New Mexico Senator Martin Heinrich joined a growing group of lawmakers this week who say it is time to ditch the jokes about tinfoil hats and get to the bottom of the real evidence of out of this world flying objects .
A videographer for TMZ, the tabloid, approached the New Mexico Senator on a Capitol Hill sidewalk Wednesday and asked Heinrich for his thoughts on the latest UFO news.
“I think we have to get to the bottom of this. It’s pretty fascinating, “replied Heinrich.
On Sunday, a 60-minute report on UFOs or unidentified aerial phenomena (UAPs) released government videos and interviews with retired naval pilots remembering coming across what they thought were strange, possibly otherworldly aircraft. During their presentation, the pilots said they saw planes during training flights that had no wings or exhausts and were moving in a way that contradicted known technology.
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“I don’t know what it is, but every time you have legitimate pilots describing something that doesn’t seem to conform to the laws of physics that govern aviation and that is in US airspace, I think that we have to reach the bottom of, “Heinrich told TMZ.
The 60-minute report was only the last of several reports by news agencies about the phenomena in recent years. And Heinrich is just the youngest government official trying to find out if we humans have ever had a close encounter.
Senator Marco Rubio, R-Florida, also appeared in the most recent 60-minute report saying it was time to end the UFO stigma on Capitol Hill and put the government in place a process to analyze the sightings. Former Senator Harry Reid, D-Nevada, was a champion in UFO research. In August, the Department of Defense set up a UAP task force to try to understand the nature and origin of the UAPs.
The TMZ also asked Heinrich what would be more worrying: If the apparent aircraft belonged to a foreign government or an alien?
“Oh, Option B. Much bigger worries,” said Heinrich.
“If there is a foreign government with these capabilities, we will likely see different signs of advanced technology,” he continued. “I cannot imagine that what has been described or shown in some of the videos belongs to a government I am aware of.”
Heinrich had actually been a proponent of shedding some light on what the government knows about UFOs before giving the interview this week.
As a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Heinrich supported a provision of the Intelligence Authorization Act for fiscal year 2021 calling on the UAP Task Force and the Office of Naval Intelligence to standardize the collection and reporting of UAP data.
The provision also requires the publication of an unclassified report on the subject, which may include a classified index.
This report is expected to be published next month.
PUMPING GAS: Rep. Yvette Herrell, RN.M., is trying to cut gasoline costs by nearly two cents by the end of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Herrell introduced the Pausing Unrelenting Markups on Petroleum (PUMP) Act of 2021 this week. The law would suspend an 18.4-cent excise tax on gasoline until all emergency health orders in place due to the pandemic are lifted, or for six months after the bill goes into effect, whichever is longer.
Herrell said gas prices were at their highest national average since September 2014.
“Inflation is rising and American paperbacks are stretched,” Herrell said. “The PUMP bill would bring gas prices down immediately and allow consumers to spend money differently, which will help our economic recovery get underway again.”
Ryan Boetel: rboetel@abqjournal.com