Synonymous with the term unidentified flying object, the term UAP was first coined by the Pentagon in 2022 to include the tracking of unexplainable sightings in bodies of water. 

This is the second joint hearing on the topic of UAPs held by the Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Information Technology, and Government Innovation and the Subcommittee on National Security, the Border, and Foreign Affairs. 

The hearing is set for Wednesday at 11:30 a.m. ET, and it will include four witnesses who will speak on their knowledge and findings of UAPs.

Here is what you need to know about the hearing’s witnesses.

Tim Gallaudet

Tim Gallaudet is a retired rear admiral in the United States Navy who was a naval oceanographer and served in multiple tours such as Operations Southern Watch, Provide Promise, Sharp Guard, Deny Flight, Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom. 

He’s served in high-level positions such as plank-owner commanding officer of the Naval Oceanography Special Warfare Center and the superintendent of the U.S. Naval Observatory. During President-elect Donald Trump’s first administration, he served as the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere. Now, Gallaudet is the CEO of Ocean STL Consulting, LLC — a marine technology and management consulting agency. 

Gallaudet has been quite outspoken about his encounters and intelligence on UAPs, having sat down for more than a two hour conversation for the Shawn Ryan Show Podcast in May. 

“We know we see them in the water too,” Gallaudet said. “The last example that I saw was from the USS Omaha off Southern California — a well known video that Jeremy Corbell, one of the UAP media types —has gotten out there and so. And there’s other examples too, classified examples I can’t talk about, but confirmation that we see these things underwater.“

In the podcast, Gallaudet noted how mankind has yet to explore even 25% of the ocean floor. 

Luis Elizondo

Luis Elizondo, a former Department of Defense official, will also be sharing his testimony at the hearing. 

For years, Elizondo, a former counterintelligence officer, has claimed that the government is hiding intelligence about UAPs from the public. 

In his 2024 book Imminent, Elizondo claimed the U.S. government recovered four “deceased nonhuman bodies” from the 1947 crash in Roswell, New Mexico.

“The cover-up and disinformation campaign has been so successful that most scientists do not even know UAP are real,” Elizondo wrote.

Michael Gold

Michael Gold, a former NASA associate administrator of Space Policy and Partnerships and a member of NASA’s independent UAP study team, will testify on Wednesday.

The independent study released a report in September last year that showed there was no evidence of an “extraterrestrial origin” for UAPs.

According to Gold’s prereleased remarks, he will argue for greater cooperation between the government and the “world’s civil and commercial sectors” in discussing the future of UAP research.

Gold is currently the chief growth officer for Redwire Space, an aerospace manufacturer.

Michael Shellenberger

Michael Shellenberger is a journalist and activist who will also testify on Wednesday. Shellenberger has claimed that the U.S. government is hiding UFO crash retrieval programs.

Shellenberger is expected to discuss the “Immaculate Constellation” program that appeared in a leaked whistleblower report last month that alleges “the Executive Branch has been managing UAP/NHI issues without Congressional knowledge, oversight, or authorization for some time, quite possibly decades.”

“Americans deserve to understand what the government has learned about UAP sightings, and the nature of any potential threats these phenomena pose,” Mace and Grothman said in a statement. “We can only ensure that understanding by providing consistent, systemic transparency. We look forward to hearing from expert witnesses on ways to shed more light and bring greater accountability to this issue.”