The House Oversight subcommittee on national security spent the morning hearing from witnesses who pushed for more transparency in how the government handles reports of unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP).
Both the witnesses and lawmakers accused the Pentagon of covering up information about its UAP program, and called for transparent and centralized reporting databases moving forward.
David Grusch, a whistleblower who has accused the government of withholding information related to UFOs, made a series of explosive claims but often told lawmakers he could only provide specifics in a confidential setting.
Rep. Glenn Grothman (R-Wis.), who chaired the hearing, said he looked forward to collecting more information and drafting legislation to expose more of what the government knows.
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) said a group of Republican and Democratic lawmakers will seek a closed meeting with Wednesday's witnesses to discuss confidential information.
She said Republicans on the committee along with Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.) signed onto the request for a sensitive compartmented information facility (SCIF
Former intelligence official David Grusch made a series of explosive claims about the government covering up evidence of UAPs, but repeatedly told lawmakers he could not share details in a public setting.
Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) said Wednesday's hearing was the “first of many” on the government's handling of information related to UAPs.
“It's very multifaceted, we've got so many ideas now, like I said this is just the first of many,” he told reporters after the hearing. “It's still an uphill battle though.”
Burchett has accused the Pentagon and intelligence agencies of hiding information on UAPs, and said the hearing would help reveal the “cover up.”
“We’re going to formulate some more ideas, we’ll get some legislation out of this,” he told reporters.
“What’s gonna happen now, the floodgates — other people are going to say you know, I’ve got some information I’d like to come swear in, and that’s what we’re going to start doing.”
Grothman says he expects hearing to spur legislation
In closing remarks, Rep. Glenn Grothman (R-Wis.) said he believes legislation will come out of the hearing.
“It was a very illuminating hearing,” he said. “Obviously, I think several of us are going to look forward to getting some answers in a more confidential setting. I assume some legislation will come out of this.”
“I think we are going to want to look into what we can do to make more of this information public,” he added. “I think there’s certainly a time period after which it should always be made public and people have been concerned about these issues, like I said, since I was in high school.”
Witnesses say UAPs 'potentially' pose national security risk
All three witnesses said UAPs “potentially” pose national security risks in response to questions from Rep. Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.).
“Do you feel based off of your experience and information that you’ve been privy to that these UAPs provide an existential threat to the national security of the United States?” Ogles asked witnesses.
All three witnesses — former fighter pilot Ryan Graves of Americans for Safe Airspace, former intelligence official David Grusch and former Navy pilot David Fravor — said UAPs “potentially” pose a risk.
Each of them also said that it was possible that the UAPs were collecting reconnaissance information, probing U.S. capabilities and testing for vulnerabilities in the U.S. current systems.
Ogles then asked Graves and Fravor if they could have defended themselves if the UAP encounters turned hostile.
“Absolutely not,” Graves answered.
UAP evidence is 'overclassified,' former Navy pilot says
Former Navy pilot David Fravor told Congress that he believes the U.S. government is too heavy handed with its classification of video, images and witness statements surrounding UAPs.
“In my opinion … things are overclassified,” Fravor told the House Oversight subpanel.
He said many videos and images of UAPs taken by the U.S. government or employees are quickly classified as Top Secret/Sensitive Compartmented Information (TS/SCI).
“They’re overclassified, and as soon as they do that they go in a vault and then you all have to look for them,” Fravor told lawmakers.
Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) then asked witnesses if there were other methods the Pentagon or intelligence agencies used to keep information secret.
Former Navy pilot Ryan Graves said the U.S. government was “not encouraging reporting” of any encounters or sightings of UAPs.
Graves later estimated that only 5 percent of UAP sightings are reported.
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