Documents / Hearing transcript

Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena: Implications on National Security, Public Safety, and Government Transparency (hearing transcript)

U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Accountability · 2023-07-26 · 54 pages · text from the file's own layer

This is the printed transcript of a July 26, 2023 hearing before the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability's Subcommittee on National Security, the Border, and Foreign Affairs, chaired by Rep. Glenn Grothman. Ryan Graves, David Grusch and retired Navy Commander David Fravor testified on unidentified anomalous phenomena. Members pressed for transparency, whistleblower protection and better pilot reporting. Graves described a near mid-air collision with a dark cube inside a clear sphere off the Eastern Seaboard.

  • p. 3 …Ryan Graves, Executive Director, Americans for Safe Aerospace Oral Statement ........................................................................................................ 10 Mr. David Grusch, Former National…
  • p. 9 …to be here as well. To Mr. Graves, I am particularly grateful to you to spend…
  • p. 10 …UFOs by the Defense Intelligence Agency. Mr. Graves and Commander Fravor’s experiences with UAPs have…
  • p. 13 …Our first witness is Lieutenant Ryan Graves. He is the Ex- ecutive Director of Americans for…
  • p. 14 …STATEMENT OF RYAN GRAVES EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR AMERICANS FOR SAFE AEROSPACE Mr. GRAVES. Thank you, Chairman Grothman…
  • p. 19 …I am going to start with Mr. Graves. Are your pilots, or pilots that you interact…
  • p. 20 …Mr. GROTHMAN. OK. Each of you? Mr. GRAVES. I would also like to add from a…
  • p. 21 …and pilots’ interaction with UAPs. Particularly, Mr. Graves, one of the, I think, concerns from Mem…
  • p. 22 …order to investigate. Mr. GARCIA. Mr. Graves? Mr. GRAVES. I will concur with everything Mr. Fravor…
  • p. 23 …technology we have today. Mr. Graves? Mr. Fravor? Mr. GRAVES. Yes. The objects that are being…
  • p. 25 …Mr. RASKIN. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Graves, you reported UAP encounters during training flights, I…
  • p. 26 …what the convergence of descriptions is? Mr. GRAVES. Certainly. We were primarily seeing dark gray or…
  • p. 28 …for you before I move to Mr. Graves is you received prior approval from the Defense…
  • p. 29 …to safety for potential airline passengers? Mr. GRAVES. I have been made privy to conversations with…
  • p. 32 …we all eagerly await its results. Mr. Graves, how might NASA’s research influence the commer…
  • p. 33 …the agency to talk about it. Mr. Graves, can you discuss the importance of seeking scientists…
  • p. 36 …I wanted to pick up on. Mr. Graves, you mentioned specifically during the answer to one…
  • p. 37 …them. Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ. OK. Mr. Graves? Mr. GRAVES. I was an operator, so I was…
  • p. 38 …start with Mr. Graves and go on down the panel. Mr. GRAVES. Some of the initial…
  • p. 39 …American people? All of you, yes. Mr. GRAVES. I will say yes to that. Mr. GRUSCH…
  • p. 42 …In all of the phenomenon, perhaps, Mr. Graves, that you have ana- lyzed have we ever…
  • p. 43 …I want to thank each of you for being here to discuss a topic of grave…
  • p. 47 …essentially collecting reconnaissance in- formation? Mr. Graves? Mr. GRAVES. Yes. Mr. OGLES. Mr. Grusch? Mr. GRUSCH…
  • p. 48 …in UAP data collection and housing? Mr. GRAVES. I do not have an answer. Mr. GRUSCH…
  • p. 50 …right level. Mr. RASKIN. OK. And, Mr. Graves, you said that there are dozens of fellow…
  • p. 51 …Mr. GRAVES. Yes. Mr. RASKIN. And with no self-evident propulsion system? Mr. GRAVES. No wings…
  • p. 52 …the public to report these sightings? Mr. GRAVES. Right now I do not think there is…
27
Mr. MOSKOWITZ. OK. Do you have any information that the U.S.
Government is involved in a disinformation campaign to deny the
existence of certain UAPs?
Mr. GRUSCH. I cannot go beyond what I have already stated pub-
licly in my News Nation interview because it touches other sen-
sitivities.
Mr. MOSKOWITZ. OK. I will yield the balance of my time back.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. GROTHMAN. Ms. Foxx?
Ms. FOXX. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and I thank our witnesses
for being here today.
Mr. Grusch, in your sworn testimony you state that the U.S.
Government has retrieved supposedly extraterrestrial spacecraft
and other UAP-related artifacts. You go so far as to state that the
U.S. is in possession of, quote, ‘‘nonhuman spacecraft,’’ end quote,
and that some of these artifacts have circulated with defense con-
tractors. Several other former military and intelligence officials
have come forward with similar allegations albeit in nonpublic set-
tings.
However, Dr. Sean Kirkpatrick, the Director of AARO, previously
testified before Congress that there has been, and I quote, ‘‘no cred-
ible evidence thus far of extraterrestrial activity’’ or of, quote, ‘‘off-
world technology brought to the attention of the office.’’
To your knowledge, is that statement correct?
Mr. GRUSCH. It is not accurate. I believe Dr. Kirkpatrick men-
tioned he had about 30 individuals that have come to AARO thus
far. A few of those individuals have also come to AARO that I also
interviewed.
Ms. FOXX. OK.
Mr. GRUSCH. And I know what they provided Dr. Kirkpatrick
and their team.
Ms. FOXX. OK.
Mr. GRUSCH. I was able to evaluate that information.
Ms. FOXX. OK. I need to go on.
Mr. GRUSCH. Sure.
Ms. FOXX. But my understanding—this—his statement is accu-
rate. Came from a direct quote, and this contradiction is a perfect
example of why we need to inject transparency into our govern-
ment.
And for another example, look no further than the pitiful re-
sponse to the Chinese spy balloon debacle earlier this year. You
may remember the mass confusion that ensued when the balloon
was first spotted over Montana 4 days after it first entered U.S.
airspace over Alaska.
The Biden Administration’s initial inability to address the object
grew into a continuous series of embarrassments. After news of the
balloon reached the mainstream media, we were assured that the
balloon posed no threat to our security.
However, after the balloon was allowed to transit the entire con-
tinental United States, fighter jets were scrambled off the coast of
South Carolina to shoot it down. This flip flopping and obfuscation
caused needless confusion, fear, and panic across the country.
It is my hope, Mr. Chairman, that this sort of confusion will not
be repeated. We should investigate the extent to which elements of

Cases discussed

About this file

Hearing transcript, from the hearings collection. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is under it. 54 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.