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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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I also want to note for our witnesses and for the public that I
am a freshman Member of Congress and I have only been here for
7 months. But this is by far the most bipartisan conversation and
discussion that I have seen happen in the Congress and I think
that a topic of this significance as it relates to our national secu-
rity, as it relates to information that we are trying to gather for
the American public does bring people together and I think that
has been really great to see.
I think it is also important to note for the public, we—today in
our hearing we had on our side also both our full Ranking Member,
which is Mr. Raskin, and our Vice Ranking Member, which is Ms.
Ocasio-Cortez, both here at our hearing.
I think it shows the importance and seriousness that our side of
the aisle is taking to this important hearing but also the broader
issue as it relates to working with our Republican counterparts on
this Committee.
I want to additionally add that I think—and I encourage—I
think it is really important that we have and continue these discus-
sions and these hearings. Clearly, there is a lot of information that
we do not know.
But it is also very clear that we have to continue our investiga-
tion and accountability on asking the right questions and ensuring
that they are part of the public record.
One thing that was important today is some folks might wonder,
you know, why are we asking questions that might already be out
there or that have been asked before. It is important that they are
asked and put into the public record as it relates to this Com-
mittee.
And so I want to thank you for, you know, answering some ques-
tions multiple times. I know not just in maybe meetings you had
with some Members but also here in the public.
Let me also just add an additional note that it is important also
that our friends in the media and those that are not just reporting
on this hearing but that have reported on this topic and that may
in the future, the media has an important role in this process and
it is very important that the media engages, does independent in-
vestigation, and reports on not just what happened today but what
they see independently as what has happened around UAPs in the
broader community.
That is also an important public benefit that we have in trying
to get the information and the facts as it relates to this.
Let me also just say, finally, that as a teacher and an educator
and a longtime teacher and researcher that I also really believe in
following facts and doing your homework and making sure that you
follow science as we try to get as much information as possible.
So, I want to thank you all for agreeing to do that today. Trans-
parency is a cornerstone of government. We live in a vast galaxy.
A lot of unanswered questions, and thank you all for being here
today.
Mr. Chairman?
Mr. GROTHMAN. Thank you. I would like to one more time thank
Mr. Burchett and Ms. Luna for bringing this to our attention. It
is a topic that has interested me since I was in school. It was a
very illuminating hearing.

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.