Democrat backs special committee for UFOs after high-profile hearing

First-term Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.) said Thursday that he firmly supports the creation of a select committee on UFOs with subpoena power.

He made the statement on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, a day after the House Oversight subcommittee on national security held a hearing featuring witnesses who pushed for more transparency in how the government handles reports of unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP).

Speaking to The Hill, Moskowitz said he believes Wednesday’s hearing was fair, and pushed for more transparency from the Pentagon on the issue.

“I think it was serious. I think the witnesses, you know, presented well, and I think there’s interest from the American people. They want to know what the government knows about UAPs. Why are the American people being kept in the dark?,” the Florida Democrat told The Hill.

His comments on the idea of a select committee on UFOs came after Republican Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) accused the Pentagon and intelligence agencies of hiding information on UAPs, and said the hearing would help reveal the “cover-up.”

Burchett said in an appearance on Fox News’s “Mornings with Maria”, that the only way to get to the bottom of the UAP issue is with a select committee.

“This is a cover-up. The American public understands it, and we’re trying to get to the bottom of it. The only way we’re going to do that is with a select committee on this issue, so that we can expose it to the public, because these three brave gentlemen that came forward, all veterans, tops in their field, impeccable credentials. So there’s something else going on,” Burchett said.

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have pushed for information from the Pentagon after Wednesday’s hearing. One of the three witnesses — former intelligence whistleblower David Grusch — suggested that U.S. aerospace corporations were siphoning off government funds and claimed that the government is holding back information.

“My hope is that we got to get some more transparency. That’s really the hope for me. This is about government transparency. I’m all for protecting national security, but we can’t — that can’t just be a shield to deny the American people the basics of what we know about UAPs,” Moskowitz told The Hill.