Whistleblower Alleges US is Hiding ‘Multi-Decade’ UFO Capturing Program
During a congressional hearing on Wednesday, a former Air Force intelligence officer alleged that the United States is keeping a secret program under wraps, which involves the retrieval and reverse engineering of unidentified flying objects (UFOs). However, the Pentagon has refuted these allegations.
Retired Maj. David Grusch’s anticipated testimony to the House Oversight Subcommittee was the latest congressional inquiry into the world of UAPs, or “unidentified aerial phenomena,” the official term the US government uses for UFOs. Although the study of mysterious aircraft or objects often evokes talk of the years of green and democratic aliens. a national security issue because of fears that sightings by pilots may be linked to US adversaries.
Grusch said he was asked in 2019 by the head of the government’s UAP task force to identify all highly classified programs related to the task force’s mission. At the time, Grusch was detailed to the National Reconnaissance Office, the agency that operated US spy satellites.
“In the course of my official duties, I was told about the multi-decade UAP accident retrieval and reverse engineering program that I was denied access to,” he said.
Asked if the US government had knowledge of extraterrestrial life, Grusch said the US has likely been aware of “non-human activity” since the 1930s.
The Pentagon has denied Grusch’s claims of a cover-up. Sue Gough, a spokeswoman for the Ministry of Defense, said in a statement that investigators had found “no verifiable information to support claims that any programs involving possession of extraterrestrial materials or reverse engineering have existed in the past or are currently in existence.” The statement did not apply to UFOs, which are not suspected to be extraterrestrial objects.
Grusch says he became a whistleblower after his discovery and has faced retaliation for coming forward. He declined to be more specific about the retaliatory tactics, citing the ongoing investigation.
“It was very cruel and very unfortunate, some of the tactics they used hurt me both professionally and personally,” he said.
Rep. Glenn Grothman, R-Wis., chaired the panel’s hearing, joking to the packed audience: “Welcome to the most exciting subcommittee in Congress this week.”
There was bipartisan interest in Grusch’s claims, and the tone was more sober than other recent hearings featuring whistleblowers celebrated by Republicans and criticized by Democrats. Lawmakers from both parties asked Grusch about his UFO research and the consequences he faced, and how they could learn more about the government’s UAP programs.
“I understand your point that we need real transparency and reporting systems to get clarity on what’s going on out there,” said Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md.
Some lawmakers criticized the Pentagon for not providing more information at a classified briefing or releasing images that could be shown to the public. In previous hearings, Pentagon officials showed video taken from an F-18 military jet that showed an image of a single balloon-like shape.
Pentagon officials said in December that they had received “several hundred” new reports since launching a new operation to investigate UFO reports.
At that point, “we haven’t seen anything, and we’re still very early in the process, that would lead us to believe that any of the objects we’ve seen are of alien origin,” said Ronald Moultrie, the undersecretary of defense for intelligence and security. “We consider any unauthorized systems in our airspace a threat to security.”