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UFOs must be investigated, says former astronaut Sen. Mark Kelly
Is there life on Mars? When David Bowie asked that question half a century ago, he was speaking for more of us than just Ziggy Stardust. Today, the prospect of intelligent alien life in our universe continues to tantalize stargazers and lawmakers alike. In a wide-ranging interview on the future of the US Space program, Arizona Senator and former NASA astronaut Mark Kelly does not impatiently snicker at the mention of extraterrestrial life. Far from it. In fact, he says, we owe it to the brave military personnel who have seen inexplicable occurrences to investigate them as intensely as possible.
"I've seen some compelling testimony from navy fighter pilots who, in one case, in a position of leadership in a squadron have seen something very compelling. It's our obligation on the Armed Services Committee, to investigate it and put more resources behind studying this kind of phenomena."
Kelly, whose Senate office boasts a green inflatable alien mascot, is skeptical that intelligent life has visited us so far. But he also is smart enough to never say never. "I get these questions all the time. People think as I've been to space, maybe I have this special insight, or maybe I've seen something. While I've spent time orbiting the earth, I haven't."
Watch full episode: Mark Kelly on the new space race
GZERO World with Ian Bremmer, the award-winning weekly global affairs series, airs nationwide on US public television stations (check local listings).
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Mark Kelly on the new space race
On GZERO World, Ian Bremmer delves into the modern space race and its role as a critical domain for global security with Arizona Senator and former astronaut Mark Kelly. They discuss China’s growing ambitions, the future of the International Space Station, and the evolving role of private companies like SpaceX in shaping US space policy.
In a wide-ranging conversation, Kelly is clear-eyed about China’s ambitious space goals, including lunar missions and collaboration with Russia to build a lunar base, sparking concerns over the militarization of space. “They [China] just returned a sample from the backside of the moon. Nobody’s done that.” Senator Kelly also discusses the International Space Station’s eventual decommissioning and the importance of international cooperation, particularly with allies such as Europe, Canada, and Japan. Yet, tensions, especially with adversaries like China and Russia, loom large in the space domain.
“We’ve got to make sure that we can counter their capability, but also… prevent them from using space as a domain in any future conflict,” Kelly tells Bremmer. A key concern is how space assets, such as spy satellites and anti-satellite weapons, could be used in future conflicts. The conversation also touches on private-sector involvement in space, with companies like SpaceX playing pivotal roles in both space exploration and geopolitical issues, including the role of Starlink in the war in Ukraine. “I would hope that US companies… align with us and our values,” Kelly tells Bremmer.
GZERO World with Ian Bremmer, the award-winning weekly global affairs series, airs nationwide on US public television stations (check local listings).
New digital episodes of GZERO World are released every Monday on YouTube. Don''t miss an episode: subscribe to GZERO's YouTube channel and turn on notifications (🔔).
The new space race: Sen. Mark Kelly on China's bold ambitions, America's policy & Russian threat
Listen: On this episode of the GZERO World podcast, Ian Bremmer takes a close look at the evolving US-China space race and its implications for global security, competition, and international collaboration. He is joined by Arizona Senator Mark Kelly, a former Navy pilot and NASA astronaut who offers firsthand insights into the future of US space policy.
Kelly also sheds light on China's ambitious space goals, including lunar missions and partnerships with Russia, raising concerns about the militarization of space. He emphasizes the need for the US to counter these developments and maintain space as a peaceful domain. Kelly discusses the eventual decommissioning of the International Space Station and highlights the importance of collaboration with allies like Europe, Canada, and Japan. The episode also covers the growing role of private companies like SpaceX, which are not only shaping space exploration but also playing crucial roles in geopolitical conflicts, including the war in Ukraine, through initiatives like Starlink.
Subscribe to the GZERO World Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, or your preferred podcast platform, to receive new episodes as soon as they're published.
Is the US covering up UFOs?
Ian Bremmer's Quick Take:
Hi, everybody. Ian Bremmer here, and we're talking about aliens, a Quick Take. Very exciting, of course.
A Congressional testimony by a whistleblower, a former Air Force intelligence officer. His name is David Grusch, Major David Grusch, who says that the US government has been covering up UFOs.
David Grusch: “I like to use the term non-human, I don't like to denote origin, it keeps the aperture open.”
They come from other galaxies. We have no idea, but it's a coverup, and the fact that it's covered up is clearly evidence of an even deeper state than we had been aware of before. It's one thing when the deep state can fake your elections. It's another when they can actually cover up extraterrestrial species. And we know that, because if you look at all of the sightings of aliens that have happened over the past decades, they've mostly come over the United States, not just continental, Alaska too, a little Hawaii. But still, we should be the ones that find the real ones and then cover up the real ones if that's where the sightings are.
They're blurry. They're usually pretty blurry. And it is true that all the technologies around sensors are improving, and that's why we have great photos of Chinese surveillance balloons when they come over the United States. The UFOs are still blurry, but that's not necessarily because they don't exist. It could be because the alien technology at evading improved surveillance technology in the United States is also improving. It's not like the aliens are just going to stay still while our technology improves.
In all seriousness, I don't believe that he is telling us the truth, even though he is under oath, about the cover-up and the aliens. And Major Grusch, if it turns out that you're actually telling the truth, and this is all a big conspiratorial cover up, the lack of evidence of which is only more proof that the cover-up exists, I will apologize, in person if you like, or certainly on video, but for now I think you're full of crap.
It's good. My mother used to buy the National Enquirer at the Stop & Shop every week, and it was 15 cents, and I enjoyed reading it. It was the articles. It wasn't just the two-headed baby and the she-wolf and all of that stuff. And I learned how to BS people for money from the Enquirer. I stopped. I did not decide to take that on as a profession. You apparently have. I wish you wouldn't do that.
I do believe in aliens. I don't think we're the only intelligent life in the universe. I think it's quite likely we may be the only observable intelligent life in the universe right now, because we only have existed as intelligent life for a cosmological eye-blink. And I might not have said this 30 years ago, but when I look at the acceleration of technology and just how fast we are moving in terms of especially artificial intelligence, this does not seem sustainable. It seems very, very unlikely to me that we are around as an identifiable species in, say, a hundred years. And given that, if you assume that intelligent life is able to develop technologies anywhere in the universe, it's around, it explodes, and then it either becomes something really cool that we don't understand, or it blows itself up. And so, I suspect that the aliens that are around are in the future or in the past, or they're us, but they're not the ones that Grusch is lying about.
That's it from me, and I'll talk to you all real soon.
Five Eyes look to the skies – and beyond
The truth is out there … that Canada participated in an international meeting on Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena, aka UFOs. It’s not exactly an episode of the “X-Files,” but it’s caught some attention.
Ottawa confirmed last week that it had taken part in the get-together at the Pentagon in May with its Five Eyes allies. Beyond that, everyone is keeping mum on the details of the confab, which was held to encourage coordination and information sharing on unidentified objects.
News of the meeting comes as former intelligence official and UAP task force member David Grusch hit the press to claim the US government had found “non-human” material “of exotic origin” and was keeping “intact and partially intact” alien crafts. The US government denies this, and Grusch’s claims have been dismissed by some as “crazy.”
Still, the government has reported hundreds of UAP encounters, including an unexplained flying orb. In February, a massive Chinese balloon crossed Canadian airspace and caught headlines in both countries; it was shot down by the US over the Atlantic Ocean.
Just because something is a UAP doesn’t mean it’s extraterrestrial. As Sean Kirkpatrick, director of the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office at the US Department of Defense says, “The majority of unidentified objects reported to AARO demonstrate mundane characteristics of balloons, unmanned aerial systems, clutter, natural phenomena, or other readily explainable sources.” The AARO was established in 2022 to detect and track “objects of interest” across land, sea, and air. No surprise, a lot of inexplicable phenomena can be explained as secret or run-of-the-mill military technology. But maybe not all of it.
A recent panel convened by NASA on the subject called for better civilian data on UAPs and the destigmatization of research in the field during a public meeting. It’s set to report its findings this summer. For its part, Canada has launched the “Sky Canada Project” under the aegis of the Office of the Chief Science Advisor of Canada to study UAP reports and make recommendations.
“In the context of UAPs being a broad and expansive topic, it’s going to be a continued topic of information sharing between the United States and Canada,” says Clayton Allen, US director at Eurasia Group. But this doesn’t necessarily imply extraterrestrial activity. “People always want to look for the fantastic when the ordinary will suffice,” he says.
Military and intelligence activity from foreign states is a more likely answer to UAP activity than aliens – meaning the phenomena are more likely to be products of Russian or Chinese military technology rather than from another planet. And that’s why we might expect regular, robust information sharing and briefings between the US and Canada – even above and beyond the Five Eyes.
“Five eyes is a sharing agreement without much by way of restrictions,” Allen says, “but the US and Canada have a unique relationship even within Five Eyes because of NORAD, so I’d expect a higher degree of information sharing between the two countries because we manage an air defense relationship for the continent.”