I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 6967 

To require the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration to establish procedures and reporting requirements for incidents relating to unidentified anomalous phenomena, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 11, 2024 

Mr. ROBERT GARCIA of California (for himself, Mr. GROTHMAN, Mr. 

MOSKOWITZ, Ms. MACE, Mr. OGLES, and Mrs. LUNA) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and 

Infrastructure, and in addition to the Committee on Oversight and Accountability, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, 

in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To require the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration to establish procedures and reporting requirements for incidents relating to unidentified anomalous 

phenomena, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Safe Airspace for 

5 Americans Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. UNIDENTIFIED ANOMALOUS PHENOMENA. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 

3 enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the Federal 

4 Aviation Administration shall— 

5 (1) develop procedures to synchronize and 

6 standardize the collection, reporting, and analysis of 

7 incidents, including adverse physiological effects, or 

8 the disruption, interference, or interaction with 

9 flight instruments, potentially caused by an uniden10 tified anomalous phenomena reported by civilian air11 crew, air traffic controllers, flight attendants, avia12 tion maintenance personnel, aviation dispatchers, air 

13 carriers or operators, and airports; 

14 (2) develop processes and procedures to ensure 

15 that such incidents are reported and stored in an ap16 propriate manner that allows for the integration of 

17 analysis of such information; 

18 (3) establish procedures to provide employees of 

19 the Federal Aviation Administration the ability for 

20 timely and consistent reporting of such incidents 

21 that could reasonably be considered an unidentified 

22 anomalous phenomena; 

23 (4) develop processes and procedures to ensure 

24 the timely investigations of such incidents, including 

25 immediately archiving information or data, including 

26 pilot-controller communications as well as air traffic 


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1 management system and radar data, that could be 

2 used to aid in such investigations; and 

3 (5) evaluate the threat that such incidents 

4 present to the safety of the national airspace system. 

5 (b) COORDINATION.—In carrying out the require6 ments of this section, the Administrator shall coordinate 

7 with the heads of other departments and agencies of the 

8 Federal Government, as appropriate, including the Sec9 retary of Defense, the Director of National Intelligence, 

10 the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space 

11 Administration, the Secretary of Homeland Security, the 

12 Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

13 Administration, the Director of the National Science 

14 Foundation, and the Secretary of Energy. 

15 (c) ALL-DOMAIN ANOMALY RESOLUTION OFFICE.— 

16 The Administrator shall share the reports and all incident 

17 archived information and data submitted under this sec18 tion with the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office of the 

19 Department of Defense. 

20 (d) PROHIBITION AGAINST USE OF REPORTS FOR

21 ENFORCEMENT PURPOSES.—The Administrator may not 

22 use reports submitted under this section (or information 

23 derived therefrom) in any enforcement action except infor24 mation concerning accidents or criminal offenses. 


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1 (e) COMMUNICATIONS STRATEGY.—Not later than 

2 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Ad3 ministrator shall produce and implement a communica4 tions strategy to— 

5 (1) engage the public and publicize the report6 ing process described under subsection (a); and 

7 (2) decrease stigma towards individuals submit8 ting information to the Administrator under this 

9 section. 

10 (f) REPORTING SYSTEM.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 

12 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Adminis13 trator shall select whether reports submitted under 

14 this section shall be received through— 

15 (A) the Aviation Safety Reporting Pro16 gram in effect as of the date of enactment of 

17 this Act; or 

18 (B) a new and separate system similar to 

19 such Program that is established to exclusively 

20 receive report of potential unidentified anoma21 lous phenomena. 

22 (2) CONSIDERATION.—If the Administrator 

23 makes a selection under paragraph (1)(A), not later 

24 than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, 

25 the Administrator shall consider whether to update 


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1 the Aviation Safety Reporting Program reporting in2 take system to improve the capture information re3 garding whether a reported event could involve an 

4 unidentified anomalous phenomenon, and, if so, a 

5 mechanism for including description of the object 

6 subject to such report and the apparent kinematics 

7 of such object. 

8 (3) SYSTEM REQUIREMENT.—If the Adminis9 trator makes a selection under paragraph (1)(B), 

10 the Administrator shall ensure the system includes 

11 the ability to provide a description of the object sub12 ject to such report and the apparent kinematics of 

13 such object. 

14 (4) MANNER OF SUBMISSION.—The Adminis15 trator shall include in the reporting system selected 

16 under this subsection the ability to submit such a re17 port via an electronic flight bag if the Administrator 

18 determines that submitting via such flight bag can 

19 be done— 

20 (A) safely; and 

21 (B) without compromising pilots’ ability to 

22 aviate, navigate and communicate. 

23 (g) PROTECTION OF MEDICAL CERTIFICATES.—The 

24 spotting, visual witness, or reporting of unidentified anom25 alous phenomena shall not be taken into account for the 


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1 purposes of evaluation of mental standards for issuing 

2 medical certificates for airmen and for remaining eligible 

3 for a medical certificate under part 67 of title 14, Code 

4 of Federal Regulations. 

5 (h) PROTECTION OF AIRMEN CERTIFICATES.—The 

6 spotting, visual witness, or reporting of unidentified anom7 alous phenomena may not be taken into account for the 

8 purposes of evaluation of competency for issuing airmen 

9 certificates under section 44709 of title 49, United States 

10 Code. 

11 (i) PROHIBITION ON REPRISALS FOR FEDERAL EM12 PLOYEES AND CONTRACTORS.—An employee of a depart13 ment or agency of the Federal Government, or of a con14 tractor, subcontractor, grantee, subgrantee, or personal 

15 services contractor of such a department or agency, who 

16 has authority to take, direct others to take, recommend, 

17 or approve any personnel action, shall not, with respect 

18 to such authority, take or fail to take, or threaten to take 

19 or fail to take, a personnel action, including the revocation 

20 or suspension of security clearances, or termination of em21 ployment, with respect to any individual as a reprisal for 

22 spotting, visually witnessing or reporting of unidentified 

23 anomalous phenomena. 

24 (j) PROHIBITION ON REPRISALS FOR EMPLOYEES OF

25 AIR CARRIERS OR COMMERCIAL OPERATORS.—An air 


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1 carrier or commercial operator under part 119 of title 14, 

2 Code of Federal Regulations shall not— 

3 (1) take or fail to take, or threaten to take or 

4 fail to take, a personnel action, or termination of 

5 employment, with respect to any individual as a re6 prisal for spotting, visually witnessing or reporting 

7 of unidentified anomalous phenomena to the Admin8 istrator; or 

9 (2) issue a cease and desist letter to any indi10 vidual or organization for spotting, visually wit11 nessing, or reporting of unidentified anomalous phe12 nomena to the Administrator. 

13 (k) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con14 gress that— 

15 (1) all unidentified anomalous phenomena en16 counters by aviation personnel should be reported, 

17 particularly when such encounters involve a potential 

18 safety or national security concern; and 

19 (2) employers and governmental officials should 

20 take actions to reduce the stigma of reporting un21 identified anomalous phenomena. 

22 (l) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act: 

23 (1) UNIDENTIFIED ANOMALOUS PHENOMENA.— 

24 The term ‘‘unidentified anomalous phenomena’’ 

25 means— 


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1 (A) an airborne object that is not imme2 diately identifiable; 

3 (B) a transmedium object or device; and 

4 (C) a submerged object or device that— 

5 (i) is not immediately identifiable; and 

6 (ii) displays behavior or performance 

7 characteristics suggesting that the object 

8 or device may be related to an object de9 scribed in subparagraph (A). 

10 (2) TRANSMEDIUM OBJECT OR DEVICE.—The 

11 term ‘‘transmedium object or device’’ means an ob12 ject or device that is— 

13 (A) observed to transition between space 

14 and the atmosphere, or between the atmosphere 

15 and a body of water; and 

16 (B) not immediately identifiable. 

Æ 


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