of any country – ten times more than the next country and more than the next 5 countries on the list at 105,000 incidents. Are we hoping to generate even more?  The statements by Congressman Burchett also seem problematic – not just from the conspiracy angle but also the motivation for the conspiracy to conceal the evidence. Suddenly we have a Republican Congressman backing inexpensive and clean energy and peace for the common man in the form of no more unnecessary wars for petroleum?  And all it took was discovering an alien energy source transported hundreds of light years across the galaxy?  All these inconsistencies cause me to hit the pause button.

An even more striking counter point was provided in the morning by astronomer Saavik Ford, PhD (8).  Qualifying her remarks by saying that there is nothing more astronomers would like than to discover alien life, that many astronomers became interested in the field by exposure to science fiction, that she was named after a Star Trek character, and the statistical argument that given the number of stars in the galaxy the odds are high that there are habitable planets that would support life out there – she proceeds to provide clear and convincing counterarguments to why there is no evidence of alien life forms on Earth.  She states: “There has never been any evidence of alien craft or alien people or creatures that are coming to visit us.”  When asked specifically about the testimony she points out that astronomers have been scanning the skies every night for decades and have seen no evidence, especially the amount of material suggested. She points out that the Voyager probes will takes 80,000 years to reach the nearest star – therefore aliens visiting Earth would need unimaginable technology to cover that distance in a reasonable amount of time.  She also debunks the idea that discovering “amazing technology” would lead to cover-ups but rather proliferation to the point that it would be apparent in other aspects of life.  She described the “leap from 'unidentified' to 'it must be aliens'” as a “bizarre psychological phenomenon” that is unique to the US.  At that point she describes the concentration of UFO sightings in the US and asks why aliens would travel hundreds of light years for long periods of time just to visit the United States?  She ends by reiterating that astronomers would not only like to discover life forms in space but also would like the proof so that they could use it as leverage against NASA and NSF budget cuts.

If you have read to this point and looked at the evidence, think about your conclusions so far. Think about the emotion elicited by the Congressional hearing and the way it was portrayed in the popular press and tabloid news. I can qualify my opinion in a similar way to Dr. Ford.  I read nothing but sci-fi in middle school and watched all the science fiction that I could on TV and in movies. X-Files, Fringe, and Millennium were some of my favorite shows. I am not sure about the positive effects of discovering alien life forms but I am certain that has probably not happened.  

My money is on Dr. Ford.

George Dawson, MD, DFAPA

Request for Information:  I am interested in acquiring a copy of a photo of the Tic Tac shaped UFO/UAP described in the above post.  I saw the original in a network television video and it looked exactly like a very large white Tic Tac (about 40 feet long).  I can't find it anywhere and the only declassified UAP video and photos that I can find are the usual grainy black and white photos.  The photo of the Tic Tac object was much higher in resolution.  If you know where I can find these images please post the link to me here.  Thanks.

References:

1:  U.S. recovered non-human 'biologics' from UFO crash sites, former intel official says.  MPR July 27,2023  Link

2:  Subcommittee on National Security, the Border, and Foreign Affairs Hearing.  Accessed on July 27, 2023  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQ7Dw-739VY&t=2550s

3:  Subcommittee on National Security, the Border, and Foreign Affairs.  https://oversightdemocrats.house.gov/subcommittees/subcommittee-on-national-security-the-border-and-foreign-affairs

4:  Cmdr David Fravor (retired).  July 27, 2023. Statement for the House Oversight Committee.  https://oversight.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/David-Fravor-Statement-for-House-Oversight-Committee.pdf

Statement on encounter with high-speed Tic-Tac UAP in 2004

5:  Ryan Graves. Statement for House Oversight Committee.  July 27, 2023.  https://oversight.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Ryan-HOC-Testimony.pdf

6:  David Grusch.  Statement for House Oversight Committee.  July 27, 2023.  https://oversight.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Dave_G_HOC_Speech_FINAL_For_Trans.pdf

7:  TMZ show of July 27, 2023 – links in the above text.

8:  Top Story with Tom Llamas - July 26 | NBC News NOW  accessed on 7/16/2023.  Dr. Ford’s interview begins at the 40-minute mark:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPNBWTS7WuM

9:  UFO Optical Illusions - Astronaut Kelly says it's hard to ID strange objects in flight.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_O7B6Ld4Zs

Supplementary 1:

This Twitter video is an excellent example of how easy it is to make a perceptual error and misidentify an object that appears in the perceptual field:  https://twitter.com/i/status/1685679542927847424

Graphics Credit:

maxime raynal from France, CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.  The file is not altered in any way.

Page URL:  https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ufo_-_Flickr_-_Amanclos.jpg

File URL:  https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5d/Ufo_-_Flickr_-_Amanclos.jpg