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Official hearing transcript PDF

U.S. House of Representatives · 54 pages · text from the file's own layer

This is the official transcript of a July 26, 2023 hearing held by the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Accountability's Subcommittee on National Security, the Border, and Foreign Affairs. The hearing was titled "Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena: Implications on National Security, Public Safety, and Government Transparency." Ryan Graves, David Grusch and retired Commander David Fravor testified. Members pressed for transparency and whistleblower protections, and Graves described a near miss involving a dark cube inside a clear sphere.

  • p. 6 …However, AARO’s budget remains classified, prohibiting meaningful over- sight from Congress. In addition to AARO…
  • p. 7 …Some have even confided in me that they have had UFO sightings of their own. Those…
  • p. 8 …Yet, from Roswell, New Mexico to the coast of Jacksonville, Flor- ida, the sightings of UAPs…
  • p. 9 …But we will hear from people who have had personal sightings rather than Pentagon bureaucrats who…
  • p. 12 …Government is aware a lot more sightings of UAPs and that they have not made that…
  • p. 14 …These sightings are not rare or isolated. They are routine. Military aircrew and commercial pilots, trained…
  • p. 15 11 was no official acknowledgement of the incident and no further mechanism to report the sightings…
  • p. 21 …of them also had their own eye sightings as well of these ob- jects. Now, that…
  • p. 28 …Later in the evening, post sunset, there were reports of other sightings on base including some…
  • p. 36 …Are they required to issue any disclosure re- garding UAP sightings or do they engage in…
  • p. 43 …What percentage of UAP sightings, in your belief, go unreported by our pilots? Mr. GRAVES. This…
  • p. 46 …You know, it has been said it is prob- ably the most credible UFO sighting in…
  • p. 50 …Are there also commercial pilots who have encountered the same kind of sightings that you de…
  • p. 51 …and that was a very close visual sighting. Mr. RASKIN. And you were in one of…
  • p. 52 …available to the public to report these sightings? Mr. GRAVES. Right now I do not think…
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was no official acknowledgement of the incident and no further
mechanism to report the sightings.
Soon these encounters became so frequent that aircrew would
discuss the risk of UAP as part of their regular preflight briefs.
Recognizing the need for action and answers, I founded Americans
for Safe Aerospace.
The organization has since become a haven for UAP witnesses
who were previously unspoken due to the absence of a safe intake
process. More than thirty witnesses have come forward and almost
5,000 Americans have joined us in the fight for transparency at
safeaerospace.org.
The majority of witnesses are commercial pilots at major airlines.
Often, they are veterans with decades of flying experience. Pilots
are reporting UAP at altitudes that appear above them at 40,000
feet, potentially in low Earth orbit or in the gray zone below the
common line, making unexplainable maneuvers like right hand
turns and retrograde orbits, or J hooks.
Sometimes these reports are reoccurring with numerous recent
sightings north of Hawaii and in the North Atlantic. Other vet-
erans are also coming forward to us regarding UAP encounters in
our airspace and oceans. The most compelling involve observations
of UAP by multiple witnesses and sensor systems. I believe these
accounts are only scratching the surface and more will share their
experiences once it is safe to do so.
In closing, I recognize the skepticism surrounding this topic. If
everyone could see the sensor and video data I witnessed, our na-
tional conversation would change. I urge us to put aside stigma
and address the security and safety issue this topic represents.
If UAP are foreign drones, is an urgent national security prob-
lem. If it is something else, it is an issue for science. In either case,
unidentified objects are a concern for flight safety. The American
people deserve to know what is happening in our skies. It is long
overdue.
Thank you.
Mr. GROTHMAN. Mr. Grusch?
STATEMENT OF DAVID GRUSCH
FORMER NATIONAL RECONNAISSANCE OFFICER
REPRESENTATIVE
UNIDENTIFIED ANOMALOUS PHENOMENA TASK FORCE
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Mr. GRUSCH. Mr. Chairman, Ranking Members and Congress-
men, thank you. I am happy to be here. This is an important issue,
and I am grateful for your time.
My name is David Charles Grusch. I was an intelligence officer
for 14 years both in the U.S. Air Force, both active-duty Air Na-
tional Guard and Reserve at the rank of Major and most recently
from 2021 to 2025—excuse me, 2023—at the National Geospatial
Intelligence Agency, NGA, at the GS–15 civilian level, which is the
military equivalent of a full bird colonel.
I was my agency’s co-lead in unidentified anomalous phenomena
and trans medium object analysis as well as reporting to the UAP
Task Force—UAPTF—and eventually, once it was established, the
All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office—AARO.

Cases discussed

About this file

Hearing transcript, cited by the archive. 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.