The UAP hearings in Congress

About UAP hearings

The full story, section by section

The story of UAP hearings in 6 parts. Tap any part to read it in full.

1. 1966 and 1968On 5 April 1966, after the widely mocked "swamp gas" explanation of sightings in Michigan, the House Armed Services Committee held a brief hearing.Read this part → Illustration drawn for this site — not a photograph.
2. May 2022: the first hearing in fifty yearsOn 17 May 2022 a House Intelligence subcommittee questioned Under Secretary of Defense Ronald Moultrie and Deputy Director of Naval Intelligence Scott Bray in open session.Read this part → Illustration drawn for this site — not a photograph.
3. July 2023: Grusch, Fravor and GravesOn 26 July 2023 the House Oversight Committee's subcommittee on national security heard three former military witnesses under oath:Read this part → Illustration drawn for this site — not a photograph.
4. November 2024: "Exposing the Truth"On 13 November 2024 the Oversight Committee held a second hearing.Read this part → Illustration drawn for this site — not a photograph.
5. September 2025: the declassification task forceOn 9 September 2025 the Oversight Committee's Task Force on the Declassification of Federal Secrets, chaired by Anna Paulina Luna, held a hearing titled "Restoring Public Trust Through UAP Transparency and Whistleblower Protection." The an…Read this part → Illustration drawn for this site — not a photograph.
6. What came of themThe hearings produced no public physical evidence of non-human craft.Read this part → Illustration drawn for this site — not a photograph.

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Key people

The people at the centre of the story — witnesses, investigators, officials and sceptics:

• David GruschDavid Grusch is a former U.S. Air Force officer and intelligence official who publicly claimed in 2023 that the United States government runs secret programs to recover and reverse-engineer non-human…
• David FravorDavid Fravor is a retired U.S. Navy commander and fighter pilot who served for 24 years before retiring in 2006.
• Ryan GravesRyan Graves is a former U.S. Navy F/A-18F Super Hornet pilot who became a prominent witness regarding unidentified anomalous phenomena.
• Gerald FordGerald Ford was the 38th president of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977 after succeeding Richard Nixon. Before his presidency, he served as a member of the House of Representatives for Mic…
• J. Allen HynekJ. Allen Hynek was an American astronomer and professor who served for over two decades as the U.S.
• Carl SaganCarl Edward Sagan was an American astronomer, planetary scientist, and science communicator who lived from 1934 to 1996. He played a major role in space missions, discovered Venus's high surface temp…
• Tim BurchettTim Burchett is an American Republican politician who has served in the U.S. House of Representatives for Tennessee's 2nd congressional district since January 2019, following prior service as a state…
• Anna Paulina LunaAnna Paulina Luna is an American Republican politician and Air Force veteran who has represented Florida's 13th congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives since 2023.
• Nancy MaceNancy Mace is an American Republican politician born in North Carolina who has served in the South Carolina House of Representatives and the U.S. House of Representatives.
• Luis ElizondoLuis Elizondo is a former American Army counterintelligence officer and Defense Department official who became a prominent figure in the modern UFO debate after resigning in October 2017. He stated t…
• Tim GallaudetTimothy Cole Gallaudet is an American oceanographer, retired U.S. Navy rear admiral, and former acting administrator of NOAA.
• Michael ShellenbergerMichael Shellenberger is an American writer and political activist known for his ecomodernist views, books on various public issues, and unsuccessful runs for governor of California. In 2024, he publ…
• George KnappGeorge T. Knapp is an American journalist, news anchor, and radio host who works for KLAS-TV in Las Vegas and hosts Coast to Coast AM. He is best known for his extensive investigative reporting on UF…
• Chuck SchumerCharles Schumer is an American politician who has served as a United States senator from New York since 1999 and has led the Senate Democratic Caucus. In 2023, he and Republican senator Mike Rounds i…

Related cases & events

Events and sightings linked to UAP hearings:

🗓️ Event · 10 min read2022 House UAP hearingThe 2022 House UAP hearing was held on May 17, 2022, by a congressional subcommittee in Washington, D.C., marking the first public hearing on UFOs in over 50 years.🗓️ Event · 12 min readHouse Armed Services Committee UFO hearing (1966)The U.S. House Armed Services Committee held a hearing on unidentified flying objects on April 5, 1966, following a wave of sightings in Michigan and a call for investigations by House Republican leader Gerald Ford.🗓️ Event · 17 min readCondon ReportThe Condon Report was a 1968 scientific study of unidentified flying objects conducted by the University of Colorado UFO Project and directed by physicist Edward U. Condon. Funded by the U.🛸 Case · 9 min readNimitz Tic Tac encounterThe Nimitz Tic Tac encounter occurred in November 2004 off the coast of southern California, where U.S. Navy personnel from the USS Nimitz and USS Princeton tracked and observed an unidentified, wingless, oval-shaped object.

Programs, organizations & documents

The official programs, groups and papers involved:

🏢 Organization · 7 min readHouse Oversight CommitteeThe House Oversight Committee is the main investigative committee of the US House of Representatives with broad power to investigate the executive branch. Starting in 2023, the committee became Congress's main forum for public hearings on unidentified anomalo…🏛️ Program or study · 5 min readImmaculate ConstellationImmaculate Constellation is the claimed name of a secret U.S. Defense Department program that allegedly collects and quarantines evidence of unidentified anomalous phenomena.🏢 Organization · 15 min readAAROThe All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) is a United States Department of Defense organization created on July 20, 2022, to investigate unidentified anomalous phenomena. Its scope covers objects in the air, at sea, in space, and moving between those do…📄 Document · 8 min readUAP Disclosure ActThe Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena Disclosure Act of 2023 was a legislative proposal by U.S. Senators Chuck Schumer and Mike Rounds to force the release of government records regarding UFOs and UAPs.📄 Document · 7 min readAARO Historical Record ReportThe AARO Historical Record Report is a Pentagon review of U.S. government involvement with unidentified anomalous phenomena since 1945, required by Congress and released in March 2024.

Related topics & places

Ideas, terms and places that come up in the story:

🧭 Topic overview · 2 min readAre aliens real?What science and the official investigations say about whether extraterrestrial life exists and whether it has visited Earth.

🗓️ UAP hearings on the UAP timeline

1. 28 February 1958An Air Force general says informal talks persuaded Senate investigators no UAP hearings were needed. Read the article →
2. 17 May 2022Rep. Mike Gallagher asks a Pentagon official about the 'Admiral Wilson memo' at a hearing. Read the article →
3. 14 October 2022Insiders tell a journalist that congressional whistleblower hearings are coming. Read the article →

Search the timeline →

🏛️ Official records

• House Task Force hearing on UAP transparency (2025)U.S. House Oversight — Task Force on the Declassification of Federal Secrets · September 9, 2025“Restoring Public Trust Through UAP Transparency and Whistleblower Protection”, chaired by Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, with military veterans and a journalist describing sightings and the treatment of people who report them.
• Michael Shellenberger’s written testimony and “UAP Timeline” (2024)Submitted to the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Accountability · November 13, 2024Journalist Michael Shellenberger’s 214-page written testimony for the House hearing “Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena: Exposing the Truth.” It argues that the Pentagon and intelligence agencies are withholding UAP infor…
• House Oversight hearing “UAP: Exposing the Truth” (2024)U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Accountability · November 13, 2024A second House hearing, with former Pentagon official Luis Elizondo, retired Navy Rear Admiral Tim Gallaudet, former NASA official Michael Gold and journalist Michael Shellenberger.
• House Oversight UAP hearing with Grusch, Graves and Fravor (2023)U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Accountability · July 26, 2023“Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena: Implications on National Security, Public Safety, and Government Transparency”, with former intelligence officer David Grusch and former Navy aviators Ryan Graves and David Fravor.
• Senate Armed Services hearing on AARO (2023)U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee · April 19, 2023AARO director Sean Kirkpatrick testified to the Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities about the office’s mission, activities and budget.
• House Intelligence subcommittee UAP hearing (2022)U.S. House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence · May 17, 2022An open hearing of the counterterrorism, counterintelligence and counterproliferation subcommittee, chaired by Rep. André Carson, with Pentagon intelligence chief Ronald Moultrie and Deputy Director of Naval Intelligenc…
• Congressional, White House, UFO-related Constituent Correspondence, 1998U.S. Government · 1998This collection of documents, primarily from 1998, contains draft and final correspondence from the White House and the offices of members of Congress responding to constituent inquiries about Unidentified Flying Object…

🛸 UFO sightings about UAP hearings

Sightings that mention UAP hearings

Open the sightings map → Search sightings →

More in the encyclopedia

Other articles that link to or mention UAP hearings:

• Mike RoundsMike Rounds is an American businessman and Republican politician who has served as a United States senator from South Dakota since 2015, following two terms as the state's governor from 2003 to 2011.…
• Secrecy & cover-up (topic)This overview page covers official secrecy, classification, and cover-up claims regarding unidentified anomalous phenomena from 1947 to 2023. It outlines historical classified studies, released gover…
• Government programs (topic)This encyclopedia overview outlines government and private programs established to study UFOs and UAPs from 1947 to 2023. U.S.
• Unidentified flying objectAn unidentified flying object, or UFO, is an unexplained phenomenon or object seen in the sky, with the modern craze originating in the United States in June 1947. While popular culture often equates…
• U.S. Air ForceThe United States Air Force is the air service branch of the U.S. armed forces that became an independent service in September 1947.
• Unidentified anomalous phenomenaUnidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) is the U.S. government's current term for unidentified objects or events in the air, space, or underwater.
• Congress & law (topic)This topic overview covers congressional hearings, laws, and inquiries regarding unidentified anomalous phenomena from 1950 to 2022. During the Cold War, Congress primarily received closed briefings …
• NICAPThe National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena (NICAP) was an American civilian UFO research organization active from 1956 to 1980. Directed for many years by Donald Keyhoe, the group camp…
• Michigan swamp gas UFO reportsIn March 1966, a widespread wave of UFO sightings occurred across southern Michigan, highlighted by mass sightings near Dexter and Hillsdale involving dozens of residents, students, and law enforceme…
• House Armed Services CommitteeThe House Armed Services Committee is a standing committee of the US House of Representatives responsible for funding and overseeing the Department of Defense, the armed forces, and much of the Depar…
• John McClellanJohn Little McClellan was an American lawyer, segregationist, and Democratic politician from Arkansas who served as a U.S. representative and the longest-serving senator in Arkansas history.
• John Lilly and the alleged hypnosis projectAn online paranormal timeline combines an unsourced 1958 U.S. Air Force mind-control entry with a separate entry about neuroscientist John C.
• Henderson UFO briefing (1958)On June 20, 1958, U.S. Air Force officers held a private briefing in Washington, D.
• Liberation Times whistleblower hearings reportOn 14 October 2022, journalist Christopher Sharp published a report in the Liberation Times claiming that public UAP hearings were expected and that Congress had verified secret retrieval and reverse…
• Coulthart on contractor scientists (2022)In 2022, Australian journalist Ross Coulthart stated in an interview that government contractors conduct secret research related to unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) outside of normal oversight.…
• 1958 in UFO historyThis article outlines eleven UFO and UAP-related events that occurred in 1958, focusing primarily on government programs, military encounters, and congressional interactions. During this year, the U.…
• Aircraft as pilot prosthetic (Forgotten Languages)On 27 March 2017, the anonymous website Forgotten Languages published an article discussing military technology and UFOs in invented languages, specifically describing aircraft that function as thoug…

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