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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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there. You have to acknowledge that you are seeing them and then
you have to collect the data.
Right now, you get the report. Someone says, I saw something,
but no one collects the radar data to back it up and do research.
Mr. BIGGS. OK. Do you believe that the 2019 classification guide-
lines for UAPs interferes with the Federal Government’s ability to
be transparent with the American people and do you think we need
to be more transparent with the American people?
All of you, yes.
Mr. GRAVES. I will say yes to that.
Mr. GRUSCH. Yes, I am familiar with the UAP Task Force 2019
Security Classification guide. I think it is fair. I did actually help
author that with the Director.
Mr. BIGGS. Uh-oh. You got a bias then.
Mr. GRUSCH. Yes. I will say—I will call it a lazy attitude about
declassifying videos. I mean, I have seen some of the videos of, you
know, the recent shoot down and I saw no reason that could not
have been released as long as they mask, you know, some data.
The American people deserve to see that imagery and full motion
video.
Commander FRAVOR. I would think—well, in my opinion, I will
say things are over-classified. I know for a fact the video or the pic-
tures that came out in the—I think it was the 2020 report, that
had the stuff off the East Coast that were taken with an iPhone
off the East Coast.
A buddy of mine was one of the senior people there and he said
they originally classified it TS/SCI, and my question then was what
is TS/SCI about these? They are an iPhone literally off the vacapes.
That is not TS/SCI.
So, they are over classified, and as soon as they do that they go
in a vault and then you all have to look for them.
Mr. BIGGS. So, with the over-classification that may be one way.
Are there other ways that the DoD or intelligence agencies are
keeping this information from the American people or even from
Congress?
Mr. GRAVES. I think part of that has been not encouraging re-
porting, if the problem is not something that can be measured, if
it is not something that is going to be fixed.
Mr. BIGGS. OK. Very good. Well, I am out of time and I thank
you, Mr. Chairman, and I yield back.
Mr. GROTHMAN. First of all, without objection, Representative
Nick Langworthy of New York is waived on the Subcommittee for
purpose of questioning witnesses at today’s Subcommittee hearing.
And then we go to Mr. Burlison.
Mr. BURLISON. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Appreciate you guys
coming out today testifying.
Look, I have been here for 6 months and I am pretty skeptical.
I do not trust anything in this town and so—and I think that is
because I am from Missouri. You have got to show me, right.
With that being said, there has been a lot of things that have
been said in the public, Mr. Grusch, and so I want to get down,
if we can, to some specifics, right.

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.