The White House acknowledged that UFOs flying around training ranges have made an “impact” on pilots, fueling a desire to “get to the bottom of it.”

John Kirby, the coordinator for Strategic Communications at the National Security Council, made the comments on Monday in response to a reporter who asked about UAP (unidentified anomalous phenomena) transparency.

“Some of these phenomena, we know, have already had an impact on our training ranges for — you know, when pilots are out trying to do training in the air and they see these things, they’re not sure what they are, and it can have an impact on their ability to perfect their skills,” Kirby said.

White House National Security Council Coordinator, Admiral John Kirby was asked about Senator Schumer’s UAP legislation. 💥

-White House takes it seriously

“Some of these phenomena we know have already had an impact on our training ranges.” pic.twitter.com/CNeJ8Efj6z

— UAP News (@HighPeaks77) July 17, 2023

“Now, we’re not saying what they are or what they’re not,” Kirby also said. “We’re saying that there’s something our pilots are seeing. We’re saying it has had an effect on some of our training operations. And so, we want to get to the bottom of it. We want to understand it better.”

Indeed, Navy pilots have come forward in recent years with claims that they witnessed mysterious flying objects that appear to defy the laws of physics while participating in training exercises, which led to the release of videos of some encounters and the drafting of new guidelines for reporting UFOs.

The Department of Defense (DoD) later set up the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO), which has been tasked with investigating UFOs, and there has been a push by lawmakers for legislation to encourage more disclosures.

The level of interest in UFOs on Capitol Hill has risen following the public emergence of David Grusch, a U.S. military and intelligence veteran who shared allegations about crafts of non-human origin being retrieved and kept from Congress.

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In response to the claims, the DoD said the AARO team has “not discovered any verifiable information to substantiate claims that any programs regarding the possession or reverse-engineering of any extraterrestrial materials have existed in the past or exist currently.”

The House Oversight Committee is set to hold a hearing on UAPs on Wednesday, July 26, according to Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN). “We’re done with the cover-ups,” he said in a tweet on Monday.

Kirby, a retired Navy rear admiral, would not comment directly on the reliability of individual whistleblowers, but he did stress that setting up AARO shows the government is taking the matter “seriously.” He also said, “We will always want to be as transparent with members of Congress and with the American people as we can, considering national security concerns.”

Journalist Ross Coulthart, who interviewed Grusch for NewsNation, took Kirby’s comments about UAPs as a sign of growing urgency in Washington.

“So finally, [the president’s]’ National Security Council spokesman John Kirby makes it clear to the White House press Corp that they are indeed now taking the #UAP mystery very seriously,” Coulthart said in a tweet. “No more ridicule or giggling. Big Q: will legacy media now investigate the new acknowledged reality?”

A Florida state board allied with Governor Ron DeSantis blocked Florida Atlantic University from considering hiring as its president a U.S. Navy official with a history of supporting woke policies, shutting down the search process and launching an investigation into it.

Ray Rodrigues, who is chancellor of the Florida Board of Governors, cited “anomalies” in his decision to halt the search for a new president of the Boca Raton-based school, WLRN reported. Rodrigues disapproved of FAU’s search firm using a survey of the candidates’ demographics, and told FAU Board of Trustees Chairman Brad Levine that personal questions, including whether candidates were “queer” and about their “preferred pronouns” were “wholly irrelevant, inappropriate, and potentially illegal.”

Rodrigues also objected to a straw poll used to narrow down the pool of candidates, saying search committee members submitted their rankings “confidentially and directly to the search firm,” which he argued might violate state law that requires those kinds of meetings to be on the record.

Navy Vice Admiral and Superintendent of the U.S. Naval Academy Sean Buck was one of three finalists considered for the job along with Michael Hartline, the dean of the College of Business at Florida State University, and Jose Sartarelli, the former chancellor of the University of North Carolina Wilmington. Buck had served as superintendent of the United States Naval Academy since 2019 after serving as commander of the U.S. Fourth Fleet and U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command.

“He was the lead signatory on its radical DEI program, which promised to push full-time ‘diversity and inclusion staff,’ racial quotas of ‘representative’ individuals, and ‘annual diversity and inclusion summits,’” anti-woke champion Christopher Rufo noted.

Rufo has worked closely with DeSantis, who appointed most of the members of the Board of Governors, to scrub the state’s university system of far-left hiring and teaching practices. He said Buck also had a poor record of protecting individual rights.

“Buck also led the policy of denying all religious exemption requests for the COVID vaccine,” Rufo said. “Eighteen students at the Naval Academy requested exemptions and Buck denied them all, despite the fact that, due to their age, the midshipmen had a very low risk profile,” Rufo added.

Buck also led the policy of denying all religious exemption requests for the COVID vaccine. 18 students at the Naval Academy requested exemptions and Buck denied them all, despite the fact that, due to their age, the midshipmen had a very low risk profile.https://t.co/svqPJ4HWR1 pic.twitter.com/RX2axRBPu3

— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@realchrisrufo) July 18, 2023

Rodrigues also pointed out in a letter to the chair of the FAU Board of Trustees that “at least one candidate reported he was requested to complete a questionnaire and answer if his sexual orientation was ‘queer’ and whether he was a ‘male or transgender male.’ In a separate and required survey, the same candidate was subsequently asked if his gender was ‘male, female, or other’ and what his ‘preferred pronouns were.’”

“These inquiries are wholly irrelevant, inappropriate, and potentially illegal,” he added.

The hiring process at Florida Atlantic University, a public institution, has also become embroiled in controversy, with trustees asking at least one candidate if he was a "transgender male," identified with "queer" sexuality, or had non-traditional "pronouns." pic.twitter.com/sqZIUzXNE2

— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@realchrisrufo) July 18, 2023

Rodrigues revealed the investigation will be supervised by Inspector General Julie Leftheris, adding, “The investigation will be thorough, fair and a determination will not be reached in haste.”