Documents / Hearing transcript
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.
“Works”25 pages
47 exact entrance to our working areas, not only geographically but also altitude. So, it was right where all the jets are going, essentially, on the Eastern Seaboard. The two aircraft flew within about 50 feet of the object and that was a very close visual sighting. Mr. RASKIN. And you were in one of the aircraft? Mr. GRAVES. I was not. I was there when the pilot landed. He canceled the mission after. I was there. He was in the ready room with all his gear on with his mouth open and I asked him what the problem was and he said he almost hit one of those darn things. Mr. RASKIN. He said he was 50 feet away from it? Mr. GRAVES. Yes, sir. Mr. RASKIN. And his description of the object was consistent with the description you gave us before? Mr. GRAVES. A dark gray or a black cube inside of a clear sphere. Mr. RASKIN. Inside of a clear sphere? Mr. GRAVES. Yes. Mr. RASKIN. And with no self-evident propulsion system? Mr. GRAVES. No wings. No IR energy coming off of the vehicle. Nothing tethering it to the ground, and that was primarily what we were experiencing out there. Mr. RASKIN. I am over time. Thank you very much for your serv- ice and I yield back, Mr. Chairman. Mr. GROTHMAN. Very good. Mr. Burchett? Mr. BURCHETT. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. This is for all three of you all—starting with Mr. Graves. Why did you come forward on this issue? Mr. GRAVES. I came forward because I felt that my colleagues did not have a way to mitigate the safety threat and I wanted to help them. I was trained as an aviation safety officer by the Navy and this seemed—it just felt right. I felt like I had to help the folks that were still flying and dealing with this. Mr. BURCHETT. Mr. Grusch? Mr. GRUSCH. Purely a sense of duty. My first swore an oath when I was a cadet 18 years ago and I still uphold that even out of uniform. Mr. BURCHETT. Commander? Commander FRAVOR. I was pestered by a friend, and I asked why and he said, you are the one person that they cannot discredit, and you will add credibility to the New York Times article. And so after about six times I said OK. [Laughter.] Mr. BURCHETT. This town is not made, unfortunately, by people like you all. We thank you. I do want to also thank the people in the audience and the people that are watching this that cannot be—people all over the world that have kept this issue alive. You have endured criticism and derogatory remarks, and we are trying to get to the bottom of it. So, God bless you all. Thank you all so much. We really appreciate you guys and gals. [Applause.] Mr. BURCHETT. That is why we need term limits. You all keep clapping. Us politicians just keep talking. [Laughter.]
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.