The House Oversight Committee hosted a groundbreaking hearing on Wednesday, July 26, 2023, about UAP sightings and allegations of a secret program to reverse engineer captured UFOs.
With a new UFO hearing scheduled by the House Oversight Committee for November 13, 2024 (subject to change), we’re reviewing some of the insights we learned from the 2023 one.
One of the more intriguing stories involved a pilot testifying that Boeing contractors at Vandenberg Air Force Base had encountered a “football field” sized UFO in the shape of a red square. The base has since been turned into a Space Force base.
In 2003, a Large Red Square ‘Approached the Base From the Ocean’
The witnesses at the 2023 hearing were UAP whistleblower David Grusch, Commander David Fravor (who filmed the famous 2004 TicTac video), and former Navy pilot Ryan Graves, who had multiple UAP encounters during training flights.
Graves testified about contractors who saw a large red square flying near the Vandenberg Air Force base in California in 2003.
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna asked Graves to explain to her in detail the event that occurred at Vandenberg Air Force Base. His response begins at about 1:21:02 into the House hearing video.
Graves began: “In the 2003 time frame, a large group of Boeing contractors were operating near one of the launch facilities at Vandenberg Air Force Base when they observed a very large hundred-yard sided red square approach the base from the ocean and hover at low altitude over one of the launch facilities. This object remained for about 45 seconds or so before darting off over the mountains.”
This was just the first of multiple sightings. He continued.
“There was a similar event within 24 hours later in the evening,” Graves said. “This was a morning event. I believe 8:45 in the morning. Later in the evening, post sunset.”
At times the objects seemed assertive, he added.
“There were reports of other sightings on base, including some aggressive behaviors,” Graves noted. “These objects were approaching some of the security guards at rapid speeds before darting off. This was information that was received from one of the witnesses that have approached me at Americans for Safe Aerospace.”
Luna then asked if there was official documentation of what happened.
Graves said: “Yes. They had official documentation and records from the event that the witness held over the years.”
Graves hasn’t personally seen the object, he added.
“This object was estimated to be almost the size of a football field… I have not seen anything personally that large.”
Vandenberg Air Force Base Is Now a Space Force Base
Vandenberg Air Force Base, where the sightings were reported in 2003, is now officially a Space Force base. The base is located in California. Here’s a screenshot from Google Maps of the base’s location.
Vandenberg reported in 2021 that it was being renamed “Vandenberg Space Force Base.” The official ceremony took place in May 2021.
Lt. Gen. Stephen Whiting, Space Operations Command commander, said in a statement: “The establishment of the U.S. Space Force is a significant step forward in the recognition of space as a warfighting domain. Renaming Air Force installations where space operations is the primary mission more closely reflects the overall mission of the base. Renaming these installations is critical to building a distinct culture and identity for the Space Force.”
The base was established in 1941, and now it serves as a space launch base and a missile testing location, according to Wikipedia.
The Base Is Listed Multiple Times in a Debrief About UFO Allegations
Vandenberg also comes up multiple times in a 177-page document that is allegedly a debrief on UFO history given to Congress before the hearing. (This document contains pages of allegations, not proven reports.) This is allegedly the document given to News Nation before the hearing, but Post Apocalyptic Media hasn’t verified the source.
The reports about Vandenberg in the document are still interesting and cited from public sources available online. Here’s a review of the most interesting notes.
One notation discusses Technical Sgt. John W. Mills III, who allegedly said that in 1984/1985 he was shown a white object maneuvering near three Minuteman III dummy warheads during a flight test at Vandenberg, with two missiles disappearing. Mills also said he heard secondhand of a similar event with a Peacekeeper missile test in 1984 or 1985, where a light beam from space hit three out of five of the missiles. The source is UFO Hastings.
The document also contains a report from 1997, that alleges Ret. USAF Col. Steve Wilson claimed Vandenberg and Beale Air Force Base had a secret space program that shot down unfriendly UAP, using “reverse engineered man-made UAP” for the program. He claimed the program involved black-budget divisions from various aerospace companies. The document cited a page on DrBoylan.com and Above Top Secret.
There’s also an alleged report in the document from ufologist William Hamilton, who claimed he met an anonymous colonel and consultant to NASA who claimed in 1998 that there was a secret space program at Vandenberg capable of traveling near light speed.
Another reference to Vandenberg is from 1964, when Maj. Florence J. Mansmann allegedly saw top-secret footage from Vandenberg of a UAP shooting down a dummy nuclear warhead traveling to Kwajalein. He claimed the footage was confiscated by the CIA. The sources are from UFO Hastings.
Another allegation in the document is from 1973, where Maj. Dallas van Hoose from the Army claimed that Vandenberg launched a Minuteman ICBM to Kwajalein and radar tracked a saucer-shaped UAP next to it upon its descent. A journalist who sent a FOIA was told the records were destroyed.
The document also lists that in 1982, NASA scientist Richard F. Haines said he visited Vandenberg and was “certain” it had a secret project studying UAPs. The source is a blog called UAP scientific research citing a book by Vallee called “Forbidden Science, Volume 3.”
Once again, it’s important to note that these are all allegations on public websites, and are not proven. But they provide an interesting framework to the testimony that Graves gave to the House while under oath.
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Stephanie Dwilson is a licensed attorney and has a master's in science in science and technology journalism. She's known for her thorough, accurate reporting and commitment to journalistic integrity in all her work. You can reach her at writerdube@gmail.com.
