Thank you again. Thank you all for your service and for testifying today. I want to just talk about UAPs as it relates to what we're seeing in pilots interaction with UAPs, particularly Mr. Graves. One of the concerns for members of this committee is this idea that pilots there's no system to actually report UAPs and the stigma around pilots. And so, just briefly, you mentioned that you're working with 30 pilots right now that have had encounters with UAPs. But you've also, I believe, discussed and know of many more pilots. This is just those that you're currently working with. Is that correct? Can you expand on that?
Certainly. I'll break that down in two ways. First, when we were first experiencing these objects off the Eastern Seaboard in the 2014 to 2015 time period, anyone that had upgraded their radar systems were seeing these objects. So there was a large number of my colleagues that were detecting these objects off the Eastern Seaboard. They were further correlating that information with their other onboard centers. And many of them also had their own eyesightings as well of these objects. Now, that was our personal firsthand experience at the time. Since then, as I've engaged this topic, others have reached out to me that shared their experiences both on the military side as well as the commercial aviation side. On the military aviation side, veterans that have recently got out have shared their stories and have expressed how the objects we were seeing in 2014, 2015 continued all the way to 2019, 2020, and beyond. And so it became a generational issue for naval aviators on the Eastern Seaboard. This was something we are briefing to new students. This is something that was included in the notice to airmen to ensure that there was no accidents. And now with commercial aviators, they are reaching out because they're having somewhat similar experiences as our military brothers and sisters, but they do not have any reporting system that they can send us to.
And let me just add both to Mr. Fravor as well as Mr. Graves not having this system for reporting. Would you both agree that it's harmful to not just our national security interests, but to understand this phenomenon of what's happening with UAPs?
I think it's a travesty that we don't have a system to correlate this and actually investigate. So if you took the East Coast, there's coastal radars out there that monitor our air defense identification zone. So out to 200 miles, they can track these. So when you see them, they could actually go and pull that data and get maneuvering. And instead of just having the airplanes, there's other data sources out there. And I've talked to other government officials on this. So you need a centrally located repository that these reports go to. So if you just stuck it in DoD, you wouldn't get anything out of the Intelligence Committee because they have a tendency to not to talk. But if you had a central location where these reports would come in, not just military, but also commercial aviation, because there's a lot of that going on, especially if you talk to anyone that flies from here to Hawai over the Pacific, they see OD lights. So I think you need to develop something that allows you a central point to collect the data in order to investigate.
Mr. Graves ?
I would concur with everything Mr. Fravor said. I'll continue to say that the commercial pilots that have reached out to me through Americans for Safe Aerospace are doing so because they don't feel there's another way for them to report this safety issue.
And I think one of the clear outcomes of this hearing already is that there has to be a safe and transparent reporting process for pilots, both on the commercial side and the military side, to be able to report UAPs in a way that's also transparent but also understands the scope of our national security interests and what may be classified or not. But I think there has to be some sort of system, and so that's something that I hope can be an outcome that this committee can work on. Is there anything else for just for the two of you briefly, beyond this reporting system that you think that we can do as a government to encourage and facilitate more civilian reporting?
We're doing it right now...
Okay, great.
...I think this hearing is going to show the American people that their government takes this topic seriously.
And how about civilians that may not be pilots? What kind of process could be in place for civilians who are not pilots who may have UAP encounters? Do either of you have any suggestions that could facilitate that?
My recommendations would be to make that a sensor centric operation in order to make it as objective as possible.
Okay, sir. Mr. Fravor?
No, I agree with Mr. Graves on that.
Okay, just briefly, I also just want to note, particularly for the two pilots, I have a question for Mr. Grusch. One of the things that I found fascinating in our discussion, Mr. Graves, last night as well, is that you both described UAPs and formations and the way they are observed in space or in our air. And the way that they move is essentially ways in which current technology or aircraft that we know of are unable to actually function or move. And so will you. Just for the public record, again, once again, just briefly, either describe or note that aircraft that are being witnessed, particularly by the 30 folks that you're working with, are essentially outside the scope of anything that we know of today and the technology we have today. Mr. Graves? Mr. Favor?
Yes. The objects that are being seen by commercial pilots are performing maneuvers that are unexplainable due to our current understanding of our technology and our capabilities as a country. And that applies for the military as well.
Mr. Fravor?
Yeah, I concur with that. We have nothing that can stop in midair and go the other direction, nor do we have anything that can, like in our situation, come down from space, hang out for 3 hours and go back up.
Thank you. My last question sometimes I know you have also said some of these answers in the past. We're trying to get them on the public record as well, which is really important. Mr. Gresh, finally, do you believe that our government is in possession of UAPs?
Absolutely. Based on interviewing over 40 witnesses over four years.
And where?
I know the exact locations and those locations were provided to the Inspector General and some of which to the Intelligence Committees. I actually had the people with the first-hand knowledge provide a protected disclosure to the Inspector General.
Thank you. And Mr. Chairman, I would just say that I think that these questions are important questions and I look forward to being involved in the process to get those answered. I know there'll be a lot of questions for the committee members, so I yield back.