Minnesota UFO group director says lawmakers taking people seriously is ‘a good thing’

Congress held its first hearing in half a century Tuesday on unidentified flying objects. And no, there is still no government confirmation of extraterrestrial life.

Tom Maher, Minnesota Director of MUFON, the Mutual UFO Network, watched the hearing.

“They said we’re committed to full transparence,” Maher said. “We want full transparence, but then there’s stuff we just can’t tell you about. You can’t be fully committed to transparence and keep stuff back. One of things they mentioned is they want to get away from the whole idea people being kooks and they want to take people seriously, which is a good thing.”

Pentagon officials did not disclose additional information from their ongoing investigation of hundreds of unexplained sightings in the sky. But they say they have picked a director for a new task force to coordinate data collection efforts on what the government has officially labeled “unidentified aerial phenomena.”

Lawmakers from both parties say UFOs are a national security concern. And a defense official says the Pentagon was also trying to destigmatize the issue and encourage pilots and other military personnel to report anything unusual they see.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.