Person
Matt Gaetz
Also known as Gaetz
- U.S. Representative (R-FL), 2017–2024
Matt Gaetz was a Republican U.S. Representative for Florida's 1st district from 2017 to 2024. His district includes Eglin Air Force Base, and he sat on the Armed Services Committee, including the subcommittee that oversees DARPA and advanced technologies.
In early 2023 his office received a protected disclosure from Eglin about a UAP encounter during a test mission over the Gulf of Mexico. He took Tim Burchett and Anna Paulina Luna to the base, where, he says, the delegation was at first refused the images, the radar data and the flight crew. After pressing the point, they saw a still image and met one crew member. At the July 26, 2023 House Oversight hearing he described four craft in a diamond formation on radar and an "orb" whose approach knocked out the pilot's radar and FLIR, and said he could not attach it to any human capability. He also drew from David Grusch the statement that nothing is classified "above top secret", and called for a classified session with Grusch and a subpoena for the Eglin data. The visit led to Luna's declassification task force.
In October 2023 AARO published a resolution of an apparently matching Eglin case from 26 January 2023. It found the imaged object was very likely a commercial lighting balloon and the radar failure a pre-existing fault, though it could not analyse the other three radar objects. AARO's report does not name the congressional case. Gaetz left the House in 2024.
Sources: July 26, 2023 hearing (transcript and video) · AARO Eglin case resolution (2023) · Joe Rogan Experience #2365 (Luna) · Wikipedia
Facts and claims
- claimed Gaetz testified that his office received a protected disclosure from Eglin Air Force Base about a UAP incident; at a briefing he saw an image taken by a flight crew member of an object “that I am not able to attach to any human capability,” and was told of four craft in a diamond formation on radar and of the pilot's radar and FLIR failing as he approached. — Matt Gaetz Source: House holds hearing on UFOs, government transparency | full video at 1:39:57
- documented He told the hearing that he, Tim Burchett and Anna Paulina Luna “were not afforded access to all of the flight crew and initially we were not afforded access to images and to radar”, until, after “a bit of a discussion about how authorities flow in the United States of America”, they saw the image and met one crew member. — Matt Gaetz Source: Hearing transcript: UAP — Implications on National Security, Public Safety, and Government Transparency (House Oversight, July 26, 2023)
- documented He cited his seven years on the Armed Services Committee, including the subcommittee overseeing DARPA and advanced technologies, as the basis for judging the image, and said the radar sequence of the diamond formation was one “that I and I alone have observed in the U.S. Congress.” — Matt Gaetz Source: Hearing transcript: UAP — Implications on National Security, Public Safety, and Government Transparency (House Oversight, July 26, 2023)
- documented He said the Eglin test pilots told him that after a UAP experience “the best thing you can do for your career is forget it and not tell anyone”, and called for a classified session with David Grusch and for the radar images and photo to be provided to the committee, “subpoenaed if necessary”. — Matt Gaetz Source: Hearing transcript: UAP — Implications on National Security, Public Safety, and Government Transparency (House Oversight, July 26, 2023)
- documented Asked by Gaetz whether anything is classified above special access programs, David Grusch replied: “It is a misnomer that there is anything actually above top secret.” Gaetz said this meant members should be able to get access to those programs. — David Grusch Source: Hearing transcript: UAP — Implications on National Security, Public Safety, and Government Transparency (House Oversight, July 26, 2023)
- documented AARO's resolution of an Eglin case from 26 January 2023 with matching details (four radar objects apparently in formation, radar failure, two infrared stills) assessed the object as very likely a lighter-than-air object such as a large commercial lighting balloon, and the radar failure as a tripped circuit breaker. Source: AARO case resolution: Eglin AFB UAP
- claimed Anna Paulina Luna says Gaetz has since said publicly that they saw material he does not believe was made by mankind. — Anna Paulina Luna Source: Joe Rogan Experience #2365 - Rep. Anna Paulina Luna at 1:16:30
Connected files
Claims
- The objects a pilot met over the Eglin range in January 2023 were craft no human could have built (asserts)
Incidents
- Eglin AFB "orb" and diamond formation (Florida, 2023) (investigated) — Gaetz, whose district includes Eglin, received a protected disclosure and saw the image with Burchett and Luna
People
- Anna Paulina Luna (visited Eglin with) — With Gaetz and Burchett she visited Eglin in 2023 after pilots alleged a cover-up
- Tim Burchett (visited Eglin with) — Gaetz took Burchett and Luna to Eglin in 2023, where they were at first refused the images, radar data and crew
- David Grusch (questioned) — He drew from Grusch that nothing is classified “above top secret” and called for a classified session with him
Hearings & briefings
Organizations
Documents
- AARO case resolution: Eglin AFB UAP (disputed by) — AARO assessed an apparently matching Eglin case as very likely a lighter-than-air object
Videos
Mentioned in videos
- House holds hearing on UFOs, government transparency | full video
- Joe Rogan Experience #2365 - Rep. Anna Paulina Luna
- David Fravor: UFOs, Aliens, Fighter Jets, and Aerospace Engineering | Lex Fridman Podcast #122
Mentioned in documents and records
- Pantex nuclear weapons plant incursion
- DOW-UAP-D150 — AAWSAP DIRD, Quantum Computing and Utilizing Organic Molecules in Automation Technology, December 2010