From left, Navy Rear Admiral Tim Gallaudet (ret.), Luis Elizondo, a former Defense Department official, Michael Shellenberger, founder of the newsletter Public, and Michael Gold, a former NASA official, are sworn in Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024, during a House Committee on Oversight and Accountability hearing in Washington about UFOs. (Eric Kayne/Stars and Stripes)
WASHINGTON — The House Oversight and Accountability Committee on Wednesday pushed its probe into UFOs and the secrecy surrounding them with a hearing aimed at forcing more transparency from the government, particularly the Pentagon.
“We know that there are objects or phenomena observed in our air space and also possibly in our oceans,” said Rep. Robert Garcia of California, the top Democrat on the committee’s national security panel. “The American people have legitimate questions and I believe it’s critical that Congress should help address them.”
The hearing was the latest effort by House lawmakers to shine a light on the work of the Defense Department’s All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office, or AARO, which was created in 2022 to investigate sightings of UFOs and standardize data collection.
Luis Elizondo, a former Defense Department official, testifies Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024, during a House Committee on Oversight and Accountability hearing in Washington about UFOs. (Eric Kayne/Stars and Stripes)
In March, the AARO released a report finding no evidence that the government was hiding evidence of alien spacecraft or technology and said most cases of UFO sightings could be explained as optical illusions, airborne trash or drones.
But the office’s inability to solve or identify some reports of UFOs, also called unidentified anomalous phenomena by the government, has fueled speculation of a coverup and fed the public’s growing interest in aliens.
Testimony from former military personnel has also stirred questions.
Tim Gallaudet, a former rear admiral in the Navy, told lawmakers on Wednesday that an unidentified object “exhibiting flight and structural characteristics unlike anything in our arsenal” was spotted during a naval exercise off the East Coast in 2015.
He said he received an email from the operations officer of Fleet Forces Command asking what the object was and warning that pilots were having “multiple near-midair collisions” with it.
Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., makes remarks Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024, during a House Committee on Oversight and Accountability hearing in Washington about UFOs. Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., is sitting to his left. (Eric Kayne/Stars and Stripes)
The next day, the email disappeared from Gallaudet’s account and the accounts of all others who had received it, he said. The episode was never talked about again, Gallaudet said.
“For the remainder of my government service… this incident disturbed me,” he said. “It highlighted a dangerous culture of over-classification, where even pressing safety-of-flight issues could be swept aside under the pretense of secrecy.”
Luis Elizondo, a former senior intelligence official who ran a predecessor agency to the AARO, said Wednesday that the government possessed alien technology and was in a secretive “arms race” to reverse engineer the aircraft.
He also accused the government of punishing whistleblowers and fostering an environment of suppression and intimidation.
“Let me be clear: UAP are real,” Elizondo said. “Advanced technologies not made by our government, or any other government, are monitoring sensitive military installations around the globe.”
Michael Shellenberger, founder of the newsletter Public, holds a redacted document as he testifies Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024, during a House Committee on Oversight and Accountability hearing in Washington about UFOs. (Eric Kayne/Stars and Stripes)
Two former Navy fighter pilots, David Fravor and Ryan Graves, described their encounters with unknown flying objects in testimony last year before Congress. The men previously shared their stories with the media, sparking interest on Capitol Hill.
On Tuesday, Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., introduced a bill to protect whistleblowers who bring attention to federal funding that is being used to study UFOs. Lawmakers earlier this year also introduced a bill requiring the government to declassify all documents related to UFOs.
Several members of the oversight panel said they were discouraged from holding the hearing on Wednesday and told they should not question the witnesses on certain subjects.
“When the American people and members of Congress ask, ‘Are reports of UFOs credible?’, we’re met with stonewalling, we’re met with responses of ‘I can’t tell you,’” said Rep. Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla. “I believe more transparency is not only needed but is possible.”
Republican Nancy Mace of South Carolina led the hearing and later released a document that claims the existence of a secret UFO data retrieval program called “Immaculate Constellation.”
The document was previously cited in a report by the newsletter writer Michael Shellenberger, who also testified Wednesday. He told lawmakers that he received the document from “a current or former U.S. government employee” and declined to elaborate further.
“The American people need to know that the U.S. military is sitting on a huge amount of visual and other information, still photos, video photos or sensor information, and have for a very long time,” he said.
