UFO sightings are set to become better documented after House members voted for a new system to report the unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP) to authorities.
The House voted without any debate on the bipartisan amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act on Wednesday, meaning there was no opposition, NBC News reported.
The bill would introduce a new system for UFO or UAP reporting, mainly aimed at current and former military personnel, government civilians and contractors.
Republican congressman Mike Gallagher, one of two sponsors to the bill, said it would see information shared immediately with Congress.
Exceptions to reporting would be when “the observed object and associated events and activities likely relate to” restricted US military programs or other related events, it was reported.
Members of the House have previously expressed concerns over the limitations of what can be reported about UFO sightings after the Director of National Intelligence admitted last year that there was not enough evidence to explain 143 of the 144 cases of UAPs reported by the US military from 2004 to 2021.
“I believe it’s possible that folks may be precluded from being fully transparent with Congress due to their being bound by non-disclosure agreements,” Mr Gallagher told Politico.
“If that’s true, I want to make sure that there’s no technical reason preventing them from speaking to us.”
The Republican said it would also improve Congress’s understanding of whether or not there is actually a “threat” or “whatever seems to be flying in our skies”.
The US defence department would also be expected to review the reporting system should it be passed into law along with the rest of the National Defense Authorization Act, which is now due to head to the Senate.
The House Intelligence subcommittee held the first hearing on UFOs in more than 50 years in May.
