Documents / Hearing transcript
This is the transcript of a joint hearing held November 13, 2024 by two subcommittees of the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, chaired by Rep. Nancy Mace. The witnesses were Tim Gallaudet, Luis Elizondo, Michael Shellenberger and Michael Gold. They addressed government secrecy, AARO's transparency, a Pentagon document on the alleged Immaculate Constellation program, threats to pilot safety, and UAP activity near nuclear and military sites. Members also discussed UAP disclosure legislation.
8 In March, AARO revealed a report on the historical record of U.S. Government involvement with UAPs, which covered investiga- tory efforts going back from 1945 to the present day. Earlier this year, I joined Congressman Burchett to introduce the UAP Transparency Act, which would require the declassification of all documents related to UAPs, with many other Members of this Committee. In Fiscal Year 2024, the NDA required the National Archives and Records Administration to establish the unidentified anony- mous phenomena records collection. This collection will include dig- ital copies of all unidentified UAP records that can be publicly dis- closed. This commitment in transparency is vitally important, and un- necessary overclassification has led to a void of information, which has allowed theories over the decades to foster. When the American people and Members of Congress ask, ‘‘Are reports of UAPs credible?’’ we are met with stonewalling, we are met with responses of, ‘‘I cannot tell you,’’ and, in fact, we are met with people not wanting us to have hearings; we are met with peo- ple not wanting us to ask you questions. In fact, many of us were told not to ask some of you certain questions on certain topics. In the time of heightened distrust of our government institutions, I believe more transparency is not only needed but is possible. And, obviously, we can respect national security limits, but we also have to provide our constituents with the information and oversight that they have tasked us for. As part of this, government agencies must maintain open lines of communication with Members of Congress. And there are regular questions that Americans have. What are UAPs? Are they real? Are they ours? How has this technology been developed? How do they get funded? Right? And now we have seen—this has gone from a long time ago where you could discredit people because it is some guy living in a Winnebago. You are able to see people now. These are pilots. These are military. These are folks with serious backgrounds. This has changed the face of this because now we have video. People will have questions. We know there are advanced tech- nology programs. Almost 15 years ago, one of those came out of area 51 to go after Osama bin Laden. And the only reason we know about that is because one of those helicopters was downed. Americans have questions about whistleblowers who have come forward to talk about retribution. And so, I want to thank everyone for being involved today on try- ing to get more transparency. This has been bipartisan, bicameral. And, as we get into a new administration, the President-elect has talked about opportunities to declassify information on UAPs, and I hope he lives up to that promise. And, with that, I yield back. Ms. MACE. OK. Thank you, Mr. Moskowitz. And I would now—Committee staff asked me to go ahead, and I will do it, to enter into the Congressional Record this 12-page doc- ument that Michael Shellenberger brought today that describes the Immaculate Constellation government program. So, we will do that now. Every Member up here has a copy of it.
Hearing transcript, from the hearings collection. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is above. 52 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.