He spoke out on his first-hand experiences with UAPs in an interview with Fox News Digital.
Graves spent about 11 years in the Navy flying F-18s, an advanced fighter plane, and was also a flight instructor. However, throughout his career, he has yet to receive a definitive answer on a phenomenon that he and other members of his squadron have dealt with for years.
"While I was in the Navy, myself and others in my squadron had an experience that continues to this day and at first was something that we didn't have a name for," Graves said.
At first, objects showed up as "contacts on our radar, contacts on our camera system" until eventually, Graves said, "we were seeing these with our eyeballs."
"Two aircraft from my squadron were flying side by side and one of these objects went right between their aircraft," he added.
Graves said that his squad member described the object as a "dark gray or black cube inside of a clear sphere."
Graves called on Americans with preconceived notions about UAPs to come at the issue from a "first principles" approach.
"I think they need to separate the idea of something that's unknown" from preconceived ideas like a "UFO or ET hypothesis."
"We need to be able to agnostically, as a media, accept that there is uncertainty and look at it from a first principles approach. Because if we wrap it into all that context about little green men, we're going to be barking up the wrong tree," he said.
Graves, now an advocate and founder of the organization Americans for Safe Aerospace, emphasized that these objects were, at times, strangely stationary but did not behave like "tethered balloons."
Graves said that his squad member described the object as a "dark gray or black cube inside of a clear sphere." (Fox News)
That was because, Graves said, these objects could also move at extremely high speeds.
"Eventually we would see these objects proceeding about 0.6 to 0.8 Mach on average, which is about 250 to 350 knots at those altitudes. And they would be either in some type of holding pattern or seemingly just proceeding in a single direction."
Graves said that there were two basic explanations for what these objects could be.
"It's either going to be some type of adversarial platform, and it's a matter for national security, or we don't know what it is," he said. "And it's a matter for scientific inquiry and curiosity. We've been stymied to not have that scientific curiosity as of late, but that's the biggest thing that needs to change and is changing right now."
If it is a national security matter, Graves said, then the course of action is clear.
"For our military and our national security, our ability to know what's over our heads is of critical importance. And if we don't know what it is, we need to be curious about it. Because we may have national security issues fall out of that anomalous bucket," Graves said. "Once we start looking a little bit more closely into our airspace some things are going to pop out that [we] weren't expecting to see."
Graves said that the media coverage of UAP and UFO incidents — the existence of which Sen. Marco Rubio and others members of the government have acknowledged — still leaves a lot to be desired.
Rubio, R-Fla., has said that UAPs are a risk to national security.
"Advanced objects demonstrating advanced technology are routinely flying over our restricted or sensitive airspace posing a risk to both flight safety & national security," he tweeted in February.
However, the media still does not provide a safe environment for pilots and others to speak about their experiences with UAPs, Graves said.
"I've talked to a lot of pilots who have had some pretty powerful experiences that have really shaken them. They don't want to go and share that on what you would loosely consider your talking head media set up. They just don't feel safe still doing it," he said.
Graves called on government agencies to break down their separate silos and begin "sharing their information and offering it forward" for the good of the public.
Graves made waves in February after he wrote an article detailing his experiences with UAPs in the military.
"These were no mere balloons. The unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP) accelerated at speeds up to Mach 1, the speed of sound. They could hold their position, appearing motionless, despite Category 4 hurricane-force winds of 120 knots. They did not have any visible means of lift, control surfaces or propulsion — in other words nothing that resembled normal aircraft with wings, flaps or engines."
"I am a formally trained engineer, but the technology they demonstrated defied my understanding," Graves wrote.
Jeffrey Clark is an associate editor for Fox News Digital. He has previously served as a speechwriter for a cabinet secretary and as a Fulbright teacher in South Korea. Jeffrey graduated from the University of Iowa in 2019 with a degree in English and History. Story tips can be sent to jeffrey.clark@fox.com.
Reader Comments
Westlife - Angel
You cannot make this shit up.
When the Governmrnt, social media, the medical industry and the main stream media are all "forcing" or telling you to do the same thing...
For sure, whatever it is, its not the right thing to do.
The same people who brought you 9/11, school gun free zones, patriot act, ok city bombing, creating and supporting terrorist countries and ideas(isis or the sunis for those confused), hanging chads, russia gate, transhumanism, trump derangement syndrome ( he is one man, not anything else), coldvid scamdemic, the EUA jabs, 2020 election, ukraine conflict, 2022 election and on and on.
There are no "D's" there are no "R's"
Its simply us ( we the people) and them ( political ruling class)
Until one can understand and accept those two parties are there to keep us at odds with each other, while they "raid the henhouse" we are doomed to repeat this process every 8 or so years.
Look at carter, same crap as now with almost the same players. Inflation, petrol rationing, water shortages, unemployment. All by design
Clinton same. Fake dot com boondoggle, high fuel
Obummer destroyed race relations in usa. Destroyed the image ,globally, of usa, solar and ev scam, high fuel, 2008 crash
Bidumb , well if i need to tell you just put two masks on get another jab and go hide in your appt.
I feel im tilting at windmills here
*Sigh*
How could an lifeform travel the vastness of space? Their homeworld would be gone before they ever reach our system. This aint the federation of planets or the plucky rebel alliance. This is earth. With dumb ass humans on it. Nobody with space travel capabilities would give a flying "F" about us.
These are "vehicles" from earth, designed, built and flown by humans
Or not...
Bring in the Aliens from Uranus 👽
"It's either going to be some type of adversarial platform, and it's a matter for national security, or we don't know what it is,"
According to Wikipedia, Area 51 is the common name of a highly classified United States Air Force facility within the Nevada Test and Training Range... its only confirmed use is as a flight testing facility.
Can this guy really be that stupid?
Surprised the US Predator MQ-1 (ooops forgot they renamed it to not sound so offensive & murderous)changed to rebranded name US Reaper MQ-9 (that was shot down today in the Black Sea by two Russian SU-27’s) wasn’t seized by the US Clown Show media as a “UFO” that almost certainly came from Uranus to stop - mediate - negotiate a peace deal between Ukraine & Russia, 🤡
Russian Defense Ministry: Su-27 fighters did not use weapons against the US MQ-9 drone and did not come into contact with it, it fell by itself [Link]
In order to identify the intruder, fighters from the air defense forces on duty were raised into the air. As a result of sharp maneuvering around 9.30 (Moscow time), the MQ-9 unmanned aerial vehicle went into uncontrolled flight with a loss of altitude and collided with the water surface.
ON THE BRINK US slams ‘brazen’ Russians after fighter jet brings down drone as it warns Putin ‘aggressive’ actions could lead to war [Link]
Lmao - theatre of the absurd.
I’m a Dude playing a Dude, disguised as another Dude. [Link]
You can’t make this shit up Maxx.
[Link]
Aliens and bots both.
I can prove both.
Please - put me to the test.
Proof in the pudding already though
so who cares
if u du
That is why we continue to live a collective family, despite catastrophic events, in world history. A collective, human history and family, to continue a linage.
We are now in the hands of young hip guys presented to the media as the source of UAP's.
What was it Carl Rove said about creating reality..look it up, for those interested.
But then it also brings up the transfer to the West of German wartime technology after WW2 how advanced was this technology? Did it go underground? And could it be what we are witnessing today flying above the skies? Could it be a result of Black Op technology...and missing trillions in the world economy, to fund off world explorations, to ditch this world, after, they have raped the planet of trillions in
resources. Mars, looked a potential prospect, Venus, such a dead planet of backed earthen slabs, if we are to believe the constructed satellite images.
Sounds like a Science Fiction novel....
Hitler for sure was obsessed with old world tech. More likely that russia, usa and isreal or the uk confiscated all or parts of whatever he had.
Hence our recent "edge" technologically
Could explain area 51
Could explain our 80 year standoff with russia
imo
[Link] German engineer predicted man named ‘Elon’ would conquer Mars in 1952 novel
And Elon, has never produced a rocket, that could go beyond the stars. his greatest claim to fame is Starlink and Neuroliink, both also linked with intelligence agencies,
are a creation, some say of a more nefarious origin.
Different tesla
Thats just larping
Same as trans