"There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy." – Shakespeare’s "Hamlet," Act I, Scene 5
When it comes to UFO’s, some of us are Shakespeare’s Horatio. He’s scholarly. Skeptical of the fantastical. And he certainly doubts the idea that the ghost of Hamlet’s father has been showing up.
Meantime, Hamlet is in a mind-bending mood. Hamlet is suggesting that we mortals limit ourselves. There are so many things out there which exist that we cannot even fathom – simply because we don’t know how to fathom them.
There are things which are just waiting for us to discover. And we struggle to comprehend these things because of the limits which harness our imagination.
"There is no darkness but ignorance," proclaims Feste, the jester, to Malvolio in Shakespeare’s "Twelfth Night" (Act IV, Scene 2).
In short, it’s just that we don’t know certain things yet. A state of unenlightenment. Thus, we’re not in the dark. Just unaware.
Shakespeare never wrote about UFOs. Although he did dabble with magic and mysticism in "The Tempest."
But the Bard may have appreciated the conundrum facing lawmakers recently. The House Oversight Committee conducted the second major congressional hearing in 15 months into the possibility of whether UFOs were to be, or not to be.
The essence of the debate is whether the government is hiding something from the public and Congress. Or whether the government has technology which is hard to imagine. Or, even if there’s another possibility: someone or something visits Earth from interstellar space or maybe another dimension.
No wonder we’re all in the dark.
The supercharged House hearing was stocked with outstanding claims from retired military pilots of seeing utterly bizarre things in the sky while flying for the United States.
This wasn’t a dry Agriculture Committee hearing on farm commodities and credit.
Former military fighter pilot Ryan Graves testified he had seen "dark gray or black cubes inside of a sphere."
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Former intelligence officer and UFO whistleblower David Grusch noted that the military has "nothing that can stop in mid-air and go the other direction."
But take your protein pills and put your helmet on.
Grusch presented lawmakers with utterly explosive testimony that the U.S. government may have remnants of what could be a spaceship. Moreover, he told the committee the government could have remains of alien life.
"Do we have the bodies of the pilots who piloted this craft?" asked Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., at the hearing.
"Biologics came with some of these recoveries," replied Grusch.
"Were they human or non-human biologics?" countered Mace.
"Non-human," said Grusch flatly.
This is what gets lawmakers. There is a strain of members on both sides now in Congress who are suspect of the government. That was not always the case. Allegations of the "deep state" are pervasive. Some voters embrace conspiracy theories.
Conversations about UFOs began in earnest shortly after World War II. America quickly graduated into the age of aviation. Then there was the 1947 Roswell Incident in New Mexico. People saw strange discs in the sky, suggesting they were from outer space. This helped fuel other sightings.
The military began investigating unidentified objects in the sky via Project Blue Book in the early 1950s through the late 1960s at Wright Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, Ohio. The Air Force eventually concluded there was never any evidence of "extraterrestrial vehicles."
But the public never completely bought this verdict.
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Discussion of UFOs went underground for decades. It was talked about. But it was a "fringe" conversation.
But that evolved with the advent of the internet. The discussion about "Unidentified Aerial Phenomena" or UAPs began to seep back into the mainstream about six years ago.
It coincided, perhaps not ironically, with a period when trust in government and institutions, and even truth itself, began to wane.
Rep. Glenn Grothman, R-Wis., chaired the recent hearing.
"The lack of transparency regarding UAPs has fueled wild speculation and debate for decades, eroding public trust in the very institutions that are meant to serve and protect them," said Grothman.
Grothman noted that as a boy in 1966 he read a book entitled "Flying Saucers – Serious Business." Grothman told his colleagues that as a youngster, he thought it was the most important book written.
"We can't trust a government that does not trust its people. We're not bringing little green men or flying saucers into the hearing," said Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., one of the biggest advocates for government transparency of UAPs/UFOs. "We're going to uncover the cover-up."
Grusch told the hearing that he knew "of colleagues" who were injured "both" by UAPs and by people in the federal government – perhaps trying to put the kibosh on information about special programs or secrets
"What I personally witnessed myself – and my wife – was very disturbing," testified Grusch.
Rep. Eric Burlison, R-Mo., concedes he’s from the "Show Me" State. So, he’s something of a pessimist when it comes to UFOs. However, after speaking with Grusch, Burlison found his information so compelling, he wanted the public to hear directly from the whistleblower.
But Burlison was suspicious that the UAPs spotted by pilots or even held by the U.S. government came from across the stars.
"The concept that an alien species is technologically advanced enough to travel billions of light years, gets here and somehow is incompetent to not survive Earth or crashes?" asked Burlison. "I find that a little bit farfetched."
It wasn’t that long ago that humans seeing unprecedented, unfathomable objects in the sky might be considered magic or witchcraft. But people might naturally gravitate toward thinking these UAPs are from another planet or aliens because we live in the age of space exploration, aviation and science fiction. That alters the calculus from sorcery or wizardry.
We’re also in a period where people believe Washington hides things from them.
So could UAPs be something from Earth? Could these sightings stem from "dark" technology the military has? Or other nations have? Or are these just things which don’t comport with what we understand about the world around us?
Don’t sail too far out into the ocean or you’ll fall off the edge.
As Shakespeare wrote "There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy."
Congress is trying to understand that with UFOs.
But it may be something we can’t understand.
Or understand – yet.
