The recent congressional hearing on unidentified aerial phenomenon–also known as UAPs– gave a high-profile platform to what we used to call UFOs. But why now–and was this a substantive government inquiry or a summertime Washington diversion?

Bloomberg’s Roxana Tiron and Megan Scully join this episode to make sense of the hearing and claims that UAPs may pose a threat to national security. And astronomer Seth Shostak gives his view of theories that some UAPs may be alien spacecraft.

Read more: Close Encounters With UFOs Described to Congressional Committee

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SUMMER SHORTS: Steve Ingham (BONUS)