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Congressional HearingUnder oath

House Intelligence UAP Hearing - May 17, 2022

Date
17 May 2022
Venue
House Intelligence Subcommittee on Counterterrorism, Counterintelligence, and Counterproliferation
Language
en
Status
Extracted
308
statements
18
speakers
11
entities mentioned

Speakers

18 speakers, A to Z

Transcript

308 statements, in transcript order

Each entry is one claim, quoted word for word. These are extracted statements, not the full record: the original document has everything.

  1. 001
    Chairman CarsonChairmanFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “More than 50 years ago, the U.S. Government ended Project Blue Book, an effort to catalogue and understand sightings of objects in the air that could not otherwise be explained.”
  2. 002
    Chairman CarsonChairmanFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “For more than 20 years, that project had treated unidentified anomalies in our airspace as a national security threat to be monitored and investigated.”
  3. 003
    Chairman CarsonChairmanFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “In 2017, we learned for the first time that the Department of Defense had quietly restarted a similar organization, tracking what we now call unidentified aerial phenomena, or UAPs.”
  4. 004
    Chairman CarsonChairmanFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “Last year Congress rewrote the charter for that organization, now called the Airborne Object Identification and Management Synchronization Group, or AOIMSG for short.”
  5. 005
    Chairman CarsonChairmanFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “For too long the stigma associated with UAPs has gotten in the way of good intelligence analysis. Pilots avoided reporting or were laughed at when they did.”
  6. 006
    Chairman CarsonChairmanAllegationCertainty: BelievedUnder oath
    “DOD officials relegated the issue to the back room or swept it under the rug entirely, fearful of a skeptical national security community.”
  7. 007
    Chairman CarsonChairmanFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “Today we know better. UAPs are unexplained, it is true, but they are real. They need to be investigated, and any threats they pose need to be mitigated.”
  8. 008
    Chairman CarsonChairmanOpinionCertainty: BelievedUnder oath
    “Secondly, you have to convince the audience today, and most especially our military and civilian aviators, the culture has changed, that those who report UAPs be treated as witnesses, not as kooks.”
  9. 009
    Chairman CarsonChairmanOpinionCertainty: BelievedUnder oath
    “I am looking for you to assure us today that all conclusions are on the table.”
  10. 010
    Chairman CarsonChairmanFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “We are mindful today that AOIMSG is not starting from scratch. This is the third version of this task force in DOD, and civil society groups like the Mutual UFO Network, Mr. Corbell, and others have been collecting data on this issue for years.”
  11. 011
    Chairman CarsonChairmanFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “The last time Congress had a hearing on UAPs was half a century ago. I hope that it does not take 50 more years for Congress to hold another because transparency is desperately needed.”
  12. 012
    Mr. CrawfordRanking MemberOpinionCertainty: BelievedUnder oath
    “While this topic evokes the creative imaginations of many, aside from all the hype and speculation, there are important underlying issues posed by UAPs.”
  13. 013
    Mr. CrawfordRanking MemberSpeculationCertainty: SpeculatedUnder oath
    “I have to say I am more interested in our understanding of Chinese and Russian hypersonic weapon development or understanding why this administration was so slow to share actionable intelligence with the Ukrainians.”
  14. 014
    Mr. CrawfordRanking MemberSpeculationCertainty: SpeculatedUnder oath
    “However, in as much as this topic may help us better understand unknown activities of Russia and China, I am on board.”
  15. 015
    Mr. CrawfordRanking MemberOpinionCertainty: BelievedUnder oath
    “The Intelligence Community has a serious duty to our taxpayers to prevent potential adversaries, such as China and Russia, from surprising us with unforeseen new technologies.”
  16. 016
    Mr. CrawfordRanking MemberOpinionUnder oath
    “As overseers of the Intelligence Community, this committee has an obligation to understand what you are doing to determine whether any UAPs are new technologies are not, and if they are, where are they coming from?”
  17. 017
    Mr. CrawfordRanking MemberFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “In general, the IC spends much of its time and resources trying to understand what we call known-unknowns. When it comes to foreign nations' weapons systems and sensors, known-unknowns are these features we don't fully understand yet. The challenge associated with UAP is that they are completely unknown and require a more expansive collection analysis effort.”
  18. 018
    Mr. CrawfordRanking MemberOpinionCertainty: BelievedUnder oath
    “The IC must take it seriously when there are credible observations of phenomena that seem to perform in ways that could pose a threat to safe flight operations or that could be signs of a foreign adversary's attempt to develop a strategic technological surprise against the United States.”
  19. 019
    Mr. CrawfordRanking MemberOpinionCertainty: BelievedUnder oath
    “It is also essential that our pilots and others feel they can report UAPs they observe without any stigma for doing so.”
  20. 020
    Mr. CrawfordRanking MemberOpinionCertainty: BelievedUnder oath
    “This is the open, unclassified portion of our hearing. We will have a closed, classified part later. It is important for the public to know that the classification of information exists to protect national security, not to try to hide the truth.”
  21. 021
    Mr. CrawfordRanking MemberFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “When we are trying to determine if any UAPs are new technologies being developed by foreign governments, we are inevitably going to run into classified information about what new systems and technologies we do know are in the works here or abroad.”
  22. 022
    Mr. CrawfordRanking MemberOpinionCertainty: BelievedUnder oath
    “But more information does not risk national security. It should be shared with our allies and the public when feasible.”
  23. 023
    Mr. CrawfordRanking MemberOpinionCertainty: BelievedUnder oath
    “It is my hope that the Intelligence Community will continue to try to determine the nature of UAPs we have observed and will keep Congress fully apprised of all developments.”
  24. 024
    Mr. SchiffChairmanOpinionCertainty: BelievedUnder oath
    “Thank you, Chairman Carson, for holding this open hearing on unidentified aerial phenomena and for your leadership on this issue.”
  25. 025
    Adam SchiffChairmanFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “Holding a portion of our discussion today in open session is critical to the cause of transparency and openness which was Congress' intent in authorizing and funding this new task force.”
  26. 026
    Adam SchiffChairmanOpinionCertainty: BelievedUnder oath
    “The larger effort that is being undertaken to study and characterize UAP reports is an important step towards understanding these phenomenon, what we know and don't know.”
  27. 027
  28. 028
    Adam SchiffChairmanFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “UAP reports need to be understood as a national security matter. And that message needs to go out across DOD, the IC, and the whole of the U.S. Government.”
  29. 029
  30. 030
    Adam SchiffChairmanOpinionCertainty: BelievedUnder oath
    “It is also the responsibility of our government and this panel to share as much as we can with the American people since excessive secrecy only breeds distrust and speculation.”
  31. 031
    Adam SchiffChairmanFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “Among the most fascinating questions: Are these phenomena that we can measure? That is, instruments report there is something there. It is not the human eye confusing objects in the sky. There is something there, measurable by multiple instrument.”
  32. 032
    Adam SchiffChairmanObservationCertainty: BelievedUnder oath
    “And yet it seems to move in directions that are inconsistent with what we know of physics or science more broadly. And that, to me, poses questions of tremendous interest and as well as potential national security significance.”
  33. 033
    Ronald S. MoultrieUnder Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and SecurityFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “Thank you. Chairman Schiff, Committee Chairman Carson, Ranking Member Crawford, distinguished members of the subcommittee, it is a privilege to be here with you today to address your questions regarding unidentified aerial phenomena, or UAP.”
  34. 034
    Ronald S. MoultrieUnder Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and SecurityFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “I am pleased to be joined by Mr. Scott Bray, the Deputy Director of Naval Intelligence, who will speak to the Navy's Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force, which laid the foundation for the efforts we will discuss today.”
  35. 035
    Ronald S. MoultrieUnder Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and SecurityFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “First, I would like to thank Congress for supporting the Department's UAP efforts. The NDAA for fiscal year 2022 has helped us to establish a dedicated office to oversee processes and procedures for the timely collection, processing, analysis, and reporting of UAP-related data.”
  36. 036
    Ronald S. MoultrieUnder Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and SecurityFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “Put simply, UAP are airborne objects that, when encountered, cannot be immediately identified. However, it is the Department's contention that, by combining appropriately structured collected data with rigorous scientific analysis, any object that we encounter can likely be isolated, characterized, identified, and, if necessary, mitigated.”
  37. 037
    Ronald S. MoultrieUnder Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and SecurityFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “We know that our servicemembers have encountered unidentified aerial phenomena and, because UAPs pose potential flight safety and general security risks, we are committed to a focused effort to determine their origins.”
  38. 038
    Ronald S. MoultrieUnder Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and SecurityFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “Our effort will include the thorough examination of adversarial platforms and potential breakthrough technologies, U.S. Government or commercial platforms, allied or partner systems, and other natural phenomenon.”
  39. 039
    Ronald S. MoultrieUnder Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and SecurityFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “We also understand that there has been a cultural stigma surrounding UAP. Our goal is to eliminate the stigma by fully incorporating our operators and mission personnel into a standardized data-gathering process.”
  40. 040
    Ronald S. MoultrieUnder Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and SecurityOpinionCertainty: BelievedUnder oath
    “We believe that making UAP reporting a mission imperative will be instrumental to the effort's success.”
  41. 041
    Ronald S. MoultrieUnder Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and SecurityFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “To optimize the Department's UAP work, we are establishing an office within the Office of the Secretary of Defense. That office's function is clear: to facilitate the identification of previously unknown or unidentified airborne objects in a methodical, logical and standardized manner.”
  42. 042
    Ronald S. MoultrieUnder Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and SecurityFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “These goals will ensure that we are working closely with operational personnel on training and reporting requirements, developing data and intelligence requirements, standardizing and integrating processes and procedures for collection, operational surveillance, analysis, and reporting, leveraging our research and development capabilities to improve detection, characterization, and identification of UAPs, developing mitigating solutions and procedures, and identifying strategy and policy solutions.”
  43. 043
    Ronald S. MoultrieUnder Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and SecurityFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “This effort will maximize collaboration and build upon already existing relationships with the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the FAA, DHS, and the FBI. We are also committed to strong partnerships with the Department of Energy, NOAA, the DEA, NASA, and the National Labs and, just as importantly, our international partners and allies.”
  44. 044
    Ronald S. MoultrieUnder Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and SecurityFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “With regard to the importance of transparency, the Department is fully committed to the principle of openness and accountability to the American people. However, we are also mindful of our obligation to protect sensitive sources and methods.”
  45. 045
    Ronald S. MoultrieUnder Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and SecurityOpinionCertainty: BelievedUnder oath
    “Our goal is to strike that delicate balance, one that enables us to maintain the public's trust while preserving those capabilities that are vital to the support of our service personnel.”
  46. 046
    Ronald S. MoultrieUnder Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and SecurityFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “In closing, the Department is committed to this effort and welcomes the challenge. We thank you for your committed support and look forward to your questions.”
  47. 047
    Scott W. BrayDeputy Director of Naval IntelligenceFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “Chairman Schiff, Chairman Carson, Ranking Member Crawford, and committee members, thank you very much for the opportunity to be here today to highlight the ongoing work of the Department of Defense regarding unidentified aerial phenomena.”
  48. 048
    Scott W. BrayDeputy Director of Naval IntelligenceFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “Since the early 2000s, we have seen an increasing number of unauthorized and/or unidentified aircraft or objects in military-controlled training areas and training ranges and other designated airspace.”
  49. 049
  50. 050
    Scott W. BrayDeputy Director of Naval IntelligenceFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “We attribute this increase in reporting to a number of factors including our work to destigmatize reporting and increase in the number of new systems such as quadcopters and unmanned aerial systems that are in our airspace, identification of what we can classify as clutter, mylar balloons and other types of air trash, and improvements in the capabilities of our various sensors to detect things in our airspace.”
  51. 051
    Scott W. BrayDeputy Director of Naval IntelligenceFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “Almost 2 years ago, in August of 2020, Deputy Secretary of Defense Norquist directed the establishment of the Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force within the Department of the Navy.”
  52. 052
    Scott W. BrayDeputy Director of Naval IntelligenceFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “The UAP Task Force was built on the foundation of the Navy's initial efforts to respond to the reports from our aviators on unidentified objects observed in our training ranges.”
  53. 053
    Scott W. BrayDeputy Director of Naval IntelligenceFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “The basic issues then and now are twofold. First, incursions in our training ranges by unidentified objects represent serious hazards to safety of flight.”
  54. 054
    Scott W. BrayDeputy Director of Naval IntelligenceIncompleteCertainty: UnknownUnder oath
    “In every”
  55. 055
    Unknown (Testimony)Factual AssertionUnder oath
    “Deputy Secretary of Defense Norquist directed the establishment of the Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force within the Department of the Navy”
  56. 056
    Unknown (Testimony)Factual AssertionUnder oath
    “The UAP Task Force was built on the foundation of the Navy's initial efforts to respond to the reports from our aviators on unidentified objects observed in our training ranges”
  57. 057
    Unknown (Testimony)Factual AssertionUnder oath
    “Incursions in our training ranges by unidentified objects represent serious hazards to safety of flight. In every aspect of the naval aviation, safety of our air crews is paramount”
  58. 058
    Unknown (Testimony)Factual AssertionUnder oath
    “Intrusions by unknown aircraft or objects pose potential threats to the security of our operations. Our aviators train as they would fight. So any intrusions that may compromise the security of our operations by revealing our capabilities, our tactics, techniques, or procedures are of great concern to the Navy and the Department of Defense”
  59. 059
    Unknown (Testimony)Factual AssertionUnder oath
    “We instituted a data-driven approach to the investigations where we could collect as much data as possible and use all available resources to analyze and make informed decisions on the best ways to address our findings”
  60. 060
    Unknown (Testimony)Factual AssertionUnder oath
    “Our main objective was to transition UAP efforts from an anecdotal or narrative-based approach to a rigorous science and technology engineering focused study”
  61. 061
    Unknown (Testimony)Factual AssertionUnder oath
    “We also spent considerable efforts engaging directly with our naval aviators and building relationships to help destigmatize the act of reporting sightings or encounters”
  62. 062
    Unknown (Testimony)Factual AssertionUnder oath
    “Navy and Air Force crews now have step-by-step procedures for reporting on a UAP on their kneeboard in their -- in the cockpit and in their postflight debrief procedures”
  63. 063
    Unknown (Testimony)Factual AssertionUnder oath
    “The direct result of those efforts has been increased reporting with increased opportunities to focus a number of sensors on any objects”
  64. 064
    Unknown (Testimony)Factual AssertionUnder oath
    “The message is now clear: If you see something, you need to report it. And the message has been received”
  65. 065
    Unknown (Testimony)Eyewitness AccountUnder oath
    “In fact, recently I received a call from a senior naval aviator with over 2,000 flight hours. He called me personally from the flight line after landing to talk about an encounter that he had just experienced”
  66. 066
    Unknown (Testimony)Factual AssertionUnder oath
    “We also made a concerted effort to assemble subject-matter experts from across the Department of Defense and the Intelligence Community and other U.S. Government agencies and departments”
  67. 067
    Unknown (Testimony)Factual AssertionUnder oath
    “We forged partnerships with the research, development, and acquisition communities, with industry partners, and with academic research labs”
  68. 068
    Unknown (Testimony)Factual AssertionUnder oath
    “Subject-matter experts from a wide variety of fields, including physics, optics, metallurgy, meteorology, just to name a few, have been brought in to expand our understanding in areas where we may not have organic expertise”
  69. 069
    Unknown (Testimony)Factual AssertionUnder oath
    “Any given observation may be fleeting or longer. It may be recorded or not. It may be observable by one or multiple assets. In short, there is rarely an easy answer”
  70. 070
    Mr. BrayDeputy Director of Naval IntelligenceFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “There it was. That is in many cases that is all that a report may include, and in many other cases, we have far less than this”
  71. 071
    Mr. BrayDeputy Director of Naval IntelligenceFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “This often limited amount of high-quality data and reporting hampers our ability to draw firm conclusions about the nature or intent of UAP”
  72. 072
    Mr. BrayDeputy Director of Naval IntelligenceFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “If and when individual UAP incidents are resolved, they likely fall into one of five potential explanatory categories: airborne clutter, natural atmospheric phenomena, U.S. Government or U.S. industry developmental programs, foreign adversary systems, or an other bin that allows for a holding bin of difficult cases and for the possibility of surprise and potential scientific discovery”
  73. 073
    Mr. BrayDeputy Director of Naval IntelligenceConfirmationUnder oath
    “We stand by those initial results”
  74. 074
    Mr. BrayDeputy Director of Naval IntelligenceFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “Since the release of that preliminary report, UAP database has now grown to contain approximately 400 reports”
  75. 075
  76. 076
    Mr. BrayDeputy Director of Naval IntelligenceFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “We have also made progress in resolving the character of a limited number of UAP encounters”
  77. 077
    Mr. BrayDeputy Director of Naval IntelligenceEyewitness AccountUnder oath
    “In this video, U.S. Navy personnel recorded what appears to be triangles, some flashing, recorded several years ago off the coast of the United States”
  78. 078
    Mr. BrayDeputy Director of Naval IntelligenceFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “This was the recorded while the U.S. Navy ship observed a number of small, unmanned aerial systems in the area”
  79. 079
    Mr. BrayDeputy Director of Naval IntelligenceFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “The video was taken through night vision goggles with a single-lens reflex camera”
  80. 080
    Mr. BrayDeputy Director of Naval IntelligenceFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “These remained unresolved for several years”
  81. 081
    Mr. BrayDeputy Director of Naval IntelligenceEyewitness AccountUnder oath
    “Several years later and off a different coast, U.S. Navy personnel, again in a swarm of unmanned aerial systems and, again, through night vision goggles and an SLR camera, recorded this image”
  82. 082
    Mr. BrayDeputy Director of Naval IntelligenceFactual AssertionCertainty: BelievedUnder oath
    “But this time other U.S. Navy assets also observed unmanned aerial systems nearby, and we are now reasonably confident that these triangles correlate to unmanned aerial systems in the area”
  83. 083
    Mr. BrayDeputy Director of Naval IntelligenceFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “The triangular appearance is a result of light passing through the night vision goggles and then being recorded by an SLR camera”
  84. 084
    Mr. BrayDeputy Director of Naval IntelligenceFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “I don't mean to suggest that everything that we observe is identifiable”
  85. 085
    Mr. BrayDeputy Director of Naval IntelligenceFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “But this is a great example of how it takes considerable effort to understand what we are seeing in the examples that we are able to collect”
  86. 086
    Mr. BrayDeputy Director of Naval IntelligenceFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “In this example, we accumulated sufficient data from two similar encounters from two different time periods in two different geographic areas to help us draw these conclusions”
  87. 087
    Mr. BrayDeputy Director of Naval IntelligenceFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “That is not always the case, though”
  88. 088
    Mr. BrayDeputy Director of Naval IntelligenceFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “We recognize that that can be unsatisfying or insufficient in the eyes of many”
  89. 089
    Mr. BrayDeputy Director of Naval IntelligenceFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “It is a popular topic in our Nation with various theories as to what these objects may be and where they originate”
  90. 090
    Mr. BrayDeputy Director of Naval IntelligenceOpinionUnder oath
    “By nature, we are all curious. And we seek to understand the unknown. And, as a lifelong necessary professional, I am impatient. I want immediate explanations for this as much as anyone else”
  91. 091
    Mr. BrayDeputy Director of Naval IntelligenceFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “However, understanding can take significant time and effort”
  92. 092
    Mr. BrayDeputy Director of Naval IntelligenceFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “It is why we have endeavored to concentrate on this data-driven process, to drive fact-based results”
  93. 093
    Mr. BrayDeputy Director of Naval IntelligenceFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “And given the nature of our business, national defense, we have had to sometimes be less forthcoming with information in open forums than many would hope”
  94. 094
    Mr. BrayDeputy Director of Naval IntelligenceConditional AssertionCertainty: BelievedUnder oath
    “If UAP do indeed represent a potential threat to our security, then the capability, systems, processes, and sources we use to observe, record, study, or analyze these phenomena need to be classified at appropriate levels”
  95. 095
    Mr. BrayDeputy Director of Naval IntelligenceFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “We do not want, we do not want potential adversaries to know exactly what we are able to see or understand or how we come to the conclusions we make”
  96. 096
    Mr. BrayDeputy Director of Naval IntelligenceFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “Therefore, public disclosures must be carefully considered on a case-by-case basis”
  97. 097
    Mr. BrayDeputy Director of Naval IntelligenceFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “We are concentrating on a seamless transition to the new organization”
  98. 098
    Mr. BrayDeputy Director of Naval IntelligenceSpeculationCertainty: BelievedUnder oath
    “Future analysis of complicated issues, of UAP issues, will greatly benefit from the infrastructure of the process and the procedures that we have developed to date”
  99. 099
    Mr. BrayDeputy Director of Naval IntelligenceOpinionCertainty: BelievedUnder oath
    “I am confident that the task force under Navy leadership has forged a path forward that will allow us to anchor assessments in science and engineering vice anecdotal evidence”
  100. 100
    Mr. BrayDeputy Director of Naval IntelligenceConfirmationUnder oath
    “We remain committed to that goal, as I know the USDI organization does as well”
  101. 101
    Mr. BrayDeputy Director of Naval IntelligenceFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “The team has made a lot of progress, but we really are just establishing”
  102. 102
    Unknown (Testimony)ReferenceUnder oath
    “As detailed in the ODNI report, if and when individual UAP incidents are resolved, they likely fall into one of five potential explanatory categories”
  103. 103
    Unknown (Testimony)Factual AssertionUnder oath
    “We brought many allies and international partners into our discussions on UAP”
  104. 104
    Mr. CrawfordRanking MemberFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “You mentioned fidelity, and I think it is important to talk about the relationship from the Navy is the lead agency on this. How do you interact with Space Force, Air Force to create that degree of fidelity?”
  105. 105
    Mr. CrawfordRanking MemberOpinionCertainty: BelievedUnder oath
    “We are talking about sensors and so on. And I guess where I have some concerns is that many of the images that we see commonly in this committee and even in open source, the resolution and the clarity that would allow a robust technical intelligence analysis is challenging.”
  106. 106
    Mr. CrawfordRanking MemberQuestionCertainty: InferredUnder oath
    “So is AOIMSG prepared to address the quality and quantity of data collected on UAP to advance intelligence collection? Do you have the adequate sensors you need to collect that high-quality data?”
  107. 107
    Mr. MoultrieUnder Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and SecurityFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “One of the lines of effort that we have is looking at our sensor capabilities and to understand whether or not, as the video showed that Mr. Bray displayed sometimes it is very fleeting data that we have on some of these objects.”
  108. 108
    Mr. MoultrieUnder Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and SecurityFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “We want to make sure that, one, our systems are calibrated to actually be able to collect on the objects. You know, our sensors today are calibrated for specific things. We want to make sure they are calibrated for things of this nature, things of this size, things of this velocity, if I can use that term.”
  109. 109
    Mr. MoultrieUnder Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and SecurityFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “We want to make sure that, once we have that, that that data is stored in some standardized method that we can then extract and that we can feed into our system real time. So we do not, like, want this to take some prolonged period of time for us to get that data.”
  110. 110
    Mr. MoultrieUnder Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and SecurityFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “But our goal is absolutely to have that high-fidelity information that we get from all sensors, and we want to be able to integrate that with what we may have off of ground-based sensors. So whatever we may have on the platform, whatever we may have on the ground, whatever we may have from other sensors that we may have in different domains, we want to be able to integrate that all and get this integrated picture as we would, as I said, with any other unidentified objects or things we are tracking as a part of our normal intelligence responsibilities.”
  111. 111
    Mr. CrawfordRanking MemberQuestionCertainty: InferredUnder oath
    “Last question, Mr. Bray, if you would, I am a Navy pilot. I have encountered a UAP. Walk me through the reporting protocol once I see something that I think needs reporting.”
  112. 112
    Mr. BrayDeputy Director of Naval IntelligenceFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “The first thing that aviator would do after landing as a part of their normal debriefing is they would contact their intelligence officer. Their intelligence officer would then walk them through, first, filing a -- first, actually, data preservation to ensure that, whatever sensor data may be on the aircraft, that we preserve that so that it is available for later analysis.”
  113. 113
    Mr. BrayDeputy Director of Naval IntelligenceFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “Second, they would actually fill out a form that includes details like where they were operating, altitudes they were operating, speeds, what they observed, whatever sensor data they may have recorded from that.”
  114. 114
    Mr. BrayDeputy Director of Naval IntelligenceFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “And then that report is filed. It goes two places. One, it goes through the operational chain of command so that operational units are aware of what is being observed and also to the UAP Task Force so that they can take that data, database it, and quite often have individuals from the task force contact the aviator and ask them additional questions if there were things that weren't clear in the report.”
  115. 115
    Mr. BrayDeputy Director of Naval IntelligenceFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “That then goes into a database where we then compare it with other observations that we have, again, comparing for locations, comparing for altitudes, speeds, shapes, if any RF emissions were detected from the platform, all of that so that we can try to reach some conclusions on that.”
  116. 116
    Mr. SchiffChairmanQuestionCertainty: InferredUnder oath
    “Mr. Bray, can you rerun that first image that looked like it was outside the plane window? And if you wouldn't mind going up to the screen and tell us what we are seeing, not that you can necessarily tell us what we are seeing but -- explain what we should be looking at in that first image.”
  117. 117
    Mr. BrayDeputy Director of Naval IntelligenceFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “You are looking outside a U.S. Navy F-18, and it shows how difficult the analysis is.”
  118. 118
    Mr. BrayDeputy Director of Naval IntelligenceEyewitness AccountUnder oath
    “As you can see, finding a UAP is harder than you may think. What you will find eventually on this, when we find the right frame, is for literally about one frame here is a spherical object that passes right through here, passes right through there, because the aircraft is moving pretty fast in this direction of the flyby of it.”
  119. 119
    Mr. BrayDeputy Director of Naval IntelligenceEyewitness AccountUnder oath
    “Right here. It is right -- [pointing to screen] No, that is not the one. Lexi, just push "play." Let's see if -- here, what you will see coming up right here is -- there it went. Now back up just a -- a spherical object right here zooms by the window right in this area right there. There we go.”
  120. 120
    Mr. BrayDeputy Director of Naval IntelligenceFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “So, as you can see, it is difficult. And I think a part of the issue here is the laptop we are working with is not as easy for us stopping that video in the right spot.”
  121. 121
    Mr. SchiffChairmanQuestionCertainty: InferredUnder oath
    “Well, describe what we have seen in that. What are we observing?”
  122. 122
    Mr. BrayDeputy Director of Naval IntelligenceEyewitness AccountUnder oath
    “What you see here is aircraft that is operating in a U.S. Navy training range that has observed a spherical object in that area. And, as they fly by it, they take a video. You see it looks reflective in this video, somewhat reflective. And it quickly passes by the cockpit of the aircraft.”
  123. 123
    Mr. SchiffChairmanQuestionCertainty: InferredUnder oath
    “And is this one of the phenomenon that we can't explain?”
  124. 124
    Mr. BrayDeputy Director of Naval IntelligenceFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “I do not have an explanation for what this specific object is.”
  125. 125
    Mr. SchiffChairmanQuestionCertainty: InferredUnder oath
    “And is this one of the situations where it is -- that is the object that we are looking at right there? Thank you. And is this a situation where it was observed by the pilot, and it was also recorded by the aircraft's instruments?”
  126. 126
    Mr. BrayDeputy Director of Naval IntelligenceFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “We will talk about the multisensor part in a later session, but in this case, we have at least that.”
  127. 127
    Mr. SchiffChairmanFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “In the Director of National Intelligence 2021 unclassified report, the ODNI reported 144 UAPs between 2004 and 2021, 80 percent of which were recorded on multiple instruments.”
  128. 128
    Mr. SchiffChairmanFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “And I take it, with respect to some of those, you had the pilot, a pilot seeing them, if it was observed by a pilot -- and you had multiple instruments recording it. So you really have three sensors, the human sensor and two technical sensors detecting the object. Is that correct?”
  129. 129
    Mr. BrayDeputy Director of Naval IntelligenceFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “For the -- for the majority of incidents that we had in the last year's report, the majority had multisensor data. When I talk about the 400 reports that we have now, that number will certainly go down because a lot of those new reports that we have are actually historic reports that are narrative-based. So that percentage will go down just as a factor of the fact that the destigmatization has resulted in more narrative reports.”
  130. 130
    Mr. SchiffChairmanFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “Last year's report also said that of those 144, 18 of them reportedly appeared to exhibit unusual flight characteristics, appeared to demonstrate advanced technology, and some of them appeared to remain stationary and winds aloft,”
  131. 131
    Mr. SchiffChairmanFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “Last year's report also said that of those 144, 18 of them reportedly appeared to exhibit unusual flight characteristics, appeared to demonstrate advanced technology, and some of them appeared to remain stationary and winds aloft, move against the wind, maneuver abruptly, or move at considerable speed without discernible means of propulsion.”
  132. 132
  133. 133
    Mr. BrayDeputy Director of Naval IntelligenceFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “without discernible means of propulsion, I would say that we are not aware of any adversary that can move an object without discernible means of propulsion.”
  134. 134
    Mr. BrayDeputy Director of Naval IntelligenceSpeculationCertainty: BelievedUnder oath
    “in many of these cases where we don't have a discernible means of propulsion in the data that we have, in some cases there is likely sensor artifacts that may be hiding some of that.”
  135. 135
    Mr. BrayDeputy Director of Naval IntelligenceFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “There is certainly some degree of something that looks like signature management that we have seen from some of these UAP.”
  136. 136
    Mr. BrayDeputy Director of Naval IntelligenceFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “there are a small handful in which there are flight characteristics, there are signature management that we can't explain with the data that we have.”
  137. 137
    Mr. BrayDeputy Director of Naval IntelligenceFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “within the UAP Task Force, we have one basic assumption and that is that, generally speaking, generally speaking, our sensors operate as designed.”
  138. 138
    Mr. BrayDeputy Director of Naval IntelligenceFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “We make no assumptions about the origin of this or that there may or may not be some sort of technology that we don't understand.”
  139. 139
    Mr. SchiffChairmanQuestionCertainty: InferredUnder oath
    “with respect to the second two videos, showing the small triangles, the hypothesis is that those are commercial drones that, because of the use of night vision goggles, appear like triangles?”
  140. 140
    Mr. BrayDeputy Director of Naval IntelligenceSpeculationCertainty: BelievedUnder oath
    “Some type of drone, some type of unmanned aerial system, and it is simply that that light source resolves itself through the night vision goggles onto the SLR camera as a triangle.”
  141. 141
    Mr. SchiffChairmanQuestionCertainty: InferredUnder oath
    “have we, in order to prove that hypothesis, flown a drone and observed it with that same technology to see whether we can reproduce the effect?”
  142. 142
    Mr. BrayDeputy Director of Naval IntelligenceFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “The UAP Task Force is aware of studies that have done that.”
  143. 143
    Dr. WenstrupU.S. Representative (Ohio)QuestionCertainty: InferredUnder oath
    “have the sightings been stationary? Or have they always been sighted from a moving object, from a plane or a ship that may be moving? Have these reports ever come from a stationary observer being observed in the sky?”
  144. 144
    Mr. BrayDeputy Director of Naval IntelligenceFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “The UAP Task Force does have reports from stationary, from -- reports from a stationary observer.”
  145. 145
    Dr. WenstrupU.S. Representative (Ohio)QuestionCertainty: InferredUnder oath
    “Are we capable or have we made any breakthroughs or anyone made any breakthroughs to be able to sight something and make some determination at all of its composition, whether it is a solid or a gas?”
  146. 146
    Mr. BrayDeputy Director of Naval IntelligenceFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “it is clear that many of the observations we have are physical objects from the sensor data that we have.”
  147. 147
    Dr. WenstrupU.S. Representative (Ohio)QuestionCertainty: InferredUnder oath
    “Have there been any conclusion on its capabilities, like its capabilities of movement, of turning, going, you know, 180 degrees or a 90-degree turn, anything along that line that we have been able to determine?”
  148. 148
    Mr. BrayDeputy Director of Naval IntelligenceFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “there is not a single explanation for UAP. They make up -- there are a lot of different things that are unidentified aerial phenomena.”
  149. 149
    Dr. WenstrupU.S. Representative (Ohio)QuestionCertainty: InferredUnder oath
    “are there any nonmilitary reports coming forward of similar events, or is it all coming from military?”
  150. 150
    Mr. BrayDeputy Director of Naval IntelligenceFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “The UAP Task Force has a very good working relationship with the FAA. They have a very good working relationship with other parts of the U.S. Government so that we can ingest reports from --”
  151. 151
    Mr. BrayDeputy Director of Naval IntelligenceConfirmationUnder oath
    “Yes.”
  152. 152
    Mr. BrayDeputy Director of Naval IntelligenceOpinionCertainty: BelievedUnder oath
    “I think standardized reporting without a doubt is key to helping us get to the -- to ascertain what some of these are.”
  153. 153
    Dr. WenstrupU.S. Representative (Ohio)QuestionCertainty: InferredUnder oath
    “Do we -- there are other people besides the U.S. that have had these experiences and reported them. Is that correct?”
  154. 154
    Mr. BrayDeputy Director of Naval IntelligenceConfirmationUnder oath
    “There are. That is correct.”
  155. 155
    Dr. WenstrupU.S. Representative (Ohio)QuestionCertainty: InferredUnder oath
    “Is it all of our allies, or is it allies and adversaries? What have we learned publicly?”
  156. 156
    Mr. MoultrieUnder Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and SecurityEvasionCertainty: InferredUnder oath
    “So some of that, sir, I think we will save for closed session.”
  157. 157
    Mr. BrayDeputy Director of Naval IntelligenceFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “Allies have seen these. China has established its own version of a UAP task force. So clearly a number of countries have observations of things in the airspace that they can't identify.”
  158. 158
    Dr. WenstrupU.S. Representative (Ohio)QuestionCertainty: InferredUnder oath
    “And do we share data with some, with all? Are they sharing with us?”
  159. 159
    Mr. BrayDeputy Director of Naval IntelligenceFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “We share data with some, and some share data with us.”
  160. 160
    Dr. WenstrupU.S. Representative (Ohio)QuestionCertainty: InferredUnder oath
    “But not necessarily all that have publicly reported something?”
  161. 161
    Dr. WenstrupU.S. Representative (Ohio)SpeculationCertainty: SpeculatedUnder oath
    “If they are developed by an adversary through some breakthrough technology, they can be very disruptive to our military actions or at least serve as a destruction.”
  162. 162
    Dr. WenstrupU.S. Representative (Ohio)OpinionCertainty: BelievedUnder oath
    “Be careful who we share our data with and don't necessarily trust some of the data that we may get from someone else.”
  163. 163
    Mr. HimesCongressmanFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “One of the objectives of this open hearing is to try to erode some of the stigma that attaches to, in particular, our military men and women reporting this.”
  164. 164
  165. 165
    Mr. HimesCongressmanOpinionCertainty: BelievedUnder oath
    “any sort of stigma that prevents our military from reporting this data as comprehensively as possible is a national security threat.”
  166. 166
    UnknownFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “our military men and women reporting this. It is obviously really very serious because, should one of our adversaries have developed a technology that we don't know about it, we need to know about it yesterday. And, obviously, any sort of stigma that prevents our military from reporting this data as comprehensively as possible is a national security threat.”
  167. 167
    Mr. BrayDeputy Director of Naval IntelligenceFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “there are lots of things, when you are moving very fast and an object is between you and a stationary reference point like the ground, it gives a lot of different impressions about how quickly something is or isn't moving. And it actually means it is a challenge, especially with narrative-based data, to get a lot of information on that. That is why the sensor data is so important, because things do happen very quickly, as you see there. And sometimes things that happen very quickly, something may be moving very slow. That aircraft is moving quite fast. How fast that object is moving that goes by is probably very slow.”
  168. 168
    Mr. HimesCongressmanFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “an observation, either a visual observation or an electronic observation, infrared or whatever, looks radically different than it does to most people. Even instruments, instruments are on gimbals and that sort of thing. So that creates a very unusual view to, again, those of us who are seeing things in two dimension largely.”
  169. 169
    Mr. HimesCongressmanFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “A number of these UAPs, you said, we can't explain. Again, in the service of sort of reducing speculation and conspiracy theories, "we can't explain" can range from a visual observation that was distant on a foggy night, we don't know what it is, to we have found an organic material that we can't identify. Right? Those are radically different worlds.”
  170. 170
    Mr. HimesCongressmanQuestionCertainty: InferredUnder oath
    “Are we holding materials, organic or inorganic, that we don't know about? Are we, you know, picking up emanations that are something other than light or infrared that could be deemed to be communications?”
  171. 171
    Mr. BrayDeputy Director of Naval IntelligenceFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “When I say we can't explain, I mean exactly as you described. There is a lot of information like the video that we showed in which there is simply too little data to create a reasonable explanation. There are a small handful of cases in which we have more data that our analysis simply hasn't been able to fully pull together a picture of what happened, and those are the cases where we talk about where we see some indications of flight characteristics or signature management that are not what we had expected.”
  172. 172
    Mr. BrayDeputy Director of Naval IntelligenceFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “When it comes to material that we have, we have no material. We have detected no emanations within the UAP Task Force that is -- that would suggest it is anything nonterrestrial in origin.”
  173. 173
    Mr. BrayDeputy Director of Naval IntelligenceFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “So there is, when I say unexplained, I mean everything from too little data to we simply -- the data that we have doesn't point us towards an explanation, but we will go wherever the data takes us. Again, we make no assumptions about what this is or isn't. We are committed to understanding these, and so we will go wherever that data takes us.”
  174. 174
    Mr. HimesCongressmanQuestionUnder oath
    “When you say "we can't explain," everything that you can't explain is in a bucket called data. Is that correct? And that would mean data collected by sensors, visual observations, everything that "we can't explain," quote/unquote, is in the bucket called data.”
  175. 175
    Mr. BrayDeputy Director of Naval IntelligenceFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “Right. A narrative report from the early 2000s, if it just had a little bit of information on it, would be in our database, and it would be unresolved.”
  176. 176
    Mr. MoultrieUnder Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and SecurityFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “I would add to that it is insufficient data. I mean, that is one of the challenges we have. Insufficient data either on the event itself, the object itself, or insufficient data or plug-in with some other organization or agency that may have had something in that space at that time. So it is a data issue that we are facing in many of these instances, Congressman.”
  177. 177
    Mr. MoultrieUnder Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and SecurityEvasionCertainty: InferredUnder oath
    “So I can't speak to what may have predated Project Blue Book. I mean, of course, there is Roswell and all these other things that people have talked about over the years. I am familiar with Blue Book. I am familiar with AATIP. I haven't seen other documented studies that have been done by DOD in that regard.”
  178. 178
    Mr. GallagherCongressmanConfirmationUnder oath
    “So you are not aware of anything between Project Blue Book and AATIP.”
  179. 179
    Mr. MoultrieUnder Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and SecurityFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “Not aware of anything that is official that was done in between those two. Hasn't been brought to my attention.”
  180. 180
    Mr. GallagherCongressmanQuestionCertainty: InferredUnder oath
    “Additionally, are you aware of any other DOD or DOD contract programs focused on UAPs from a technological engineering perspective? And by that, I mean, are you aware of any technology initiatives focused on this topic, other than initiatives focused on the individual case investigations?”
  181. 181
    Mr. MoultrieUnder Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and SecurityFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “I am not aware of any contractual programs that are focused on any anything related to this, other than what we are doing in the Navy task force and what we are about to launch in terms of our effort.”
  182. 182
    Mr. BrayDeputy Director of Naval IntelligenceFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “Same answer. Not aware of anything outside what we are doing in the UAP Task Force.”
  183. 183
    Mr. MoultrieUnder Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and SecurityEvasionCertainty: InferredUnder oath
    “Once again, I will say no contractual or programmatic efforts that are involved. The reason why I qualify that -- I can't speak to what people may be looking at in the Department. Somebody says: I am looking at something, I am looking at something that may be identified. I can't speak to that. I speak to official programs that we have on the record.”
  184. 184
    Mr. GallagherCongressmanAllegationCertainty: ToldUnder oath
    “It has also been reported that there have been UAP observed and interacting with and flying over sensitive military facilities, not just ranges but some facilities housing our strategic nuclear forces. One such incident allegedly occurred at Malmstrom Air Force Base in which ten of our nuclear ICBMs were rendered inoperable. At the same time, a glowing red orb was observed overhead. I am not commenting on the accuracy of this. I am simply asking you whether you are aware of it and whether you have any comment on the accuracy of that report.”
  185. 185
  186. 186
  187. 187
  188. 188
    Mr. GallagherCongressmanQuestionCertainty: InferredUnder oath
    “I am not commenting on the accuracy of this. I am simply asking you whether you are aware of it and whether you have any comment on the accuracy of that report.”
  189. 189
  190. 190
  191. 191
  192. 192
  193. 193
  194. 194
    Mr. MoultrieUnder Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and SecurityFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “If it is officially brought to our attention, we would look at it. There are many things that are out there in the ether that aren't official brought to our attention.”
  195. 195
  196. 196
    Mr. MoultrieUnder Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and SecurityFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “Sure. So we would like to take a look at it, but generally there is some authoritative figure that says: There is an incident that occurs. We would like you to look at this. But, in terms of just tracking what may be in the media that says that something occurred at this time, at this place, there are probably a lot of leads that we would have to follow up on. I don't think we are resourced to do that right now.”
  197. 197
  198. 198
  199. 199
  200. 200
  201. 201
    Mr. BrayDeputy Director of Naval IntelligenceDenialUnder oath
    “I am not personally aware of that.”
  202. 202
    Mr. GallagherCongressmanAllegationCertainty: ToldUnder oath
    “This is a document against -- again, I am not commenting on veracity; I was hoping you would help me with that -- in which a former head of DIA claims to have had a conversation with a Dr. Eric Wilson and claims to have sort of been made aware of certain contractors or DOD programs that he tried to get full access to and was denied access to.”
  203. 203
    Mr. KrishnamoorthiCongressmanQuestionCertainty: InferredUnder oath
    “The first question is -- there have been no collisions between any U.S. assets in one of these UAPs, correct?”
  204. 204
    Mr. BrayDeputy Director of Naval IntelligenceFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “We have not had a collision. We have had at least 11 near misses, though.”
  205. 205
    Mr. KrishnamoorthiCongressmanQuestionCertainty: InferredUnder oath
    “I assume -- or tell me if I am wrong -- there has been no attempt -- there is no communications or any kind of communication signals that emanate from those objects that we have detected, correct.”
  206. 206
    Mr. KrishnamoorthiCongressmanQuestionCertainty: InferredUnder oath
    “And have we attempted to communicate with those objects?”
  207. 207
    Mr. BrayDeputy Director of Naval IntelligenceDenialUnder oath
    “No.”
  208. 208
    Mr. KrishnamoorthiCongressmanQuestionCertainty: InferredUnder oath
    “So we don't even put an alert saying, you know, U.S. -- you know, "identify yourself, you are, you know, within our flight path," or something like that? We haven't said anything like that?”
  209. 209
    Mr. BrayDeputy Director of Naval IntelligenceFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “We have not put anything out like that. Generally speaking, what -- you know, for example, in the video that we showed earlier, it appears to be something that is, you know, unmanned. It appears to be something that may or may not be in controlled flight. And so we have not attempted any communication with that.”
  210. 210
  211. 211
  212. 212
  213. 213
  214. 214
  215. 215
  216. 216
    Mr. KrishnamoorthiCongressmanQuestionCertainty: InferredUnder oath
    “I think one of the biggest questions that I have is we say with a lot of probability, we say that they, quote/unquote, probably do represent physical objects, close quote. When we say "probably," is that because we cannot conclusively say that they are physical objects?”
  217. 217
    Mr. BrayDeputy Director of Naval IntelligenceFactual AssertionCertainty: BelievedUnder oath
    “In a task force report, when I say probably represent physical objects, most of them represent physical objects. There could be some that are more of a, of a, you know, meteorological phenomena, or something like that, that may not be a physical object in the sense that most people think of something you go up and touch.”
  218. 218
    Mr. KrishnamoorthiCongressmanQuestionCertainty: InferredUnder oath
    “But the ones where you say most of them represent physical objects, can you say that they are definitely, like with a hundred percent certainty, that they are physical objects?”
  219. 219
    Mr. BrayDeputy Director of Naval IntelligenceFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “I can say with certainty that a number of these are physical objects?”
  220. 220
  221. 221
    Mr. BrayDeputy Director of Naval IntelligenceSpeculationCertainty: SpeculatedUnder oath
    “Some certainly could be a sensor anomaly or something like that. Some could be.”
  222. 222
    Mr. KrishnamoorthiCongressmanQuestionCertainty: InferredUnder oath
    “Now how about with regard to UAPs? We have talked about UAPs on training areas. But, obviously, there is some sense or bias. I would think we put sensors in training areas. How about with regard to nontraining areas? Do we track what is in open source and what civilians and others have tracked, and have we found similarities to what they have observed in terms of UAPs in nontraining areas to the ones that are in training areas?”
  223. 223
    Mr. BrayDeputy Director of Naval IntelligenceFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “The UAP Task Force has worked very hard to make sure that the data set that we are working with is a data set that we have very good control over that data. So we have some partnerships with FAA so that we get some of that -- so we get that reporting in. But if it comes to just, you know, open-source reports or someone says that they saw something, that generally does not make it into our database.”
  224. 224
    Mr. KrishnamoorthiCongressmanConfirmationUnder oath
    “So, basically, it sounds like we have a good partnership with FAA. But, apart from FAA, we don't have partnerships with other agencies or other entities that might be tracking so that we could enlarge our dataset to make comparisons.”
  225. 225
    Mr. MoultrieUnder Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and SecurityFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “We will. So that is the next goal of this next effort will be to expand that relationship with the rest of the government and the interagency. So we can understand what they are seeing, what we are seeing. We can correlate on each other's holdings --”
  226. 226
    Mr. KrishnamoorthiCongressmanOpinionCertainty: BelievedUnder oath
    “Because I think -- sorry to interrupt. But I think that we are -- we might have a bias right now going on with regard to just reporting on UAPs being in training areas when we don't really track what is happening elsewhere.”
  227. 227
  228. 228
  229. 229
    Mr. LaHoodCongressmanQuestionUnder oath
    “when there are unsubstantiated claims or manufactured claims of UAPs or kind of false information that is put out there, what are the consequences for people that are involved with that or groups that are involved with that?”
  230. 230
    Mr. MoultrieUnder Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and SecurityFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “So one of the concerns that we have is that there are a lot of individuals and groups that are putting information out there that that could be considered to be somewhat self-serving.”
  231. 231
    Mr. MoultrieUnder Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and SecurityFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “We are trying to do what is in the best interest of, one, the Department of Defense, and two, what is in the best interest of the public to ensure that we can put factual-based information back into the mainstream and back into the bloodstream of the reporting media that we have, so people understand what is there.”
  232. 232
    Mr. MoultrieUnder Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and SecurityFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “It is important because we are attempting, as this hearing has drawn out, to understand, one, what may just be natural phenomenon; two, what may be sensor phenomenology or things that were happening with sensors; three, what may be legitimate counterintelligence threats to places that we have or bases or installations, or security threats to our platforms.”
  233. 233
    Mr. MoultrieUnder Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and SecurityAllegationUnder oath
    “And anything that diverts us off of what we have with the resources that have been allocated to us send us off in these spurious chases and hunts that are just not helpful.”
  234. 234
    Mr. MoultrieUnder Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and SecurityAllegationUnder oath
    “Well, they also contribute to the undermining of the confidence that the Congress and the American people have that we are trying to get to the root cause of what is happening here and report on that, and then feed that back into our national security apparatus so we are able to protect the American people and our allies.”
  235. 235
    Mr. MoultrieUnder Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and SecurityOpinionCertainty: BelievedUnder oath
    “So it is harmful. It is hurtful, but hopefully, if we get more information out there, we will start to lessen the impact of some of those spurious reports.”
  236. 236
    Mr. LaHoodCongressmanQuestionUnder oath
    “So, just taking that a step further, that misinformation, false narratives, manufactured -- so what are the consequences? Are there legal consequences? Are there examples that you can give us where people have been held accountable by this misinformation or disinformation?”
  237. 237
    Mr. MoultrieUnder Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and SecurityFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “I can't give you, you know, any examples where somebody has been legally held liable for putting something out there, but --”
  238. 238
    Mr. LaHoodCongressmanQuestionUnder oath
    “Well, I guess, what is the deterrent from people engaging in this activity?”
  239. 239
    Mr. MoultrieUnder Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and SecurityEvasionUnder oath
    “I don't know. I don't have that answer. That is something that, you know -- I would welcome a dialogue with Congress to talk about that with the Members who, you know, helped legislate those laws to say, what should be the legal ramifications that we could use to potentially hold individuals accountable, whether the citizens or information that might be injected into our media by other forces or other countries, if you will?”
  240. 240
    Mr. LaHoodCongressmanQuestionUnder oath
    “And, in terms of DOD's review and analysis in this field, I mean, is there a standard in place when it comes to UAPs? I mean, is there any guidance you look to that is codified in law or otherwise within DOD that kind of sets out the standard for UAPs and what to look for?”
  241. 241
    Mr. MoultrieUnder Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and SecurityFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “I think that is part of what the group the group that we are standing up now would be chartered to do. We are actually -- from my organization, we will be looking at policies and standards that we have to come to you and work with you to actually put in place and promulgate across our government.”
  242. 242
    Mr. WelchCongressmanSpeculationCertainty: SpeculatedUnder oath
    “Gentlemen, what seems incredibly difficult for you is that there is two almost competing but different narratives. One is it is -- no one knows whether there is extraterrestrial life. It is a big universe. And it would be pretty presumptuous to have a hard and fast conclusion. And, if there is, it is not beyond the realm of possibility that there is some exploration coming here, and that underlies a lot of the reports you get.”
  243. 243
    Mr. WelchCongressmanFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “On the other hand, as the DOD, you have the responsibility to make sure that our national security is protected and that if there are surveillance drones or active drones, it can disable our systems that has to be analyzed and has to be stopped.”
  244. 244
    Mr. WelchCongressmanQuestionUnder oath
    “So how do you divide these -- how do you separate the responsibilities where you get all of these reports from folks who may be in good faith, maybe not, believe that you should be investigating every possible report of an extraterrestrial incident?”
  245. 245
    Mr. MoultrieUnder Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and SecurityFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “Sure. Indeed, Congressman, and thank you for the question. It is important that we, as a part of this effort, really build out the relationship that we have with others, including NASA, and for the reasons that you just pointed out. So there are elements in our government that are engaged in looking for life in other places, and they have been doing that for decades. They have been searching for extraterrestrial life. There are astrobiologists who have been doing this too. We are a part of that same government. And so our goal is not to potentially cover up something if we were to find something, it is to understand what may be out there, examine what it may mean for us, if there are any, from a defense perspective, any national security implications or ramifications, but then to work with organizations, as appropriate, if it is a weather phenomenology with NOAA, if it is a potential for extraterrestrial life or indication of extraterrestrial life with someone like NASA.”
  246. 246
    Mr. WelchCongressmanOpinionUnder oath
    “So the transparency actually is very important --”
  247. 247
    Mr. MoultrieUnder Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and SecurityConfirmationUnder oath
    “Completely.”
  248. 248
    Mr. WelchCongressmanQuestionUnder oath
    “We are going to have a classified briefing. Without going into the details of what kinds of secrets that we can't share here, what is it -- what are we protecting? I don't know if you can answer this question in this open forum, but, in fact, your perception of what it is we have to, quote, protect.”
  249. 249
    Mr. MoultrieUnder Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and SecurityFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “Well, I think right now what is really important for us to protect is how we know certain things. So there are a lot of things that we know -- whether it be about the thinking of other leaders around the world, the weapon systems that are being developed, or how we detect things that may be threats to us. Many of those things are the result of some of our most sensitive sources and methods. And we will use those things not just for this effort, but those same sources and methods are used to help protect us from adversaries and from others who might mean to do us harm.”
  250. 250
    Mr. MoultrieUnder Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and SecurityFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “There aren't separate UAP sensors. There is not a separate UAP processing computer. There is not a separate UAP dissemination chain, or whatever. So it is the same process. It is the same system that we have -- that helps us do all that. We need to protect them because this is something that we are looking at, but there are going to be other things that we will look at in the future that we will need those same sensors, we will need those same sources and methods to help us do.”
  251. 251
    Mr. MoultrieUnder Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and SecurityFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “There are elements in our government that are engaged in looking for life in other places, and they have been doing that for decades.”
  252. 252
    Mr. MoultrieUnder Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and SecurityDenialUnder oath
    “And so our goal is not to potentially cover up something if we were to find something, it is to understand what may be out there, examine what it may mean for us, if there are any, from a defense perspective, any national security implications or ramifications”
  253. 253
    Mr. MoultrieUnder Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and SecurityAllegationCertainty: BelievedUnder oath
    “information that might be injected into our media by other forces or other countries”
  254. 254
    UnknownFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “We need to protect them because this is something that we are looking at, but there are going to be other things that we will look at in the future that we will need those same sensors, we will need those same sources and methods to help us do.”
  255. 255
    UnknownFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “So we are protecting the fact that this Nation has developed capabilities that enable us to know what may be threats to us and to counter those threats before they become something of a national issue.”
  256. 256
    Mr. WelchCongressmanOpinionUnder oath
    “Thank you very much. I want to thank you both you, Mr. Bray, and you, Mr. Moultrie, for your appearance today.”
  257. 257
    Chairman CarsonChairmanQuestionCertainty: InferredUnder oath
    “Gentlemen, beyond videos, is there a range of other information that the executive branch has that would be valuable to the American people while protecting sources and methods, obviously?”
  258. 258
    Chairman CarsonChairmanQuestionUnder oath
    “The details of individual encounters, including the time, place, and details of an encounter? And does the AOIMSG have a clear and repeatable process for considering public release as part of the process?”
  259. 259
  260. 260
    Mr. BrayDeputy Director of Naval IntelligenceFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “Chairman Carson, the -- The UAP Task Force, you know, the security classification guide that UAP Task Force has been operating under that I approved really was meant to protect those sources and methods and meant to protect any knowledge that an adversary intelligence entity may gain from understanding what we are tracking, how we track it, or when we are tracking it, or if we are not.”
  261. 261
    Mr. BrayDeputy Director of Naval IntelligenceFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “And so that has been an important piece in the balance between transparency and preserving our warfighting advantage because the U.S. military does train as it would fight.”
  262. 262
    Mr. BrayDeputy Director of Naval IntelligenceConfirmationUnder oath
    “What I will commit to is at least for that material that is under my authority as a Deputy Director of Naval Intelligence, for information that we have when it does not involve sources and methods or -- and when we can with a reasonable degree of confidence determine that it does not pose a foreign intelligence or national security threat, and it is within my authority to do so, I commit to declassifying that.”
  263. 263
    Mr. BrayDeputy Director of Naval IntelligenceOpinionCertainty: BelievedUnder oath
    “So I believe very much in the transparency of this, and we work very hard to balance that with our national security needs.”
  264. 264
    Mr. MoultrieUnder Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and SecurityFactual AssertionCertainty: BelievedUnder oath
    “And I will just add, Congressman, just over the last 3, 4 months, I think that the Intelligence Community and the national defense apparatus have disclosed more information on various events than it has probably seen in the previous 10 years.”
  265. 265
    Mr. MoultrieUnder Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and SecurityConfirmationUnder oath
    “You have our commitment to work closely with the Director of National Intelligence and others in the declassification and downgrading of intel apparatus to ensure that we can get whatever information that we can out to the American people and to the public writ large.”
  266. 266
    Mr. CrawfordRanking MemberQuestionUnder oath
    “One is, do we have an example? Can you cite a specific example of an object that can't be explained as having been human-made or natural?”
  267. 267
    Mr. BrayDeputy Director of Naval IntelligenceEyewitness AccountUnder oath
    “I mean, the example that I would say that it is still unresolved that I think everyone understands quite well is the 2004 incident from Nimitz.”
  268. 268
    Mr. BrayDeputy Director of Naval IntelligenceFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “We have data on that, and that simply remains unresolved.”
  269. 269
    Mr. BrayDeputy Director of Naval IntelligenceFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “It does not mean it resolves to being something, right, that is easily explainable or difficult -- obviously, it resolved to being something that is difficult to explain.”
  270. 270
    Mr. BrayDeputy Director of Naval IntelligenceFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “But I can't point to something that definitively was not manmade, but I can point to a number of examples which remain unresolved.”
  271. 271
    Mr. CrawfordRanking MemberQuestionUnder oath
    “With regard to videos that have appeared in open-source channels, for example, a TikTok video, does AOIMSG maintain control of videos? And how to you prevent leaks of potentially classified videos or other material?”
  272. 272
    Mr. MoultrieUnder Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and SecurityFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “So the AOIMSG, as we establish that organization, we will have a process for classified and compartmental holdings, and we will find a way of getting positive control over those.”
  273. 273
    Mr. MoultrieUnder Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and SecurityFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “We have our sensitive access programs and special access programs that allow us to put what we call SAPs around things, and there is controlled access programs that allow us to put CAPs around things.”
  274. 274
    Mr. MoultrieUnder Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and SecurityFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “So we will have that in place. Our goal would be ensuring that we are sharing that with the appropriate analysts and the appropriate exploiters, if you will, who can look at that data too.”
  275. 275
    Mr. MoultrieUnder Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and SecurityFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “What we don't want to do is bring something into a DOD database or a DOD holding and then have somebody wrap us around it is not available to those who really need to look at it and to exploit it.”
  276. 276
    Mr. MoultrieUnder Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and SecurityFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “And so that is one of the reasons we are establishing relationships with the interagency, with the IC, and others to be able to do that, sir. But we will do our best to maintain positive control over the materials that we have within our holdings.”
  277. 277
    Mr. SchiffChairmanFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “I am just going back to the 2021 report, you know, under the category of UAP appear to demonstrate advanced technology, those 18 incidents in which some of the UAP appeared to remain stationary, winds aloft, move against the wind, maneuver abruptly or move at considerable speed without discernible means of propulsion.”
  278. 278
    Mr. SchiffChairmanFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “It goes on to say, in a small number of cases, military aircraft systems processed radio frequency energy associated with UAP sightings.”
  279. 279
    Mr. SchiffChairmanQuestionUnder oath
    “I couldn't tell from that whether that small number of cases was a part of the subset of 18, that is, among the 18 which appeared to move with unusual pattern of flight characteristics, did some of those also emit radio frequency energy?”
  280. 280
    Mr. BrayDeputy Director of Naval IntelligenceEvasionCertainty: InferredUnder oath
    “I would to have check with our UAP Task Force on that. I believe -- without getting into specifics that we can do in the closed session -- at least some that we have detected RF emissions from were not behaving oddly otherwise.”
  281. 281
    Mr. SchiffChairmanQuestionUnder oath
    “And the significance of measuring that radio frequency energy is what, that we suspect that this was some form of aircraft in which there were radio transmissions?”
  282. 282
    Mr. BrayDeputy Director of Naval IntelligenceFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “The biggest thing that you are looking for there is any indication of an effort to jam whatever sensors that we may have looking at it.”
  283. 283
    Mr. MoultrieUnder Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and SecurityFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “But I would also add to that that radio frequency, as you know, Congressman is used to control various platforms too. So the fact of emanations coming off of any platform, whether it be a UAV or another platform, could be radio frequency activity related to that entity transmitting out or something transmitting to that platform, and, of course, we have a sensitivity with our airborne platforms of picking it up, which is one of the reasons that we try to prevent people from using their cell phones on airplanes and things like that.”
  284. 284
    Mr. MoultrieUnder Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and SecurityFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “It is very sensitive to RF simulation. So that is a part of what we will be looking at in the AOIMSG. What is -- is this is this something we can collect on? And can we start to characterize the signaling environment around the emanations that may be coming off of some of these UAPs?”
  285. 285
    Mr. SchiffChairmanQuestionUnder oath
    “So that energy then that was recorded could be either an effort to jam, or it could be an effort to control UAV or any other communication with that craft?”
  286. 286
    Mr. MoultrieUnder Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and SecurityConfirmationUnder oath
    “I would say that is accurate.”
  287. 287
    Mr. BrayDeputy Director of Naval IntelligenceConfirmationUnder oath
    “Right.”
  288. 288
    Chairman CarsonChairmanFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “As the ODNI report makes clear, one possible explanation for UAPs is that we are detecting U.S. aircraft, either secret air programs or even test prototypes.”
  289. 289
  290. 290
    Chairman CarsonChairmanOpinionCertainty: BelievedUnder oath
    “That said, I do want to make sure the U.S. Government isn't chasing its own tail.”
  291. 291
    Chairman CarsonChairmanQuestionUnder oath
    “Firstly, do you have a clear and repeatable process to check with compartmented programs about whether a UAP sighting is attributable to a U.S. aircraft?”
  292. 292
    Chairman CarsonChairmanQuestionUnder oath
    “Secondly, does the AOIMSG staff have the clearances and read-ons that they need to investigate all of these incidents?”
  293. 293
    Chairman CarsonChairmanQuestionUnder oath
    “And, thirdly, when your staff cannot be read on, are your questions to those who are read on even being answered?”
  294. 294
  295. 295
  296. 296
  297. 297
  298. 298
    Mr. MoultrieUnder Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and SecurityFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “we have established relationships with organizations and entities that are potentially flying or developing platforms for their own interest”
  299. 299
    Mr. MoultrieUnder Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and SecurityFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “we have a repeatable process -- I think we have had that process for some time -- to deconflict activities that we may have to ensure that we are not potentially reporting on something that may be a developmental platform or a U.S. operational platform”
  300. 300
    Mr. MoultrieUnder Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and SecurityFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “We want to ensure that we are protecting their equities. We want to ensure that we are protecting their sources and methods while also getting at we have here; we want to be able to deconflict those.”
  301. 301
    Mr. BrayDeputy Director of Naval IntelligenceFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “The UAP Task Force has had a process in place to work with other elements of the Department of Defense and other elements of the government to ensure that there is as simple a way as possible to deconflict those.”
  302. 302
    Mr. BrayDeputy Director of Naval IntelligenceFactual AssertionCertainty: BelievedUnder oath
    “when we reference that in the report, I should say that we were simply accounting for the fact that there could possibly be one or two data points that had leaked through, but we were quite confident that was not the explanation.”
  303. 303
    Chairman CarsonChairmanQuestionUnder oath
    “How are you all liaising with space command? Specifically, how are you partnering with the parts of the U.S. base command responsible for space domain awareness? And how, if at all, are you partnering with the Space Force to analyze UAPs?”
  304. 304
    You followed a link to this statement
    Mr. BrayDeputy Director of Naval IntelligenceFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “The UAP Task Force has a very good relationship with Space Force as it does with the rest of the Department of Defense. We have pulled analysts in from Space Force to ensure that we are availing ourselves of that expertise as well as any other material they may have that would be helpful.”
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  305. 305
    Mr. MoultrieUnder Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and SecurityFactual AssertionUnder oath
    “Space Force and Space Command, they have responsibility for space domain awareness. So what we have done, we coordinated with Space Force, we coordinated with their J-2. And she is on board in terms of helping us plug into what they have and for us to have this interactive exchange of information and data.”
  306. 306
  307. 307
    Chairman SchiffChairmanOpinionCertainty: BelievedUnder oath
    “I also want to thank my colleagues on both sides of the aisle for participating in this very historical and important hearing. I think it is one of the few times we can demonstrate some degree of bipartisanship around UAPs and UFOs.”
  308. 308

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