Capitol Hill holds first UFO hearing in 16 months

CTV National News: UFO hearing The U.S. government held another UFO hearing on Wednesday, promising to pull back the curtains. Paul Hollingsworth has more.

The U.S. government held another UFO hearing on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, the second such hearing in 16 months.

This hearing was billed as an attempt by congress to provide a better understanding of what is known about previous sightings of UFOs, also known as UAPs (Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena).

Ex-military intelligence employee Luis Elizondo used the occasion to criticize the American government for “excessive secrecy" in an attempt "to hide the fact that we are not alone in the cosmos."

Numerous witnesses also testified in front of the subcommittee of the House Oversight Committee, voicing concerns about alleged government secrecy surrounding unexplained flying objects that previously entered U.S. airspace.

For years, there have been allegations that the military has covered up the truth about recovered spacecrafts and alien life visiting earth.

Jordan Bimm, a University of Chicago space historian who watched the hearing, said if the public was expecting an unveiling of new and fascinating information about alien visitation, they'll likely come away disappointed because these hearings did not uncover many new details.

"I am underwhelmed basically on the evidence that this is anything to do with extraterrestrial life or extraterrestrial visitation," said Bimm. "I think there’s a misconception out there and there’s a conflation between UAP, which falls under the category of mystery, and the suggested explanation which is the cultural imagination of the space exploring alien.”

UFO fascination and documented reports of sightings are not limited to just the U.S. Earlier this year, several Canadian airplane pilots said they saw multiple lights in a triangle formation over the prairies.

CTV science and technology expert Dan Riskin said Canada has a long history when it comes to reports of unexplained sightings.

"We have a bigger country, so we have more sky to look at," said Riskin. "We are up near the North Pole and there are different kinds of phenomena that happen, so in Canada we are big player in terms of UFOs."

It was hoped these hearings would cut down on secrecy which can lead to conspiracy theories about UFOs.