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Aviation safety. National security. Public trust.

Safer skies begin
with better answers.

We bring pilots, researchers, and policymakers together to understand unidentified anomalous phenomena and strengthen the safety of our airspace.

A nonprofit led by military pilotsReporting · Research · Policy · Education

Credible reporting.
Informed action.

Pilots at the centerExperience that informs the mission.
Evidence at the foundationA serious approach to what is unknown.

Our work

From observation
to understanding.

UAP present unanswered questions for aviation safety. We help turn firsthand observations into information that can inform research and public policy.

01

Support witnesses

Give pilots and veterans a trusted place to report what they have observed.

Our reporting approach
02

Advance research

Document encounters and make de-identified reports available for careful study.

Explore UAP reports
03

Inform public policy

Work with lawmakers and government stakeholders to improve reporting and reduce stigma.

Our policy work
04

Build understanding

Bring firsthand experience and informed perspectives into the public conversation.

News & perspectives

For pilots, veterans & witnesses

Your experience deserves
a serious response.

If you have observed something you cannot explain, ASA provides a trusted channel to share your account with people who understand the stakes.

Our approach begins with listening, protects your identity, and puts the evidence first.

Continue to ASA’s confidential reporting channel.

Confidential reporting
01

Share what you observed

Describe the encounter in your own words, with any supporting details you choose to provide.

02

Connect with our team

ASA reviews your report and may request an interview to better understand the event.

03

Stay in control

Your information is not shared without your permission. Public reports are de-identified.

Policy & public accountability

Better reporting.
Better protections.
Better decisions.

Pilots should be able to report a safety concern without stigma. ASA works with lawmakers and government stakeholders to bring operational experience into the policy conversation.

Explore our policy updates

In the public record

U.S. House of RepresentativesJuly 26, 2023

Bringing the pilot perspective to Congress.

ASA founder Ryan Graves testified before the House Oversight Committee on UAP, aviation safety, and the need for better reporting.

Read the hearing record

Transparency must serve the people in our skies.

ASA’s perspective on UAP disclosure and practical guidance for pilots.

Read ASA’s statement

News & insights

The work, in focus.

All news & analysis
The Safe Aerospace Podcast cover

The Safe Aerospace Podcast

Firsthand accounts. Informed perspectives.

Watch or listen to the people behind the reports, with Ryan Graves.

About Americans for Safe Aerospace

Experience where
it matters.

ASA is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit bringing together experience in military aviation, national security, public policy, and science.

Ryan Graves, founder and executive director of Americans for Safe Aerospace

Founder & executive director

Ryan Graves

Founder and Executive Director, Americans for Safe Aerospace

Ryan Graves founded Americans for Safe Aerospace to give pilots and other witnesses a trusted path to report UAP and turn those reports into evidence for research and policy. A former U.S. Navy F/A-18F pilot, he testified before Congress in 2023 about UAP and aviation safety.

Informed by a breadth of expertise.

Our advisors bring experience from the flight deck, government, and the research community.

Alex DietrichFormer U.S. Navy fighter pilot and Naval Academy instructor
Christopher MellonFormer Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Intelligence
Mike GoldFormer NASA Associate Administrator for Space Policy and Partnerships
Avi LoebProfessor of Science, Harvard University; Galileo Project head
Meet ASA’s advisors
Meet the full ASA advisory team

Pilots and aircrew

Alex Dietrich

Alex Dietrich

Former U.S. Navy fighter pilot and Naval Academy instructor

Alex Dietrich served for 20 years as a U.S. Navy officer, flying F/A-18F Super Hornets and teaching leadership and ethics at the U.S. Naval Academy. She was one of the pilots who reported the 2004 Nimitz UAP encounter, bringing firsthand operational experience to the discussion of unexplained aerial observations.

David Fravor

David Fravor

Retired U.S. Navy commander and fighter squadron leader

David Fravor commanded the U.S. Navy’s VFA-41 Black Aces, flying F/A-18F Super Hornets from USS Nimitz. A witness to the 2004 Nimitz UAP encounter, he testified before Congress in 2023, bringing a squadron commander’s perspective to questions about military observations and government oversight.

Michael Greene

Michael Greene

Former Marine Corps F/A-18D weapons systems officer

Michael Greene combines experience as a Marine Corps F/A-18D weapons systems officer with defense analysis and systems engineering. His career includes leadership in Navy cyber warfare analysis and technical roles at Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, giving him a practical understanding of aircraft operations and complex defense systems.

Sam Fletcher

Sam Fletcher

Retired U.S. Navy commander and congressional military adviser

Sam Fletcher is a retired U.S. Navy commander whose career combined F/A-18F operations with deployments to Iraq, Afghanistan, and East Asia. He also taught government and international relations at the U.S. Naval Academy and advised members of both the House and Senate on military affairs.

National security

Jay Stratton

Jay Stratton

Former Director, UAP Task Force

Jay Stratton is a former senior executive at the Office of Naval Intelligence with more than three decades of intelligence experience. As the first director of the UAP Task Force, he led an interagency effort to standardize the collection and reporting of unidentified aerial observations.

Christopher Mellon

Christopher Mellon

Former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Intelligence

Christopher Mellon served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and minority staff director of the Senate Intelligence Committee. His nearly two decades in the intelligence community span executive branch policy and congressional oversight, giving him experience on both sides of government accountability.

Tim Gallaudet

Tim Gallaudet

Retired U.S. Navy rear admiral; former acting NOAA administrator

Tim Gallaudet is a retired U.S. Navy rear admiral and oceanographer who served as acting administrator of NOAA and Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere. He also led the Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command, connecting scientific expertise with operational experience across the maritime environment.

Kirk McConnell

Kirk McConnell

Former congressional defense and intelligence staff member

Kirk McConnell spent 37 years on congressional staff, serving the Senate Armed Services Committee and the House and Senate intelligence committees. He participated in UAP investigations and helped draft related legislation, bringing extensive experience in defense oversight and the relationship between Congress and the intelligence community.

Advocacy and policy

Susan McCue

Susan McCue

Former chief of staff to Senator Harry Reid

Susan McCue served as chief of staff to Senator Harry Reid and as the founding president and CEO of the ONE Campaign. She founded Message Global, building on a career in congressional leadership, strategic communications, and public advocacy in the United States and internationally.

Bryan Bender

Bryan Bender

Communications executive and former POLITICO defense editor

Bryan Bender is a communications executive and former POLITICO defense editor and senior national correspondent. His reporting career also included the Boston Globe and Jane’s Defence Weekly, covering military operations, government secrecy, and national security; he now advises organizations on communications strategy at SMI.

Mike Gold

Mike Gold

Former NASA Associate Administrator for Space Policy and Partnerships

Mike Gold is president of Redwire’s Space business and a former NASA Associate Administrator for Space Policy and Partnerships. His NASA work included leadership on the Artemis Accords and international cooperation, followed by service on the agency’s independent UAP study team.

David Radzanowski

David Radzanowski

Former NASA Chief Financial Officer and Chief of Staff

David Radzanowski served as NASA’s chief financial officer and chief of staff, following work at the Office of Management and Budget and Congressional Research Service. He chairs the board of CASIS, the nonprofit that manages the International Space Station National Laboratory, bringing financial and policy experience to space research.

Science and academia

Robin Hanson

Robin Hanson

Associate Professor of Economics, George Mason University

Robin Hanson is an associate professor of economics at George Mason University whose research examines prediction markets, incentives, and decision-making under uncertainty. With earlier research programming experience at NASA and Lockheed, he brings a perspective that connects economics, technology, and the assessment of competing explanations.

Avi Loeb

Avi Loeb

Professor of Science, Harvard University; Galileo Project head

Avi Loeb is Harvard University’s Frank B. Baird Jr. Professor of Science and a former chair of its astronomy department. He leads the Galileo Project and has conducted research on black holes, the early universe, and the scientific search for evidence of extraterrestrial technology.

Garry Nolan

Garry Nolan

Professor of Pathology, Stanford University

Garry Nolan holds the Rachford and Carlota A. Harris professorship in pathology at Stanford University. His work in immunology, cancer biology, and technologies for measuring individual cells combines laboratory research with biotechnology entrepreneurship, providing experience in the careful measurement and analysis of complex biological systems.

Ravi Starzl

Ravi Starzl

Adjunct Professor, Carnegie Mellon Language Technologies Institute

Ravi Starzl is an adjunct professor at Carnegie Mellon University’s Language Technologies Institute. His work combines machine learning, mathematical modeling, and large-scale data analysis across biological and other complex systems, alongside experience building biotechnology and software ventures and teaching advanced methods for working with data.

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