--- title: "UFO Whistleblower: What I Told Congress Was the “Tip of the Iceberg”" description: "A Congressional UFO whistleblower has revealed a glaring hole in the government's plan to track and study unidentified crafts." date: "2023-08-07" modified: "2023-08-07" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/ufo-whistleblower-tip-iceberg" categories: - "Off-World" - "Space" tags: - "the digest" - "uaps" - "ufos" - "whistleblower" --- # UFO Whistleblower: What I Told Congress Was the “Tip of the Iceberg” ![Drew Angerer via Getty / Futurism]() ## Catch and Release In a new editorial, one of Congress' recent UFO whistleblowers revealed a glaring hole in the government's plan to [track and study]() what it refers to as "unidentified aerial phenomena" or UAPs. Whistleblower Ryan Graves [wrote for *Newsweek*]() that during his tenure as a Naval pilot, he and his team regularly encountered aircraft off the coast of Virginia Beach that "had no visible propulsion... but could remain motionless in Category-4 hurricane winds, accelerate to supersonic, and operate all day, outlasting our fighter jets." These sorts of encounters with UAPs happen all the time, noted Graves — who co-founded and now acts as executive director of a group called Americans for Safe Aerospace — but because they often happen outside of the military's purview, the Pentagon doesn't seem to care much. "Today, these same UAP are still being seen; we still don't know what they are; and our government has no idea of the scope of the problem," the whistleblower wrote. "That's because pilots, both commercial and military, are encountering UAP, and the majority of these cases are going unreported." Prior to his late July testimony, Graves claimed that Americans for Safe Aerospace had been in contact with more than 30 people who'd witnessed UAPs. Since his [headline-grabbing appearance]() before the House Subcommittee on National Security, the Border, and Foreign Affairs, he said that even more people had come forward with their stories. Most of those witnesses, the ex-pilot added, fly commercial airliners for a living, and the most recent of those reports was issued just last week. ## Circling Back In spite of recent years' joint [Pentagon]() and [Congress]() efforts to bring UAPs into the daylight, there still isn't a streamlined reporting protocol, claimed Graves, noting that the Federal Aviation Administration simply directs commercial pilots to report incidents to non-governmental groups without any "official follow up or analysis." In short: there are, as the whistleblower claims, tons more of these sightings than the government lets on — and the government has [already let on a lot](). And while the veracity of these claims has been [called into question]() [even by true believers](), the lack of reporting structure outside the confines of the US military is, to say the least, troubling. If Graves is to be believed, the oversight creates a massive hole in the government's understanding of these strange and increasingly-mainstreamed sightings. "Commercial pilots are highly trained observers of our skies," the whistleblower wrote. "Why then is our government turning its back on the UAP reports from credible eyewitnesses who are responsible for the safety of millions and are motivated to protect our national security?" **More on UFO rhetoric:** [*Annoyed William Shatner Weighs in on Claims of Government Harboring UFOs*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()