Congressional interest in UFO reports has grown since revelations by a number of news outlets in late 2017 that the Pentagon had investigated the sightings through a programme established a decade earlier by former Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada.
Rep. Mark Walker of North Carolina, a ranking member of the Intelligence and Counterrorism subcommittee, has claimed the US Navy is withholding information about UFO sightings after he officially requested more data on the encounters, writes POLITICO.
Walker asked Secretary Richard V. Spencer in July to outline what resources the Navy is dedicating to investigating UFO sightings and if officials have found “physical evidence” to substantiate the claims.
He also sought more information on whether any foreign nations or private companies have developed breakthrough technologies that could explain the encounters.
In a brief response on 31 July Navy Undersecretary Thomas Modly wrote that “the Department of the Navy takes these reports very seriously and continues to log sightings and fully investigate the accounts,” according to a copy provided to POLITICO.
Modly's letter to Walker also says “the wide proliferation and availability of inexpensive unmanned aerial systems (UAS) has increasingly made airspace de-confliction an issue for our aviators.” He added that the Navy “continues to dedicate resources to the tracking and investigation of reports that could affect the safety of our aircrews.”
Walker, however,…
