Some prominent experts have expressed growing skepticism over whether the US is harboring UFOs, as the government whistleblower who made the extraordinary claims has gone on to suggest the US had also recovered alien bodies.
David Grusch, a former intelligence official who led analysis of unexplained anomalous phenomena (UAP) within a US Department of Defense agency, caused headlines around the world with his assertion that the US had been collecting non-human craft for “decades”.
That prompted the US House of Representatives to announce an investigation into Grusch’s allegations, with a hearing on the issue expected to be announced in the next few weeks.
The hearing is set to be the latest official US response in recent years to the issue of UAPs, which has raised heated speculation among UFO believers as well as prompted national security concerns in America about the possibility of unknown craft from other states that could be penetrating US air space or operating around the globe.
But Grusch’s whistleblowing claims have grown more dramatic after he has emerged into the public eye and are now facing growing skepticism. After initially telling the Debrief website the government had possession of “intact and partially intact” alien vehicles, he has gone on to suggest the US has also encountered “malevolent” alien pilots.
Experts in UFO lore have suggested his assertions should be taken with a grain of salt, questioned the veracity of his claims and demanded proof.
“He has not presented anything like the evidence that we would expect to believe something as extraordinary as this,” said Garrett Graff, a journalist and historian whose upcoming book UFO: The Inside Story of the US Government’s Search for Alien Life Here – and Out There will be published in October.
“There’s no firsthand knowledge. He didn’t see these things himself. He didn’t touch them. He wasn’t part of the operation to retrieve them and we haven’t heard from anyone who was.”
The Debrief published the allegations from Grusch, who left the government in April after a 14-year career in US intelligence, on Monday. He told the news outlet that secretive US government agencies and defense contractors had been recovering fragments of non-human craft, and in some cases entire craft, for decades.
According to the Debrief, Grusch’s knowledge of non-human materials and vehicles was based on “extensive interviews with high-level intelligence officials”. He said he had reported the existence of a UFO material “recovery program” to Congress and filed a complaint with the intelligence community inspector general. That complaint contained classified locations, program names and other data, the Debrief said.
But in a follow-up interview with NewsNation on Tuesday night, Grusch said the US had also found alien pilots. “Well, naturally, when you recover something that’s either landed or crashed, sometimes you encounter dead pilots and believe it or not, as fantastical as that sounds, it’s true,” Grusch said.
Grusch said there was a “sophisticated disinformation program targeting the US populace” to suppress information on UFOs, which is a common conspiracy trope in the UFO community.
“The story aligns with a lot of similar stories that have played out, going back to the 1980s and 1970s, that together allege that the US government has kept an incredible secret, the literal most extraordinary secret that mankind could have, for not just weeks or months, but years and decades, with no meaningful leak or documentary evidence to ever come forward,” Graff said.
“And I think when you look at the government’s ability to keep secret other really important secrets, there’s a lot of reason to doubt the capability of the government to do that.”
As the week has gone on, Grusch’s claims have expanded even further. He said some of the craft were “football field size” and told le Parisien, a French newspaper, that the US had possession of a “bell-like craft” which Benito Mussolini’s government had recovered in northern Italy in 1933.
Former colleagues have vouched for Grusch’s character and another official backed up Grusch’s account to the Debrief.
But the All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office, which was established to investigate UAP by the Department of Defense – replacing the UAP taskforce which Grusch claims was not allowed access to some materials – issued an unequivocal denial.
“To date, AARO has not discovered any verifiable information to substantiate claims that any programs regarding the possession or reverse-engineering of extraterrestrial materials have existed in the past or exist currently. AARO is committed to following the data and its investigation wherever it leads,” said Sue Gough, a spokesperson for the Department of the Defense.
“AARO, working with the office of the general counsel and the air force office of special investigations, has established a safe and secure process for individuals to come forward with information to aid AARO in its congressionally-mandated historical review.
“AARO’s historical review of records and testimonies is ongoing and due to Congress by June 2024. AARO welcomes the opportunity to speak with any former or current government employee or contractor who believes they have information relevant to the historical review.”
Mick West, a science journalist and author who is a noted UFO skeptic, told NewsNation that parts of Grusch’s claims were “essentially part of UFO mythology”. Like Graff, he said the fact that Grusch’s evidence is secondhand makes it difficult to believe.
“That’s a huge point. He’s not someone who worked on any of these programs. He said he didn’t see any photographs, he’s not actually seen these things: he’s talked to people,” West said.
“And we know there are people who think they’ve worked on programs, there have been people coming forward many years. It never actually amounts to anything, and it’s quite possible that people have become convinced that they’re working on programs like this simply because reverse engineering programs of crashed things are actually real.”
Re-engineering efforts go all the way back to the first world war, when the US began retrieving German equipment from the battlefield and rebuilding it. In his interview, West pointed to the example of Kosmos 954, a Soviet Union satellite that exploded over Canada. A Canadian-American team collected debris and, West said, attempted to reassemble it.
“That would have been top secret, that would have been a highly compartmentalized program and you could very easily see how people working on a program like this could come to believe that they are actually working on UFOs.”
Asked if he believes Grusch’s story West said:
“I don’t think what he’s saying is accurate. I think it’s quite possible he’s believing in what he’s saying, but it’s quite an incredible story that really needs some actual verification – and I’m hoping that’s going to be coming soon.”
