Summary
DefenseScoop coverage of an hourslong May 1, 2025 Capitol Hill summit hosted by the UAP Disclosure Fund and the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability (NOT a Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations briefing — a correction to prior wiki framing). chris-mellon, avi-loeb, and tim-gallaudet briefed lawmakers on intensifying drone-incursions and UAP activity over U.S. military bases, assets, and nuclear facilities. Mellon argued multi-billion-dollar military sensors are collecting UAP-relevant data that is not reaching Congress, the scientific community, or even aaro, and traced post-2017 over-classification to a UAP-specific classification guide created after the New York Times released three Navy videos he had supplied. Gallaudet condemned a “decades-long disinformation campaign” by DoD/IC and recounted a USS Dwight D. Eisenhower 2021 SH-60 Seahawk account of a metallic sphere accelerating to the horizon and many F-18 UAP encounters during the Eisenhower Strike Group deployment. Mellon also reported F-35 pilots tracking drones at 35,000 feet and 500 mph over Arizona test ranges in 2023.
Key Claims
- Event hosted on Capitol Hill by the UAP Disclosure Fund and the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability.
- Speakers: Chris Mellon (former DASD-Intelligence), Avi Loeb (Harvard), retired RAdm Tim Gallaudet (former Navy Oceanographer).
- Mellon: U.S. has $1B+ sensors collecting UAP-relevant data that isn’t reaching Congress, the scientific community, or AARO.
- Mellon: A UAP-specific classification guide was created shortly after he gave three unclassified Navy UAP videos to the NYT in 2017, contrary to the executive order on classification.
- Mellon: 2023 Arizona test-range incident — F-35 pilots reported drones at 35,000 ft and 500 mph (vs. ~450 ft typical drone ceiling).
- Gallaudet: 2021 USS Dwight D. Eisenhower SH-60 Seahawk crew chief reported FLIR video of a metallic sphere a few hundred feet above the ship, traveling horizontally then accelerating into the horizon and disappearing on landing; F-18s repeatedly encountered UAP at high altitude during the deployment.
- Gallaudet: alleges “over-classification and a deliberate, decades-long disinformation campaign by the U.S. Department of Defense and the intelligence community.”
- Recommendation: Congress mandate a U.S.-government- and military-wide assessment of sensor systems collecting UAP-relevant data and an evaluation of classification practices preventing release of unclassified material.
- Praises FY2023 NDAA establishment of AARO but argues further coordination and accountability measures are needed.
Notable Quotes
“I don’t think the public is aware of the extent of our airspace vulnerabilities and failures, and the degree to which they’ve already been exploited and are being exploited today, and the challenge that we face in trying to sort this out.” — Chris Mellon
“We don’t know what is operating in our airspace — and this continues, often in militarily sensitive areas.” — Chris Mellon
“Over-classification and a deliberate, decades-long disinformation campaign by the U.S. Department of Defense and the intelligence community.” — Tim Gallaudet
“A former U.S. Navy SH-60 Seahawk helicopter crew chief, who was embarked on the carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower in 2021, described to me his reporting on forward-looking infrared video of a metallic sphere at an altitude a few 100 feet above the ship, traveling along a linear trajectory, horizontal to sea surface before it accelerated into the horizon at incredible speed, disappearing completely upon landing.” — Tim Gallaudet