An account in Washington, DC

STATEMENT OF TIM GALLAUDET, PH.D. REAR ADMIRAL, U.S. NAVY (RET.) CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, OCEAN STL CONSULTING, LLC Dr. GALLAUDET. Thank you, Chairwoman Mace, Chairman Grothman, Ranking Members Connolly and Garcia, and Members 10 of the Committee. Thank you for this opportunity to testify today regarding unidentified anomalous phenomena, or UAP. Confirmation that UAPs are real came to me in January 2015, when I was serving as the Commander of the Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command. At the time, my personnel were participating in a predeployment naval exercise off the U.S. East Coast. It included the USS Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group, and this exercise was overseen by the United States Fleet Forces Command, led by a four-star admiral who, at the time, was also my superior officer. During this exercise, I received an email on the Navy’s secure network from the operations officer of U.S. Fleet Forces Command. The email was addressed to all the subordinate commanders, and the subject line read, in all capital letters, ‘‘URGENT SAFETY OF FLIGHT ISSUE.’’ The text of the email was brief but alarming with words to the effect, ‘‘If any of you know what these are, tell me ASAP. We are having multiple near midair collisions, and if we do not resolve this soon, we are going to have to shut down the exercise.’’ Attached to the email is what is now known as the Go Fast video captured on the forward-looking infrared sensor of one of the Navy F/A–18 aircraft participating in the exercise. The now declassified video showed an unidentified object exhibiting flight and structural characteristics unlike anything in our arsenal. The implication of the email was clear. The author was asking whether any of the recipients were aware of classified technology demonstrations that could explain these objects. Because the DoD policy is to rigorously deconflict such demonstrations with live exercises, I was confident this was not the case. The very next day, that email disappeared from my account and those of the other recipients without explanation. Moreover, the Commander of Fleet Forces Command and the operations officer never discussed the subject even during weekly meetings specifically designed to address issues affecting exercises like the one in which the Theodore Roosevelt Strike Group was participating. This lack of follow-up was very concerning to me. As the Navy’s chief meteorologist at the time, I was responsible for reducing safety of flight risks, yet it appeared to me that no one at the flag officer level was addressing the safety risk posed by UAPs. Instead, pilots were left to mitigate these threats on their own without guidance or support. I concluded that the UAP information must have been classified within a special access program managed by an intelligence agency. That is, a compartmented program that even senior officials, including myself, were not read into. Last year’s UAP hearing before this Oversight Committee confirmed that UAP-related information is being withheld from senior officials and Members of Congress. And, just this week, I learned from former DoD official Chris Mellon that satellite imagery of UAP from a few years ago still has not been shared with Congress. Equally concerning, last year’s UAP hearing also revealed that elements of the government are engaged in a disinformation cam11 paign, to include personal attacks designed to discredit UAP whistleblowers. Having never signed a nondisclosure agreement regarding UAPs and now, as a private citizen, I have become an advocate for greater UAP transparency from the government. The continued overclassification surrounding UAPs has not only hindered our ability to effectively address these phenomena but has also eroded trust in our institutions. While I applaud previous bipartisan legislation passed by Congress concerning UAPs, a more comprehensive approach is needed to address the broader implication of UAP on public safety and national security, as well as the socioeconomic opportunities that open UAP research could unlock. Therefore, I recommend Congress take the following action, which I believe will receive bipartisan support: First, establish robust oversight of the executive branch’s management of UAP information by directing key officials, beginning with the Director of the DoD’s All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office, to provide comprehensive briefings on what the government knows about UAP and does not know. Two, enact the provisions of the UAP Disclosure Act to establish a UAP records review board to ensure independent oversight, transparency, and accountability in the government’s handling of UAP information. And, three, strengthen the UAP Disclosure Act and future reauthorizations with provisions that mandate a whole-of-government approach to addressing UAP. In closing, I will share my personal reasons for speaking out on this topic. First, as a former science agency leader, having led the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration, I have always sought the truth in human knowledge and thought. Now that we know UAP are interacting with humanity, and these include unidentified submerged objects in the ocean, we should not turn a blind eye but, instead, boldly face this new reality and learn from it. Additionally, at a time when leaders in government leave much to be desired, I feel obligated to share moral leadership on this issue of UAP disclosure by validating the credibility of the courageous men and women who have come out as witnesses and whistleblowers to expose the truth. My speaking out has encouraged others to do the same, and it is my hope over time that a number of your constituents will want to know the truth about UAP, and this number will increase to such an extent that the congressional action I just recommended will become inevitable. Thank you, and I look forward to your questions.