BINGEN Wash. (KPTV) - The House Oversight held a hearing Wednesday morning to hear new testimony called: "Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena: Exposing the Truth."
Lawmakers on Capitol Hill heard from and interviewed top government officials from the Navy, NASA, and the Department of Defense to learn more about videos and surveillance photos of objects that could not be identified by government agencies.
This session follows the first congressional meetings in 50 years on the topic, where officials alleged the federal government has knowingly kept the public in the dark regarding the presence of UAPs in U.S. airspace over the past several decades.
The Pacific Northwest ranks among the top states to report paranormal activity says James Szubski, Co-Owner of Margie's Outdoor Store which encourages residents and visitors to report any paranormal-related activity.
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"In my experience, there are a lot of people, ordinary people, that are having extraordinary experiences, pretty frequently," said Szubski.
The Bingen, Washington staple has been busy, with 371 reports in less than four years. A U.S. Army veteran, the Washingtonian says 97% of accounts have come from everyday people, including politicians and law enforcement.
"We're learning that the gorge is literally the most active paranormal hot spot in all of North America," Szubski said.
However, this conversation comes with a healthy amount of skepticism, which is why researchers believe testimonials and evidence are vital to proving whether we are alone in the universe.
"Science cannot advance when there is stigma to reporting real phenomena people are experiencing," Szubski said. "Giving that place to talk about as we are doing here, this is how the knowledge of this world expands."
It was a similar theme in Washington, D.C. where members of this committee asked U.S. military and defense experts to share vital information on these incidents in question.
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"UAPs remain a controversial topic," said Congresswoman and Committee Member, Nancy Mace. "I'm not going to name names, but there are certain individuals who didn't want this hearing to happen because they feared what might be disclosed. But we stood firm. No amount of outside pressure would ever keep me from pursuing a subject to ground come hell or high water."
The question-and-answer portion of the hearing lasted more than two hours but little could be disclosed based on national security and clearance concerns.
Many were left wondering about who or what those potential crafts could be if they were anything other than a balloon, satellite, or non-piloted object.
Still, the mere fact that these conversations are happening on the highest level proves in some way that these concerns are valid and worth deeper discussion.
"Life is so much more interesting when you give yourself the space to think this could be something anomalous," said Szubski. " I'd encourage people to keep their eyes on the skis and keep an open mind."