Wild Claims Emerge in Congress' UFO Hearing

"Nonhuman biologics" were recovered from crashed UFOs seized by the US government in secret, a former military intelligence officer told lawmakers under oath on Wednesday during a hearing on the potential national security threats posed by what's officially dubbed unidentified aerial phenomena, or UAPs. Retired US Air Force Maj. David Grusch's talk of alien matter was just one part of "mystifying testimony" from three former military officials who testified for more than two hours, leaving members of a House Oversight subcommittee "baffled," per NBC News. Much more from the hearing:

• Secret program: Grusch, who claims he was tasked with investigating UAPs, said he was "absolutely" certain that the government possesses some. He described a secret "multidecade" program focused on retrieving and rebuilding crashed UAPs.
• It's dangerous work, apparently: "I know of multiple colleagues of mine that got physically injured," Grusch said, per USA Today. "By UAPs or by people within the federal government?" asked GOP Rep. Eric Burlison. "Both," Grusch answered.
• Too sensitive to speak of: Asked to describe what he'd seen, Grusch said: "I have to be very careful here ... [but] what I personally witnessed, myself and my wife, was very disturbing," per NBC. Throughout his testimony, Grusch left out many details, claiming the information was too sensitive for public airing.

• Hearsay: Grusch said his knowledge comes from interviews with 40 witnesses, many of whom work in the crash retrieval program. He said some witnesses had recovered "nonhuman biologics" from crashed UAPs but declined to say whether there had been direct contact with aliens.
• Misappropriation of funds: Grusch said the program is "above congressional oversight" and financed by a "misappropriation of funds," per NBC. "Does that mean that there is money in the budget that is set to go to a program but ... it goes to something else?" Democratic Rep. Jared Moskowitz asked. "Yes," Grusch replied.
• Mysterious spheres: In what USA Today calls a "stunning account," former Navy pilot Ryan Graves described sightings of "dark grey or black cubes … inside of a clear sphere, where the apex or tips of the cubes were touching the inside of that sphere," off the East Coast in 2014, per CBS News. He also described a red square as large as a football field hovering around a California Air Force base in 2003.
• Superior technology: Former Navy Cmdr. David Fravor described seeing a white oblong object in 2004 before it vanished, then reappeared 60 miles away less than a minute later. "The technology that we faced is far superior to anything that we had ... or that we're going to have in the next 10 to 20 years," he said, per NBC and CBS.

• A call for transparency: Graves said military pilots fear "professional repercussions" given "recent government claims questioning the credibility of eyewitness testimony," per NBC. Rep. Robert Garcia, the subcommittee's top Democrat, called for "a safe and transparent reporting process" for commercial and military pilots.
• Fearing for his life: Grusch said he'd faced personal and professional retaliation, which left him fearing for his life, per USA Today. The "administrative terrorism" has been "very brutal," he said, adding that "co-workers and superiors" were also affected.
• A denial: In response, per CBS, a rep for the Pentagon's All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office, set up to investigate UAPs, said it "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."
• More to come: Grusch said he'd be willing to say more behind closed doors, and committee members expressed an interest in meeting all three witnesses "in a Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility," per USA Today. "Several of us are going to look forward to getting some answers in a more confidential setting," said GOP Rep. Glenn Grothman, the subcommittee chair, per CBS. "I assume some legislation will come out of this."

(More UFOs stories.)