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.
“The Pentagon”12 pages
16 STATEMENT OF MICHAEL GOLD FORMER NASA ASSOCIATE ADMINISTRATOR SPACE POLICY AND PARTNERSHIPS AND MEMBER OF NASA UAP INDEPENDENT STUDY TEAM Mr. GOLD. Thank you, Chairman Mace, Chairman Grothman, Ranking Members Connolly and Garcia, Representative Moskowitz, and distinguished Members of both Subcommittees. I am grateful to all of you, as well as your intrepid staff, for the opportunity to testify and would like to begin by discussing courage. Courage is what it takes to tackle this topic, and courage, in the face of adversity, is what I see in front of me, beside me, and be- hind me. Per my introduction, I am currently the Chief Growth Officer at Redwire Space and have had several leadership positions at NASA. That being said, I want to be clear that I am speaking exclusively on my own behalf and not for Redwire, NASA, or any other organi- zation. However, I am here today to speak out for science. Science re- quires data, which should be collected without bias or prejudice. Yet, whenever the topic of UAP arises, those who wish to explore the phenomenon are often confronted with resistance and ridicule. For example, members of the NASA UAP independent study team, particularly those in academia, were mocked and even threatened for simply having the temerity to engage in the study of UAP. Our best tool for unlocking the mystery of UAP is science, but we cannot conduct a proper inquiry if the stigma is so over- whelming that just daring to be part of a NASA research team elic- its such a vitriolic response. Therefore, one of most important actions that can be taken rel- ative to exposing the truth of UAP is to combat the stigma, and this is where I believe that NASA can be imminently helpful. The NASA brand is synonymous with hope, optimism, and credi- bility. If you were to take a walk down to National Mall, you would immediately see the NASA logo on T-shirts, hats, and bumper stickers. Few Federal agencies enjoy this kind of popularity. I have never seen anyone wearing an Office of Personnel Management T- shirt, which is why NASA could play such an influential role. Specifically, NASA could, with relatively little cost and effort, host symposia on UAP or even just participate in existing panels examining the topic. NASA personnel stepping forward and partici- pating in such discussions would make a powerful statement to the scientific community that UAP should be taken seriously and re- searched accordingly. In regard to research, NASA has vast archives, much of which may contain important UAP data. Again, for relatively little cost and effort, NASA could create an AI or ML algorithm that could search the agency’s archives for anomalous phenomena. I suspect that such an effort would not only result in information that will help us to understand UAP but could result in data that will assist in other areas of scientific inquiry, such as anomalous weather or meteorite activity. Beyond its existing archives, NASA could act as a clearinghouse for civilian and commercial UAP data.
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.