Red, square UFO hovered over Vandenberg base in 2003, congressional witness testifies

A red, square unidentified flying object about the size of a football field was spotted at Vandenberg Space Force Base in 2003, a former U.S. Navy pilot said at a House of Representatives Oversight Committee hearing on Wednesday.

The National Security Subcommittee hearing focused on UFOs, now known as unidentified aerial phenomena.

Former U.S. Navy pilot Ryan Graves formed nonprofit Americans for Safe Aerospace to give pilots an opportunity to report UFO sightings. He urged the United States to create a better reporting process for pilots who see UFOs.

“These sightings are not rare or isolated. They are routine,” Graves said.

UFO spotted at Vandenberg base

Graves shared testimony from a pilot who saw the UFO at Vandenberg.

In 2003, a group of Boeing contractors operated near the launch facility of what was then known as Vandenberg Air Force Base in Santa Barbara County, Graves said.

At about 8:45 a.m., “they observed a very large, 100-yard-sided red square approach the base from the ocean and hover at low altitude over one of the launch facilities,” Graves said. “This object remained for about 45 seconds or so before darting off over the mountains.”

The UFO returned that evening after the sunset, but this time with more “aggressive behaviors,” Graves said.

“These objects were approaching some of the security guards at rapid speeds before darting off,” he said.

More than 30 pilots have reported UFO sightings to Americans for Safe Aerospace, Graves said, but pilots often keep sightings to themselves.

“The stigma attached to these sightings are real and powerful and challenges national security,” Graves said. “This silences commercial pilots who fear professional repercussions.”

Graves urged the committee to push the government to create a “system where pilots can report without fear of losing their jobs.”

“The American people deserve to know what happening in our skies. It is long overdue,” Graves said.

UFO sightings at Virginia Beach, San Diego

In 2014, Graves saw a UFO 10 miles off the coast of Virginia Beach, he said.

“The object, described as a dark gray or a black cube inside of a clear sphere, came within 50 feet of the lead aircraft” of his squadron, Graves said.

His squadron submitted a safety report, but there was no official acknowledgment of it, Graves said.

Two other former military members testified at the hearing alongside Graves.

Former U.S. intelligence officer David Grusch said he was informed of a “multi-decade (UFO) crash retrieval and reverse engineering program,” when he worked for the U.S. Air Force UAP Task Force from 2019 to 2021.

Retired U.S. Navy Cmdr. David Fravor said he spotted a UFO while flying off the coast of San Diego in 2004.

On a clear day, his team saw “a white Tic-Tac object ... moving abruptly over the water like a ping-pong ball,” Fravor said.

When his team flew toward the object, “it rapidly accelerated in front of us and disappeared,” he said.

Fravor and his team submitted a standard debrief of the incident, but no further investigation was done, Fravor said.

When asked, Fravor said he believes UFOs are a national security risk that should be investigated.

“The Tic-Tac object we engaged in 2004 was far superior to anything that we had (at the) time, have today, or are looking to develop in the next 10 years,” Fravor said. “You’re talking something that can go into space, go someplace, drop down in a matter of seconds, do whatever it wants and leave — and there’s nothing that we can do about that.”