Organisations

United States Senate

The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the US Congress, whose senators have funded, investigated, and legislated on unidentified anomalous phenomena since at least 1989.

The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the US Congress. Its association with the topic of Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP) dates to 1989, when journalist George Knapp first told Senator Harry Reid — then in his first term — about accounts of a crashed saucer he had gathered outside his newsroom.¹

Reid, Senate majority leader at the time, was the driving force behind funding for the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP), which he requested be largely funded during his tenure in that role.² The programme formed part of a $22 million effort Reid sponsored to investigate UFOs.³ Senior members of a defense spending subcommittee, Ted Stevens of Alaska and Daniel K. Inouye of Hawaii, supported the programme.⁴ None of Reid, Stevens or Inouye wanted a public debate on the Senate floor about the funding.⁵

At a Senate hearing on 2023-07-26, David Charles Grusch said his own PPD-19 whistleblower reporting process complaint faced problems, because there was no smooth way for the intelligence community’s Inspector General to route such information to committees beyond the intelligence committees, despite his request to send it to the Armed Services Committees of the US House of Representatives and Senate, on Title 10 grounds.⁶ According to Glenn Grothman, Sean Kirkpatrick, director of the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO), testified before the Senate that his unit had found no evidence of extraterrestrial activity.⁷ Marco Rubio said that some of his Senate colleagues are very interested in the topic of UAP, while others react dismissively when it is raised.⁸ David Fravor said he had spoken to multiple senators who told him that, prior to 2017, mentioning UAP would have gotten someone laughed off Capitol Hill.⁹

During the same hearing, the Senate was taking up an amendment to a defense authorization bill that would create a commission with broad declassification authority.¹⁰ Legislative efforts on UAP disclosure continued into 2024, when the Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP) Disclosure Act was pushed back again, this time by Senator Mitch McConnell.¹¹

A forum on UAP was held in the Kennedy Caucus Room of the Senate,¹² taking place in June 2026.¹³

References (13)

George Knapp first raised crashed-saucer accounts with Senator Harry Reid, then in his first term
“The first person I told about this - outside of our newsroom - was U.S. Senator Harry Reid, then in his first term in the Senate.”
Statement to Congress char:2661-2783
AATIP was initially largely funded at Reid's request while he was Senate majority leader
“initially it was largely funded at the request of Harry Reid, the Nevada Democrat who was the Senate majority leader at the time”
Glowing Auras and 'Black Money': The Pentagon's Mysterious U.F.O. Program (Published 2017) char:1643-1767 View the source record →
AATIP was part of a $22 million programme Reid sponsored to investigate UFOs
“AATIP was part of a $22 million program sponsored by then Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to investigate UFOs.”
Navy pilots describe encounters with UFOs 00:01:52.4-00:02:00.4
Ted Stevens and Daniel K. Inouye, senior subcommittee members, supported AATIP
“Two other former senators and top members of a defense spending subcommittee — Ted Stevens, an Alaska Republican, and Daniel K. Inouye, a Hawaii Democrat — also supported the program.”
Glowing Auras and 'Black Money': The Pentagon's Mysterious U.F.O. Program (Published 2017) char:3470-3645 View the source record →
None of Reid, Stevens or Inouye wanted a public Senate floor debate on the funding
“None of the three senators wanted a public debate on the Senate floor about the funding for the program, Mr. Reid said.”
Glowing Auras and 'Black Money': The Pentagon's Mysterious U.F.O. Program (Published 2017) char:8661-8775 View the source record →
Grusch said his PPD-19 complaint faced routing problems to the Armed Services Committees
“There was some issue with mine. So, you know, PPD–19 process it goes to the intel committees either through PPD–19 or ICD 120. There is not a good way for the intelligence community Inspector General to provide that to other committees, and I asked my information to be sent to the House and Senate Armed Services Committee because there are Title 10 equities at play. But there was no smooth process to do so.”
Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena: Implications on National Security, Public Safety, and Government Transparency char:131938-132346 View the source record →
Grothman said Kirkpatrick testified AARO found no evidence of extraterrestrial activity
“I also want to note that Mr. Sean Kirkpatrick, Director of the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office, the component of the DoD office that investigates UAP data, has testified before the Senate this year that his unit has found no evidence of extraterrestrial activity.”
Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena: Implications on National Security, Public Safety, and Government Transparency char:22503-22762 View the source record →
Rubio said some Senate colleagues are very interested in UAP, others dismissive
“some of my colleagues are very interested in this topic and some kind of, you know, giggle when you bring it up”
Navy pilots describe encounters with UFOs 00:13:01.1-00:13:06.5
Fravor said senators told him mentioning UAP pre-2017 would get someone laughed off Capitol Hill
“I mean, I have talked to multiple Senators who said prior to that if you would have mentioned UAP, you would have been laughed off the Hill and now we are sitting here today for a public testimony on what is actually going on.”
Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena: Implications on National Security, Public Safety, and Government Transparency char:87999-88222 View the source record →
The Senate was taking up an amendment creating a commission with declassification authority
“We know the Senate is taking up an amendment to their defense authorization bill which will create a commission with broad declassification authority”
Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena: Implications on National Security, Public Safety, and Government Transparency char:24432-24572 View the source record →
The UAP Disclosure Act was pushed back again by Senator Mitch McConnell in 2024
“We also found out recently that the UAP Disclosure Act had been pushed back yet again, this time by Senator Mitch McConnell.”
Horseshoe UAP Video Surfaces! - DEBRIEFED ep. 08 00:19:59.4-00:20:07.5
A UAP forum was held in the Kennedy Caucus Room of the Senate
“Kennedy caucus room where there have been many historic events that took place. So it was an amazing event.”
Episode 73: Science vs. Secrecy 00:01:50.2-00:01:59.2
The Kennedy Caucus Room forum took place in June 2026
“It's hard to imagine that here we are today in June of 2026, and that forum took place.”
Episode 73: Science vs. Secrecy 00:02:15.7-00:02:19.7

United States Senate

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