Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (hearing transcript, Subcommittee on Counterterrorism, Counterintelligence, and Counterproliferation, 17 May 2022)

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that may compromise the security of our operations by revealing our capabilities, our
tactics, techniques, or procedures are of great concern to the Navy and the Department
of Defense.
From the very beginning, we took these reports very seriously. We instituted a
data-driven approach to the investigations where we could collect as much data as
possible and use all available resources to analyze and make informed decisions on the
best ways to address our findings. Our main objective was to transition UAP efforts
from an anecdotal or narrative-based approach to a rigorous science and technology
engineering focused study.
This data-driven approach requires input from a wide variety of sources. In the
early stages, the task force worked to standardize the reporting mechanisms and
processes to make it as easy as possible for personnel to report any engagement so that
we were getting that wide range of reporting that we needed.
We also spent considerable efforts engaging directly with our naval aviators and
building relationships to help destigmatize the act of reporting sightings or encounters.
And we worked with naval aviation leadership to provide additional equipment to
record any encounter. Navy and Air Force crews now have step-by-step procedures for
reporting on a UAP on their kneeboard in their -- in the cockpit and in their postflight
debrief procedures. The direct result of those efforts has been increased reporting with
increased opportunities to focus a number of sensors on any objects.
The message is now clear: If you see something, you need to report it.
And the message has been received. In fact, recently I received a call from a
senior naval aviator with over 2,000 flight hours. He called me personally from the flight
line after landing to talk about an encounter that he had just experienced.
Those were just the initial steps. We also made a concerted effort to assemble