Longtime Nevada Sen. Harry Reid, now retired, says it’s time for people to know what the government knows about UFOs and is now calling for formal congressional hearings to study the government’s investigations into UFOs.
By S.T. Patrick
Located due north of Las Vegas, Lincoln County is one of Nevada’s largest and most sparsely populated counties. With a population barely surpassing 5,000, Lincoln County, the seventh-largest county in America in land area, does not seem like a bustling metropolis of activity. There are no colleges, no professional sports franchises, no Wal-Mart stores, and few gas stations. A common sight along Route 93 that traverses the county is a faded blue sign that reads “Next Gas 91 Miles.” But for close to 30 years now, Lincoln County has been the international hub for UFO enthusiasts as Groom Dry Lake (popularly known as Area 51) is located in the heart of this desert county.
Former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) is among the Silver State’s most widely known politicians. As the majority leader through much of the Obama years, Reid was privy to the high-level security concerns of America’s post-9/11 society. Now, as reported by KLAS-TV’s George Knapp, Reid is calling for formal congressional hearings to study the government’s investigations into UFOs.
“I personally don’t know if there exists little green men other places. I kind of doubt that, but I do believe that the information we have indicates we should do a lot more study,” Nevada’s most well-known Democrat said. “We have hundreds and hundreds of people that have seen the same thing—something in the sky; it moves a certain way.”
Many will question Reid’s qualifications and his sanity, despite the fact that, until 2012, he led a secret Pentagon study of UFOs that was based in Las Vegas. In December 2017, The New York Times reported on the AATIP program that had been created to study the UFO phenomena. The AATIP, the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program, was the brainchild of Reid and two colleagues in the Senate. It spawned an offshoot, the Advanced Aerospace Weapons Systems Application Program (AAWSAP). Neither discusses UFOs openly, or even by name, but Reid admits that it would take some naiveté to just blindly ignore the accumulation of existing stories reported by highly qualified aerospace and aviation professionals. Regarding the origin of whatever unidentified flying objects have been reported, Reid is leery about venturing a guess about something still unknown.
“We do not know,” Reid said. “What I have learned is, you can’t just hide your head in the sand and say these things are not happening. We have military installations where hundreds and hundreds of people who are there see these things.”
Another senator highly interested in the research was Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.). As the chairman of the Armed Services Committee, McCain had requested all available materials from AATIP.
“Sure, John knew what I was doing,” Reid said of the late McCain. “He didn’t hide the fact that he was interested, also.”
Reid’s former deputy, Sen. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) is now the ranking member of the Defense Appropriations Committee. The defense committee’s interest has been piqued, and Reid has his most formidable contacts within those industries.
While scientists and the typically cranky mainstream media have derided using government funds to research “fringe science,” Reid appears dedicated to the value of the work still being done at the various levels of government.
One of the more mysterious and fascinating publications undertaken by AATIP concerned research into the invisibility cloaking of aircraft. The Pentagon seems very interested in the possibility of producing aircraft completely invisible to radar; but that, however, has been a project ongoing for 50-plus years. The Pentagon, the released files show us now, is also very interested in the possibility that aircraft can be made literally invisible.
There are certainly practical effects of these studies. Any study into hypersonic speed, aero-tracking, and cloaking can also be applied to tracking missiles, for example.
How important has this field of research become for Reid? By law, U.S. senators are barred from lobbying the legislative branch for two years after leaving office. That probationary period ended for Reid in January. Since then, he has been lobbying key Washington, D.C. insiders about UFOs and projects that have to date been shrouded in mystery.
The danger for the American people—and, really, the world—is that this is, in itself, a shrouded program. And if it is, who would be surprised? Just six months after the Times released news of the program, President Donald Trump announced Space Force and called upon its establishment as the sixth military branch.
The most systematically skeptical demographic on the political scene are those who read and watch alternative media. On its face, the idea is one amiable to even the most hardcore skeptics who have long wished for some acknowledgment of “disclosure” regarding UFOs.
The skepticism and care that needs to be maintained with Reid’s work concerns further militarizing space and using this research and Space Force to do just that. In essence, there is the possibility that the UFO question is the Hollywoodization of what may be a much more sinister program.
There is hope that the Reid revelations are a step in the right direction in the field of UFOlogy. If the program is solely for military purposes, it will not discredit the UFO sightings that have been logged by aerospace and aviation professionals.
But if the program is a genuine acceptance of a more open policy regarding UFOs, then we may just find out that the truth is out there, after all.
S.T. Patrick holds degrees in both journalism and social studies education. He spent ten years as an educator and now hosts the “Midnight Writer News Show.” His email is [email protected].
