Citizen Hearing on Disclosure (2013)

A five-day mock congressional hearing held at the National Press Club in Washington D.C. from April 29 to May 3, 2013. Organized by Stephen Bassett's Paradigm Research Group. Six former members of the US Congress presided over testimony from forty witnesses — military officers, pilots, government officials, and researchers from ten countries. The most significant testimony came from Paul Hellyer, Canada's former Minister of National Defence (1963-1967), who became the highest-ranking official from any NATO country to publicly state that UFOs are real and extraterrestrial. Hellyer testified that at least four species of aliens have been visiting Earth for thousands of years, that the US has been reverse-engineering ET technology, and that other nations possess recovered craft. Other key witnesses included Colonel John Alexander, Captain Robert Salas (Malmstrom), nuclear researcher Robert Hastings, and researchers from France, Peru, Brazil, and China. The hearing demonstrated that credible witnesses existed globally but lacked a formal venue — foreshadowing the actual congressional hearings that would begin ten years later in 2023.