Written testimony of Ryan Graves (congress.gov copy)

I joined the U.S. Navy in 2009. As a pilot, I was trained to be an expert observer, tasked with
identifying any aircraft within our operating area. In 2014, I was near Virginia Beach as part of
VFA-11, a Navy Fighter/Attack Squadron made up of F/A-18F Super Hornets. Upon an upgrade
to our radar system, we began to detect unknown objects in our airspace. Initially dismissed as
software glitches, we soon corroborated these radar tracks with infrared sensors, confirming
their physical presence.
Over time, UAP sightings became an open secret among our aircrew. They were a common
occurrence, seen by most of my colleagues on radar and occasionally up close. The sightings
were so frequent that they became part of daily briefs.
A pivotal incident occurred during an air combat training mission in Warning Area W-72, an
exclusive block of airspace ten miles east of Virginia Beach. All traffic into the training area goes
through a single GPS point at a set altitude. Just at the moment the two jets crossed the
threshold, one of the pilots saw a dark gray cube inside of a clear sphere — motionless against
the wind, fixed directly at the entry point. The jets, only 100 feet apart, were forced to take
evasive action. They terminated the mission immediately and returned to base. Our squadron
submitted a safety report, but there was no official acknowledgement of the incident and no
further mechanism to report the sightings.
Advanced UAP defy conventional explanation
The UAP we encountered and tracked on multiple sensors behaved in ways that surpassed our
understanding and technology. The UAP could accelerate at speeds up to Mach 1, hold their
position against hurricane-force winds, and outlast our fighter jets, operating continuously
throughout the day. They did not have any visible means of lift, control surfaces or propulsion —
nothing that resembled normal aircraft with wings, flaps or engines. I am a formally trained
engineer and I have no explanation for this.
Recently, I have received confirmation that these encounters were also a shock to the chain of
command from one of our advisors at ASA, Rear Admiral Tim Gallaudet, former head of
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and Oceanographer of the Navy.
While serving as an Admiral with Fleet Forces Command, he received a classified email on
SIPRNET in 2015 from his boss, the Operations Commander, to all 1- and 2-star Admiral
subordinates. The title of the email was “Urgent safety of flight issue.” He attached the now
famous GO-FAST UAP video from a Navy F/A-18, asking if anyone knew their origin, and
expressed safety of flight concerns about multiple near mid-air collisions with UAP in the early
warning area off Virginia Beach where my encounters occurred, noting they might shut down the
exercise for safety reasons.
Admiral Gallaudet reviewed it with his deputy. The next day, the email was removed from his
system and that of his deputy, and despite meeting with this group routinely in person, no one
ever discussed it. He presumes the email was removed in connection with a classified special