A House subcommittee is set to hear out-of-this-world testimony next week as federal lawmakers hold the first open congressional hearing on UFOs since 1970.

Two top defense intelligence officials were slated to answer questions from the House Intelligence Committee’s subcommittee on counterterrorism, counterintelligence and counterproliferation at Tuesday’s hearing, according to The New York Times.

Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle were hopeful that the new hearing would lead to improved national security and possibly a greater understanding of the universe.

The purpose of the event was to shed light on “one of the great mysteries of our time and to break the cycle of excessive secrecy and speculation with truth and transparency,” Rep. Adam Schiff, a California Democrat who chairs the House Intelligence Committee, reportedly said.

“This may be the very thing that brings Democrats and Republicans together, at least for an hour or two,” said subcommittee chair Rep. André Carson, an Indiana Democrat, according to the article.