A former Navy pilot who has seen the unexplained with his own eyes has called on Congress to take an interest in an investigation of unidentified aerial phenomena, which used to be known as unidentified flying objects.
"Congress needs to hear that military aircrew and civilian pilots are routinely observing mysterious objects making inexplicable maneuvers in our sky," former Navy pilot Ryan Graves, who is now executive director of Americans for Safe Aerospace, told Newsweek. "I hope they gain a sense of the stigma I experienced coming forward and the frustration that commercial pilots experience that there is no way to report UAP to the government."
Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., and Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., are leading the House Oversight investigation into UAPs and claims of Pentagon smear campaigns of whistleblowers simultaneously with retaliation for those who speak out. Burchett asked if speaking out on UAPs makes a person a conspiracy theorist, and a potential leaker of government secrets.
Burchett will be co-leading the House Oversight hearing on UAPs this week.
"We've had witnesses that backed out on us," Burchett told reporters this week. "That have received inquiries, I guess you could say, from the Pentagon. And, so, obviously, we're over the target.
"And they know it, and that's why they're firing at us.
"If there isn't anything, then why the push to cover it up?"
Graves is a key witness in this week's hearing, and he intends to push Congress to not only conduct oversight of potential retaliation against UAP whistleblowers, but also start paying up for the investigations and reports on them.
"I have been talking to veterans and commercial pilots about daily UAP encounters, and they want answers about what is flying in our skies," Graves told Newsweek. "Whether these UAP are foreign drones or something else, this data should be collected, evaluated, and identified."
Graves has offered his organization to conduct an investigation and to provide transparency.
"Right now, there is very little formalized support for UAP aircrew witnesses, and Americans for Safe Aerospace has the expertise to mobilize and fill that gap," he continued.
"Unidentified objects in our airspace present an urgent and critical safety and national security issue. If UAP are foreign assets, we must respond appropriately. If UAP continue to defy conventional explanation — we must invest in scientific research."
Burchett has been a leading voice for transparency and told Newsmax's "Rob Schmitt Tonight" this week NASA and government officials are afraid to come forward with truth and facts about UAPs.
"They do not want us to do this," Burchett told host Rob Schmitt, saying he "hates" calling UFOs UAPs, a new government bureaucracy term and noting government intelligence officials are blocking congressional oversight of UAP investigations.
"Who are these people? What the hell is going on? Let's get to the bottom of it."
Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
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