Part of: Nancy Mace and the UAP hearings · UAP & the Hearings
"Human or nonhuman biologics?", Mace's question that defined the 2023 UAP hearing
At the July 26, 2023 House Oversight UAP hearing, Rep. Nancy Mace asked whistleblower David Grusch whether the government's recovered remains were 'human or nonhuman biologics.' Grusch answered: 'Non-human.' The two-word reply made Mace the congressional face of a hearing that trended worldwide and set off days of internet memes.
On July 26, 2023, the House Oversight National Security Subcommittee convened a hearing on Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena. Among the witnesses was David Grusch, a former Air Force intelligence officer and UAP Task Force member who alleged under oath that the U.S. government had secretly recovered crashed non-human craft. Pressing him on the nature of the recovered material, Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) drew one of the day's most-replayed exchanges:
Mace: "Were they, I guess, human or nonhuman biologics?"
David Grusch: "Non-human."
The exchange, via Roll Call.
The hearing:
The July 26, 2023 House Oversight UAP hearing. Watch on C-SPAN.
Grusch's claims, including the existence of secret crash-retrieval programs and recovered non-human craft, are contested and have not been verified by the Department of Defense. The DoD said it had no "verifiable information" substantiating his assertions. He testified in his personal capacity as a private whistleblower, not as a government spokesman.
Post and Courier political reporter Anna Byrd described Mace's impact at the hearing:
"Nancy Mace has become a breakout star for her line of questioning that boldly went where no congressional hearing has gone before."
The Post and Courier also reported that Mace told a radio show the following day she would need to physically see and touch the evidence before she believed it, the outlet's "evidence she can touch" headline was its own framing of her posture, not a direct Mace quote.
The phrase "non-human biologics" and Mace's flat, just-checking delivery made her the congressional face of a moment the internet spent the next several days turning into wall-to-wall memes. For the full catalog of viral reaction posts, including the Lizzo fact-check, see The "non-human biologics" hearing. For Mace's full UAP record, including the November 2024 hearing she co-chaired, see UAP & the Hearings.
Source: Roll Call · Post and Courier · C-SPAN · ABC News 4
