July 2023 House Oversight Committee Hearing on UAPs
- Type: testimony
- Author: House Committee on Oversight and Accountability; witnesses: David Grusch, David Fravor, Ryan Graves
- Date: 2023-07-26
- Credibility: primary (sworn Congressional testimony)
- URL: https://oversight.house.gov/hearing/unidentified-anomalous-phenomena-implications-on-national-security-public-safety-and-government-transparency/
Summary
Organized by Representatives Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) and Tim Burchett (R-TN) in response to Grusch’s public claims. Three witnesses testified under oath: David Grusch (intelligence officer/whistleblower), Commander David Fravor (USS Nimitz pilot), and Lieutenant Ryan Graves (F/A-18 pilot, founder of Americans for Safe Aerospace).
Key Testimony
David Grusch:
- “I was informed in the course of my official duties of a multi-decade UAP crash retrieval and reverse-engineering program to which I was denied access.”
- Claimed the US has retrieved “non-human biologics” from craft.
- When Rep. Burchett asked if he had “personal knowledge of people who’ve been harmed or injured in efforts to cover up or conceal” government possession of “extraterrestrial technology,” Grusch replied “yes” but could not elaborate outside a SCIF.
- When Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez asked “If you were me, where would you look?” Grusch replied: “I’d be happy to give you that in a closed environment. I can tell you specifically.”
David Fravor (Commander, USN, retired):
- Testified under oath about the November 14, 2004 USS Nimitz encounter.
- Described observing a white, oval “Tic Tac” shaped object, approximately 40 feet long, hovering above an ocean disturbance.
- The object ascended and mirrored his aircraft’s trajectory as he spiraled down, then disappeared.
- Four eyewitnesses (two pilots, two weapons systems officers) observed it for approximately 5 minutes.
- USS Princeton had been tracking similar objects for two weeks prior, detecting them at 80,000 feet descending rapidly to 20,000 feet.
- The object subsequently appeared at Fravor’s pre-designated CAP point (suggesting it knew where he was heading).
Ryan Graves:
- Former F/A-18F Super Hornet pilot.
- Testified about daily encounters with unidentified objects during 2014-2015 training off the US East Coast (Roosevelt carrier strike group).
- Described objects that appeared on radar and infrared sensors but were not visible to the naked eye.
- Reported a near-midair collision when an object flew between two aircraft.
- Founded Americans for Safe Aerospace, a pilot-led nonprofit, reporting that over 30 military witnesses had come forward to his organization.
Aftermath
AARO director Sean Kirkpatrick wrote on LinkedIn that the hearing was “insulting to the officers of the Department of Defense and Intelligence Community who chose to join AARO.” He stated that Grusch “refused to speak with AARO.”
Following the hearing, Rep. Burchett reported that officials informed lawmakers “that Grusch doesn’t currently have security clearance to discuss the issues in a SCIF.”
A bipartisan group of representatives called for the formation of a select committee on UAPs with subpoena power.
Significance
This was the first Congressional hearing in over 50 years where military witnesses testified under oath about specific UAP encounters. Fravor’s testimony is notable because it is a firsthand account (unlike Grusch’s secondhand claims) from a decorated Navy pilot describing behavior that does not match known technology. Graves’ testimony established that encounters were not isolated incidents but occurred routinely in military training ranges.