UFO hearing – live: Pentagon whistleblowers share explosive claims of alien technology defying laws of physics

Pentagon whistleblowers shared explosive claims of alien technology defying laws of physics and pushback from military leadership against those reporting such sightings.

The House Oversight Committee held a hearing titled “Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena: Implications on National Security, Public Safety, and Government Transparency” on Wednesday.

Three witnesses took part in the hearing – David Grusch, a former intelligence official and whistleblower who said last month that the US has “intact and partially intact” alien vehicles, David Fravor, an ex-Navy commander who reported spotting seeing an object flying across the sky during a 2004 training mission, and Ryan Graves, a retired Navy pilot who appeared on CBS’s 60 Minutes in 2021 saying that he had spotted unidentified aerial phenomena off the Atlantic coast “every day for at least a couple years”.

Mr Grousch claimed that individuals have been injured while working on reverse engineering UFOs, but he said he couldn’t get into specifics of how that happened, adding that that “non-human biologics” were found along with recovered crafts.

Mr Graves said that he estimates that 95 per cent of UFO sightings by pilots go unreported, citing fear of repercussions.

Key Points

• Live: Congress holds hearing on UFOs after whistleblowers claim government kept information secret

• The House is holding an unprecedented committee hearing on UFOs. Here’s what to expect

• Massive line to attend UFO hearing

• VIDEO: Congress tackles UFO disclosure

• Whistleblower David Grusch claims US has found ‘intact’ alien vehicles

Tom DeLonge left Blink-182 for an alien adventure. Now back on tour, his UFO mission is taking off in Congress

20:13 , Sheila Flynn

The onstage banter from the Blink-182 boys – now middle-aged fathers – has barely changed in a quarter-century. Still steeped in SoCal skater style and jack-this-job attitude, the band kicked off a 2023 tour in May, interspersing dude jokes and high school humour with the pop-punk anthems that their devoted fan base grew up with. There’s a tinge of nostalgia to the wistful immaturity both on stage and in the crowd as the Blink trio – and many of their elder millennial fans – sing along to the same lyrics with the knowledge that everything, everywhere, is different.

Because this tour is significant in more ways than one. The band is travelling with families in tow, and they’re travelling not by Warped bus but by private jet – aside from Travis Barker, who opts for other transportation after surviving a deadly plane crash in 2008. The drummer has garnered perhaps the most headlines from this recent rash of performances, given his marriage to Kourtney Kardashian and her pregnancy announcement at a Blink-182 show last month – with a handwritten sign, no less.

Mr Barker and vocalist/guitarist Mark Hoppus reunited for this tour with band co-founder Tom DeLonge after his latest hiatus; the 47-year-old has become nearly as well known for his exploration of the extraterrestrial as he is for his nasal vocals and playfully juvenile lyrics. And there are times during Blink-182 shows when Hoppus tells the crowd: “Tom was right.”

Read more:

EXCLUSIVE: Tom DeLonge left Blink-182 for an alien mission. Now it’s taking off

Several hundred new UFO reports to Pentagon

20:00 , AP

Pentagon officials in December said they had received “several hundreds” of new reports since launching a renewed effort to investigate reports of UFOs.

At that point, “we have not seen anything, and we’re still very early on, that would lead us to believe that any of the objects that we have seen are of alien origin,” said Ronald Moultrie, the undersecretary of defense for intelligence and security. “Any unauthorized system in our airspace we deem as a threat to safety.”

‘Welcome to the most exciting subcommittee in Congress this week'

19:30 , AP

Rep. Glenn Grothman, R-Wis., chaired the panel’s hearing and joked to a packed audience, “Welcome to the most exciting subcommittee in Congress this week.” But members of both parties asked Grusch about his study of UFOs and the consequences he faced.

“I take it that you’re arguing what we need is real transparency and reporting systems so we can get some clarity on what’s going on out there,” said Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md.

Some lawmakers criticized the Pentagon for not providing more details in a classified briefing or releasing images that could be shown to the public. In previous hearings, Pentagon officials showed a video taken from an F-18 military plane that showed an image of one balloon-like shape.

Witness claims ‘very brutal’ tactics ‘used to hurt me both professionally and personally'

19:00 , AP

The Pentagon has denied Grusch’s claims of a coverup. In a statement, Defense Department spokeswoman Sue Gough said investigators have not discovered “any verifiable information to substantiate claims that any programs regarding the possession or reverse-engineering of extraterrestrial materials have existed in the past or exist currently.” The statement did not address UFOs that are not suspected of being extraterrestrial objects.

Grusch says he became a government whistleblower after his discovery and has faced retaliation for coming forward. He declined to be more specific about the retaliatory tactics, citing an ongoing investigation.

“It was very brutal and very unfortunate, some of the tactics they used to hurt me both professionally and personally,” he said.

Grusch says the U.S. likely aware of ‘non-human’ activity since 1930s

18:30 , AP

Grusch said he was asked in 2019 by the head of a government task force on UAPs to identify all highly classified programs relating to the task force’s mission. At the time, Grusch was detailed to the National Reconnaissance Office, the agency that operates U.S. spy satellites.

“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,” he said.

Asked whether the U.S. government had information about extraterrestrial life, Grusch said the U.S. likely has been aware of “non-human” activity since the 1930s.

Whistleblower tells Congress the US is concealing 'multi-decade' program that captures UFOs

18:00 , Nomaan Merchant, AP

The U.S. is concealing a longstanding program that retrieves and reverse engineers unidentified flying objects, a former Air Force intelligence officer testified Wednesday to Congress. The Pentagon has denied his claims.

Retired Maj. David Grusch’s highly anticipated testimony before a House Oversight subcommittee was Congress’ latest foray into the world of UAPs — or “unidentified aerial phenomena,” which is the official term the U.S. government uses instead of UFOs. While the study of mysterious aircraft or objects often evokes talk of aliens and “little green men,” Democrats and Republicans in recent years have pushed for more research as a national security matter due to concerns that sightings observed by pilots may be tied to U.S. adversaries.

Read more:

Whistleblower tells Congress the US is concealing 'multi-decade' program that captures UFOs

‘What percentage of UAP sightings go unreported by our pilots?’

17:29 , Gustaf Kilander

Republican says daughter called him a ‘boomer’ for calling to TikTok as Tic Tac

17:09 , Gustaf Kilander

Witness says individuals injured working on reverse engineering UFOs

17:08 , Gustaf Kilander

Mr Grousch claimed that individuals have been injured while working on reverse engineering UFOs, but he said he couldn’t get into specifics of how that happened.

He added that people involved would be willing to testify in a secure setting.

‘Anyone been murdered [to cover up for extraterrestrial technology]?'

17:03 , Gustaf Kilander

‘Non-human biologics’ found with recovered crafts

16:58 , Gustaf Kilander

Mr Graves said that he estimates that 95 per cent of UFO sightings go unreported.

Mr Groush said that “non-human biologics” were found along with recovered crafts.

Congressman asks UFO whistleblower if anyone has been ‘murdered’ to maintain alleged coverup

16:54 , Graig Graziosi

Congressman Tim Burchett asked a government whistleblower whether he believes anyone has been “murdered” in an effort to cover up the existence of unidentified aerial phenomena during a House Subcommittee on National Security.

David Grusch, a former intelligence officer who claims the US has retrieved crashed UAPs and is reverse engineering them, was among three witnesses who spoke to congressional leaders on Wednesday during the subcommittee.

Mr Grusch, who described himself as a whistleblower, said during the hearing that he was the subject of retaliation for his decision to go public with his claims.

During the hearing, Congressman Tim Burchett – who laboriously explained that the “Tic Tac” video showing a smooth, white aerial object, was not named for the “Chinese Communist Party app” TikTok — lamented that he could not secure a sensitive compartmented information facility (SCIF) to discuss certain sensitive topics.

Read more:

Congressman asks UFO whistleblower if anyone has been ‘murdered’ to maintain coverup

‘I know of multiple colleagues of mine that got physically injured'

16:49 , Gustaf Kilander

One of the members of Congress on the panel asked Mr Groush: “So at one point, you said that there has been harmful activity or progressive activity. Has any of the activity been aggressive? Been hostile to in your reports?”

“I know of multiple colleagues of mine that got physically injured,” as a result of UFO activity and as a result of government action, Mr Groush said.

Ex-Navy commander says UFO information is ‘over-classified'

16:46 , Gustaf Kilander

Commander Fravor said UFO information and footage are “over-classified. I know for a fact the video or the pictures that came out in the 2020 report that had the stuff off the east coast, they were taken with an iPhone ... a buddy of mine was one of the senior people there and he said they originally classified them TSS CI and my question was ‘what's TSS CI about these? They're an iPhone, right?’”

“They're over-classified – as soon as they do that they're gonna go in a vault, and now you’ll have to look for them,” he added.

‘These encounters became so frequent that air crew would discuss the risk of UAP as part of their regular preflight briefs'

16:39 , Gustaf Kilander

Witness says he knows ‘exact locations’ of recovered UFOs

16:35 , Gustaf Kilander

‘These objects were staying completely stationary in Category 4 hurricane winds'

16:27 , Gustaf Kilander

‘Colleagues of mine were brutally administratively attacked’

16:21 , Gustaf Kilander

Mr Grusch said, “I do have knowledge of active planned reprisal activity against myself and other colleagues”.

“There were certain colleagues of mine that were brutally administratively attacked. It actually makes me very upset as a leader to see that happen to other co-workers and actually superiors of mine in the last three years,” he added.

“How do you account for that response? That seems like a bizarre response,” Maryland Democrat Jamie Raskin asked.

“I call it administrative terrorism. That's in their quiver or tool in the toolbox to silence people especially the career government servants who care about their career, care about their clearance, their reputation, to climb the ladder, and when you threaten that flow, that career path, a lot of people back off, but I'm here to represent those people,” Mr Groush said.

Humans unable to survive G-forces of objects observed

16:15 , Gustaf Kilander

Witnesses told the hearing that humans would be unable to survive the G-forces that would be produced if they were travelling in a craft moving with the same speed as the UFOs they observed.

‘Dark gray or black cubes inside of a clear sphere'

16:07 , Gustaf Kilander

Asked about what the objects looked like, Mr Graves “We were primarily seeing dark gray or black cubes inside of a clear sphere ... where the apex or tips of the cube were touching the inside of that sphere. And that was primarily what was being reported when we were able to gain a visual tally of these objects that occurred over almost eight years. And as far as I know, is still occurring”.

Objects detected ‘where all operations Navy operations are being conducted'

16:05 , Gustaf Kilander

Mr Graves said that “Since the events initially occurred, I've learned that the objects have been detected essentially where all operations Navy operations are being conducted across the world”.

‘Do you believe that our government is in possession of UAPs?'

16:01 , Gustaf Kilander

Asked “do you believe that our government is in possession of UAPs?” Mr Grusch said: “Absolutely – based on interviewing over 40 witnesses over four years.”

Asked where they are, he added: “I know the exact locations and those locations were provided to the inspector general ... I actually had the people with the firsthand knowledge provide a protected disclosure to the Inspector General.”

‘Tic tac’ object technology ‘far superior to anything that we had at the time, have today or looking to develop’

15:50 , Gustaf Kilander

Commander Farvor said during his opening statement: “I'd like to say that the tic tac object we engaged in 2004 was far superior to anything that we had at the time, have today or looking to develop in the next 10 years. If we in fact have programs that possess this technology it needs to have oversight from those people that the citizens of this country elected in office to represent what is best for the United States and best for the citizens.”

Ex-Navy Commander details ‘tictac’ incident

15:46 , Gustaf Kilander

David Fravor, an ex-Navy commander who reported spotting seeing an object flying across the sky during a 2004 training mission, detailed the experience during his opening statement on Wednesday.

You can read more about the incident here:

Pilot who spotted the famous Tic Tac UFO breaks silence after 15 years

Whistleblower claims US has ‘multi-decade UAP crash retrieval and reverse engineering program'

15:43 , Gustaf Kilander

David Grusch, a former intelligence official and whistleblower who said last month that the US has “intact and partially intact” alien vehicles, said during his opening statement that “due to my extensive executive level intelligence support duties, I was cleared to literally all relevant compartments and in a position of extreme trust both of my military and civilian capacities. 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 to those additional read-ons when I requested it”.

“I made the decision based on the data I collected to report this information to my superiors and multiple inspectors general and in effect become a whistleblower. As you know, I've suffered retaliation for my decision. But I am hopeful that my actions will ultimately lead to a positive outcome of increased transparency,” he added.

Proof of technology which ‘defies all of our laws of physics’

15:40 , Gustaf Kilander

Mr Burchett hasn’t named his sources for his investigation but has claimed that the US has evidence of aliens. During his appearance on the Event Horizon podcast, he was asked if there was “compelling evidence” that the US had spotted objects in the sky “that might not be of this earth”.

“Oh, 100 per cent. 100 per cent. No question,” he said.

Mr Burchett has also said that the government has proof of technology which “defies all of our laws of physics” and he suggested that alien craft could be lethal to humans.

“If they’re out there, they’re out there, and if they have this kind of technology, then they could turn us into a charcoal briquette,” the Tennessee Republican said.

‘The stigma attached to UAP is real and powerful and challenges national security'

15:36 , Gustaf Kilander

Ryan Graves, a retired Navy pilot who appeared on CBS’s 60 Minutes in 2021 saying that he had spotted unidentified aerial phenomena off the Atlantic coast “every day for at least a couple years”, said in his opening statement that “I would like to highlight three critical issues that demand our action as we convene here – UAP are in our airspace, but they are grossly under-reported. These sightings are not rare or isolated. They are routine, military aircrew and commercial pilots – trained observers whose lives depend on accurate identification, are frequently witnessing these phenomena”.

“The stigma attached to UAP is real and powerful and challenges national security. It silences commercial pilots who fear professional repercussions and discourages witnesses. It is only compounded by recent government claims questioning the credibility of eyewitness testimony,” he added. “Parts of our government are aware of more about UAP than they let on by excessive classification practices to keep crucial information hidden since 2021. All UAP videos are classified as secret or above this level of secrecy, [which] not only impedes our understanding but fuels speculation and mistrust.”

Bumps in the road

15:30 , Gustaf Kilander

Mr Burchett has told the press that the probe had been “stonewalled” by federal officials.

“We’ve had a heck of a lot of pushback about this hearing. There are a lot of people who don’t want this to come to light,” Mr Burchett said during a press conference, according to The Guardian. “We’re gonna get to the bottom of it, dadgummit. Whatever the truth may be. We’re done with the cover-up.”

Following Mr Grusch sharing his claims, the Department of Defense told NewsNation that it has “not discovered any verifiable information to substantiate claims that any programs regarding the possession or reverse-engineering of any extraterrestrial materials have existed in the past or exist currently”.

‘Football field kind of size’

15:20 , Gustaf Kilander

Mr Grusch told NewsNation that some of the craft were “very large, like a football field kind of size” and claimed that there had been “malevolent events” in connection to UFOs.

The ex-official hasn’t seen any of the crafts himself, but told the Debrief that he bases his claims on “extensive interviews with high-level intelligence officials”.

The hearing on Wednesday morning comes after Mr Grusch made the allegation that information regarding these vehicles was being unlawfully kept from Congress. He said the government is operating a crash retrieval programme which gathered alien craft and that his probe into that programme had been impeded.

This led to the Oversight Committee ordering the probe and hearing into what the government knows about UFOs.

At the hearing, Mr Grusch will appear, as will David Fravor, an ex-Navy commander who reported spotting seeing an object flying across the sky during a 2004 training mission.

The witness list also includes Ryan Graves, a retired Navy pilot who appeared on CBS’s 60 Minutes in 2021 saying that he had spotted unidentified aerial phenomena off the Atlantic coast “every day for at least a couple years”.

‘We’re not gonna bring in a UFO, or a little saucer, or little green men'

15:11 , Gustaf Kilander

Alien craft could ‘turn us into a charcoal briquette,’ Republican says

15:10 , Gustaf Kilander

Earlier this month, Mr Burchett said that alien vehicles were able to “turn us into a charcoal briquette” and that the US “one hundred per cent” was spotting things in the sky “that might not be of this earth”.

Mr Grusch, who made the shocking claim regarding US possession of alien vehicles last month, headed the analysis of unexplained anomalous phenomena (UAP) at an agency within the Defense Department until earlier this year.

In a number of interviews, he claimed that the government and contractors had found fragments of non-human craft and entire crafts going back decades.

Ramaswamy lays out his top questions for UFO hearing

15:00 , Gustaf Kilander

Live: Congress holds hearing on UFOs after whistleblowers claim government kept information secret

14:58 , Francesca Casonato

Mysterious giant cylinder washes up on Australian beach as officials urge public to stay away

14:50 , Shweta Sharma

A giant metal cylinder was found washed up on a beach on 16 July in Western Australia (WA) as police urged beachgoers to stay away from the potentially “hazardous” object.

The unidentified object was reported to police by residents near Green Head town on the Mid-West Coast.

Western Australia police said they are trying to determine the object’s origin and nature and are treating it as “hazardous”.

They do not believe the object originated from a commercial aircraft and urged people to refrain from drawing conclusions, as several rumours linked it to UFOs while others to the missing Malaysian MH370 flight.

“We want to reassure the community that we are actively engaged in a collaborative effort with various state and federal agencies to determine the object’s origin and nature,” WA police said.

Read more:

Mysterious giant cylinder washes up on Australian beach as public urged to stay away

The House is holding an unprecedented committee hearing on UFOs. Here’s what to expect

14:42 , Gustaf Kilander

The House Oversight Committee is set to hold a hearing on UFOs, possibly giving a stage to extraordinary claims about life away from this planet.

The hearing is scheduled to start at 10am on Wednesday, with David Grusch, a former intelligence official and whistleblower who said last month that the US has “intact and partially intact” alien vehicles, being one of the individuals on the witness list, The Guardian notes.

He’s set to share his claims in front of a number of members of Congress who may be partial to his perspective, such as Tim Burchett and Anna Paulina Luna, the Republicans leading the probe for the panel into UFOs.

Read more:

What to expect from the House committee hearing looking into UFOs

Massive line to attend UFO hearing

14:40 , Gustaf Kilander

VIDEO: Congress tackles UFO disclosure

14:30 , Gustaf Kilander

ICYMI: Moment witnesses announced for UFO hearing

14:10 , Rachel Sharp

Whistleblower David Grusch claims US has found ‘intact’ alien vehicles

13:50 , Rachel Sharp

One of the witnesses testifying in Wednesday’s hearing is David Charles Grusch, a former US intelligence officer who served on the Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force.

In June, he shocked the nation when he claimed the US had concealed evidence of a “non-human” craft from Congress and filed a formal whistleblower complaint alleging he received retaliation for confidential disclosing this to the Intelligence Community Inspector General.

Mr Grush told NewsNation that the US may have an intact or partially intact craft of “non-human origin” in its possession and possibly evidence of deceased people through the alleged ‘broad crash retrieval program’.

“Well, naturally, when you recover something that’s either landed or crashed … sometimes you encounter dead pilots and, believe it or not, as fantastical as that sounds. It’s true,” Mr Grusch told NewsNation.

Mr Grusch, a veteran of the US Air Force, former member of the All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) and former co-lead of the Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP) task force for the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, said during his time on the task force colleagues confided in him about a broad crash retrieval program.

“I thought it was totally nuts and thought at first I was being deceived,” Mr Grusch said. “I had plenty of senior, former intelligence officers that came to me, many of which I knew almost my whole career, that confided in me that they were part of a program.”

ICYMI: Republican lawmaker claims US is ‘hiding evidence’ of UFOs which ‘defy physics as we know it’

13:30 , Rachel Sharp

Tennessee Republican Congressman Tim Burchett claimed that the US government has been withholding evidence of UFOs.

Rep Burchett told the Washington Examiner the government has been “holding stuff back since Roswell in ‘47, and maybe prior to that.” He added that he was concerned that “we have something that we do not control in our military airspace.”

His remarks follow claims from former US intelligence officer David Charles Grusch, who served on the Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force, which was established by the Department of Defense to “improve its understanding of, and gain insight into, the nature and origins of UAPs.” UAPs are the new term for UFOs.

Read more here:

Republican lawmaker claims US government is ‘hiding evidence’ of UFOs

UFO congressional hearing: What to know

13:20 , Rachel Sharp

WHAT: Hearing titled “Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena: Implications on National Security, Public Safety, and Government Transparency.”

DATE: Wednesday, July 26, 2023

TIME: 10am ET

WITNESSES:

• Ryan Graves, Executive Director, Americans for Safe Aerospace

• Rt. Commander David Fravor, Former Commanding Officer, Black Aces Squadron, U.S. Navy

• David Grusch, Former National Reconnaissance Officer Representative, Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena Task Force, Department of Defense

Rep Burchett vows to end government ‘cover-ups’ over UFOs

13:11 , Rachel Sharp

Republican Rep Tim Burchett, who is leading the committee hearing, has vowed to end the government “cover-ups” over UFOs.

“The Pentagon and Washington bureaucrats have kept this information hidden for decades, and we’re finally going to shed some light on it,” he said in a statement ahead of the hearing.

“We’re bringing in credible witnesses who can provide public testimony because the American people deserve the truth. We’re done with the cover-ups.”

Republican Rep Anna Luna said that the public has been left “in the dark” and the topic should be brought “to light”.

“The status quo on the part of the US government has been to leave the American public in the dark regarding information about UAPs, refuse to answer questions posed by whistleblowers, avoid the concerns Americans have about the possible threats UAPs pose to our national security and public safety, and default to extreme and unnecessary over-classification.

“If the last few months have taught me anything, it is that this is an issue that matters to Americans. It also impacts the transparency and accountability our government is supposed to grant to the people who it serves. I look forward to bringing this topic to light.”

Lawmakers to hold congressional hearing on UFOs today

13:03 , Rachel Sharp

Lawmakers are set to hold a congressional hearing on UFOs on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, where several Pentagon whistleblowers will present testimony about the existence of extraterrestrial life.

The House Oversight Committee said the hearing, titled “Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena: Implications on National Security, Public Safety, and Government Transparency,” will “explore firsthand accounts of unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) and assess the federal government’s transparency and accountability regarding UAPs’ possible threats to US national security”.

At least three witnesses – who have already come forward with claims that the government has kept information about UFOs secret for years – are expected to testify about what they know about alien life.

Welcome to The Independent’s liveblog

13:00 , Rachel Sharp

Follow along for live updates on today’s House Oversight Committee hearing on UFOs