The United States Congress has embarked on a series of investigations and hearings aimed at the recent news of unidentified flying objects (UFOs) and unidentified aerial phenomenon (UAPs) that have made their way into the news over the past few months. This hearing is one of a kind as there are now witnesses willing to testify and present evidence of their case. The United States Government has remained committed to addressing public curiosity while also maintaining national security.

A hearing to address these new claims was held by the House Oversight Subcommittee on National Security and the Border and Foreign Affairs on July 26, 2023. The named whistleblower, former Air Force Major David Grusch was called to present his case. In 2019, Grusch was assigned to lead a government task force focused on UAP sightings. Over 650 reports of flying objects operating in ways that challenge what we know about aeronautical physics and aerodynamic technology. These objects have been reported to lack the production of exhaust and move with such abruptness that would produce dangerous g-forces to any human who may have been occupying it. In 2020, the Pentagon released footage of three Navy sightings depicting UAPs and proving that these objects are indeed part of our reality.

In Grusch’s testimony, not only did he make claims of even more unexplained sightings but confirmed that the U.S. military has owned remains left by UAPs that have crashed. Grusch explained that the government had been working on attempting to reverse-engineer these remains. Grusch informed the committee that he “was in a position of extreme trust both in [his] military and civilian capacities” but was denied access to additional read-ons upon request; further accusing the military of exploiting funds to hide these operations from congressional oversight. When he spoke out about his conclusions, he was met with negative reactions about his discoveries but no detail is provided on what said retaliation involved. Grusch then revealed he knew of many colleagues injured by UAP activities but did not offer any additional evidence to the committee as he claimed it would reveal classified information. Gruschs lack of evidence proves that there certainly are holes in his story and without proper government verification, no direct points can be made.

The Pentagon denied Grusch’s claims of a UAP reverse-engineering program as Pentagon spokesperson, Sue Gough, informed TIME that “to date, the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office has not discovered any verifiable information to substantiate claims that any programs regarding the possession or reverse-engineering of extraterrestrial materials have existed in the past or exist currently.”

An additional witness testimony from former U.S. Navy pilots Ryan Graves and former Commander David Fravor claimed they had seen aircraft of nonhuman origin and labeled these sightings as “not rare or isolated.” In light of this, National Security Council Coordinator John Kirby admitted a week before the hearing that UFOs have been a main problem for pilots of the U.S. Air Force in training exercises. In a White House press briefing, Kirby explained “We want to get to the bottom of [this]. We want to understand [this] better.” Due to the government’s necessity to maintain national security, many dealing with the case or testifying in the hearing have found it difficult to take a side as there is little provided evidence of the existence of UFOs and UAPs.

Currently, bipartisan momentum is building within Capitol Hill for transformative change. In this year’s National Defense Authorization Act, the Senate’s draft entails requirements for federal agencies to turn over records pertaining to UAP to a designated panel granted declassification authority. An unclassified report released in January from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence reveals it is known that since 2004 the government has a record of about 510 UFO sightings. For now, it is unclear whether UAPs are foreign drones or something above human knowledge, presenting potential problems for national security or rather issues relating to science.