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
17 During my work on the UAP independent study team, it quickly became evident that there is no clear or well-publicized process for civilian pilots to report UAP sightings. The stigma associated with UAP hampers the number of pilots that would report such phe- nomena, but even for those who overcome the stigma, I believe the current FAA guidance is largely unknown and poorly understood. In order to effectively collect UAP data, the independent study team recommended the use of NASA’s aviation safety reporting system, or ASRS. The system, which is administered by NASA and funded by the FAA, provides a confidential means for reporting of safety violations in a voluntary and nonpunitive manner. Over 47 years, the ASRS has collected nearly 2 million reports. ASRS is the perfect tool to collect UAP data, which could then be collated by NASA and shared with the public at-large. Leveraging ASRS could create a treasure trove of UAP data, po- tentially hundreds of thousands of reports supporting this hearing’s goal of exposing the truth. I am grateful to our two co-Chairs and other Members who have already incorporated this idea into proposed legislation. At this hearing, as others have demonstrated, the UAP issue is justifiably dominated by national security and defense. However, I would urge the Subcommittees to keep in mind the numerous ways that NASA and the FAA, as well as commercial activities in the air, in space, and in the water can generate a massive amount of invaluable data on anomalous phenomena. I cannot help but be excited by the potential for such an endeav- or since scientific discovery is driven by anomalies. It is the exist- ence and study of anomalies that led to the theory of relativity, quantum mechanics, and nearly all of humanity’s scientific break- throughs. This is why the study of UAPs should be embraced since, what- ever is occurring, the chance to garner new knowledge, should never be ignored. We must be thorough in collecting information, fearless in making conclusions, and open to following the data no matter how mundane or extraordinary the results may be. I began this testimony by praising the joint Subcommittee Mem- bers for their courage, and I will end by echoing that sentiment. As the saying goes, the truth is out there. We just need to be bold enough and brave enough to face it. Thank you. Ms. MACE. Thank you. Thank you all. I will now recognize myself for 5 minutes of questioning. I have a lot of questions, and I have a lot of witnesses. So, I would just ask, if it is ‘‘yes’’ or ‘‘no’’, to please just tell me ‘‘yes’’ or ‘‘no’’. If it requires more than that, be very succinct because I would like to go down the line and ask as many questions as possible. So, for the Admiral this morning first, former DoD official Chris Mellon reached out to about satellite imagery from 2017 that de- picts a UAP. What were the dates in 2017 when this occurred? Dr. GALLAUDET. I cannot share with you the details, ma’am, but I can do it in a closed setting, and I could also tell you the agency that wrote a report on it. Ms. MACE. OK. So, who has the imagery?
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.