About that UFO thing today, NewsNation

Sorry -- no cigar

The most important thing I learned from the UFO press conference on the Capitol steps today? NewsNation still ain’t ready for prime time.

As the only network covering the UFO/UAP controversy with any regularity or context, the Nexstar Media upstart staked exclusive dibs on the presser organized by a handful of familiar congressional advocates — reps Anna Paulina Luna, Eric Burlison, Tim Burchett, Jared Moskowitz, etc. — and went live at 1 p.m. Smart move. The phenomenon is gaining momentum by the week, with the Pentagon releasing scores of declassified vids and docs over the past month and Spielberg’s “Disclosure Day” opening on Friday. While legacy media broadcasters compete for going around in circles, this is how you own a novel and rapidly expanding avenue of the public interest.

There wasn’t a lot of time allotted — lawmakers had to break at 1:30 to vote on the floor. And the cast of characters they invited to the gathering, like groundbreaking journalist Leslie Kean, whistleblower David Grush, and transparency advocate Admiral Tim Gallaudet, have long been on record. Nevertheless, the suspense over whether or not they were going to offer up fresh meat is what makes news.

The first few minutes gave us a glimpse of the growing impatience of House members for DoD stonewalling — “to hell with the safe way,” said Burlison, “this is the age of disclosure” — and their direct appeals to Trump to waive nondisclosure agreements for federal employees with inside information. Flattery is the coin of the realm for reaching the severely unbalanced POTUS, and their petitions were pitch perfect.

But at 1:15, host Nichole Berlie muted the live-coverage audio without warning and switched over to live commentary from Canadian researcher Chrissy Newton. Newton’s a good go-to for wide-angle perspective, but interrupting an event in progress to ask for a remote weigh-in is like asking an architect in Mexico what they think about the impact of those jetliners on the Twin Towers at 10 a.m. on 9/11. Jesus.

I stuck with it for a few minutes, thinking this was just a temporary lapse of judgement, when it became clear that no, NewsNation was really screwing the pooch here. I scrambled for another connection on my phone as NN cut to a commercial break at 1:19. Fortunately, researcher Bob McGwier — aka Science Bob on Twitter or X or whatever the hell — was livestreaming the event himself. I came in at the point where Grush was talking about having discovered UFO-related slush funds and was warning Trump to avoid “that kind of (Epstein) scandal if we’re not truthful.”

Back live again, NN had rejoined the pack by covering how Trump was promising to retaliate against Iran for shooting down an Apache helicopter. Yawn zzzz.

Meanwhile, back on the steps, Burchett urged viewers to call their congressmen, and Moskowitz promised safe haven to fearful and closeted insiders if they “come to Congress. We want disclosure, OK?”

That was pretty much it. McGwier kept taping after things broke up, which resulted in an extended live selfie. “Y’all, I would stop it if I could find the dadgum button that says ‘end’. There we go!” he said at least. Cut.

No worries, Bob. At least you knew to stay on the story. Thanks.