washingtonexaminer | Burchett and Luna pointed to a meeting they scheduled with the Air Force to examine evidence of UAP sightings earlier this year, during which the lawmakers say they were not given access to whistleblower testimonies or other materials.
“We went down there, we were stonewalled,” Luna said. "They would not give us access to testimony from some of the pilots. They were hiding images and information.”
“We were told there was pictures available, which we still haven't seen,” Burchett added.
Some whistleblowers later came forward to lawmakers to testify before Congress but later canceled after being pressured by the Pentagon, according to Burchett.
The witness testimony and lack of information from U.S. officials has raised concerns among lawmakers not just about national security, but about government transparency and accountability — which members say will be a focal point of next week’s hearing. Lawmakers are also expected to introduce legislation that would require the federal government to provide information about UAPs, building on previous efforts to release any investigative findings to the public.
Burchett sought to include an amendment to the Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization being considered by Congress this week that would require the FAA to report any UAP sightings by commercial pilots to Congress. However, the measure did not make it to the floor for a vote.
“I was told that the intelligence community shut it down,” he said.
The latest effort comes after the Defense Department was directed by Congress to create the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office in 2022 to investigate reported UAP sightings. Since then, the government has not made its findings public, prompting outcry from lawmakers who say it poses national security risks.
“Are they domestic? Are they foreign? Are they something else? Or do they not exist?” Moskowitz said. “The government needs to have straight answers. The American people deserve to know the truth on this. Unnecessarily censoring things or overclassification is what leads to all of these theories that have been out there.”
The hearing is set to take place on Wednesday and will feature testimony from three witnesses: Ryan Graves, executive director of Americans for Safe Aerospace; retired Cmdr. David Fravor, former commanding officer for the U.S. Navy; and David Grusch, former national reconnaissance office representative of the Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena Task Force at the Department of Defense.
The meeting is expected to be one of several that are focused on UAPs, with lawmakers considering field hearings to take place at the sites of UAP sightings.
“Are we OK with the federal government keeping information from the American people because they're trying to prevent us from having anxiety on all sorts of issues?” Moskowitz said. “The idea that the human brain can't tolerate that there might be life somewhere else — I just don't accept that. At the end of the day, I think the hearing is really about real-life accounts from reliable people.”
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