File 038 · 2023 · UAP

The 2023 UAP hearing in Congress

In July 2023 a former intelligence officer told a House panel under oath that the US holds non-human biologics. He said he learned it from others, and the Pentagon's UAP office said it found no evidence.

Background

On 26 July 2023 a subcommittee of the House Oversight Committee held a public hearing on unidentified anomalous phenomena. Three witnesses testified under oath: David Grusch, a former Air Force intelligence officer who had filed a whistleblower complaint, David Fravor, a retired Navy pilot involved in the 2004 Nimitz encounter, and Ryan Graves, a former Navy pilot who described repeated sightings off the US East Coast.

Grusch told the panel that he had been told by people with direct knowledge of a long-running program that recovered craft and non-human remains. He said that he had not seen these himself and that his information came from interviews with people. The Pentagon's All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) said that it had found no verifiable information to support such claims.

What the record shows

• The hearing is a public record; the transcript and video are in the congressional record.
• Fravor and Graves described what they saw as pilots, such as objects without visible wings or exhaust, and said they had no information on their origin.
• Grusch said that the claims about recovered craft and biologics came from interviews with people he regarded as credible; he did not present documents or physical evidence at the hearing.
• The Pentagon's AARO said that it had been unable to verify the claims, and disputed with Grusch which side declined to meet.
• A later AARO report found no verified evidence supporting claims of crash retrieval or reverse-engineering programs.

Timeline

• Jun 2023 Press reports describe Grusch's claims to the intelligence community inspector general.
• 26 Jul 2023 House subcommittee hearing with Grusch, Fravor and Graves.
• Jul 2023 The Pentagon's AARO says the central source of the allegations had not spoken to it.
• Dec 2023 A narrower UAP records provision becomes part of the 2024 defense authorization law.
• Mar 2024 AARO publishes the first volume of its historical report on the claims.

Checking the claims

The claim: a government insider confirmed in Congress that the US possesses alien bodies and craft. What was actually said: a sworn statement that he had been told so, which Congress treated as a reason to investigate, not as proof. Testimony about what others reported is hearsay. It is the kind of statement that can only be confirmed if those other people testify or documents are produced.

That is the core of the dispute. Supporters argue that the programs are classified and that official statements cannot be trusted. Critics argue that no document, photograph or physical sample has been shown in public after years of claims. Both positions rest on what has not been seen yet, and the file stays open until witnesses testify or records appear.

Claimed, but not shown

No physical evidence, document or independent witness for recovered craft or non-human biologics has been made public. The claim that such programs exist is a sworn account of what others reported.

Verdict

Sources

• US House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, hearing 'Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena: Implications on National Security, Public Safety, and Government Transparency' (26 July 2023)
• All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office, Historical Record Report, Volume 1 (2024)
• National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024, UAP provisions

Connected files (red threads)

• AATIP and the Navy UFO videos — Pilots from this era testified to Congress
• AARO's historical report on UFO claims — AARO examined the claims made in the hearing
• UAP and "The Age of Disclosure" — The same claims are central to the documentary
• Roswell — The recovered-craft claims go back to Roswell

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