On the UFO front, things are taking a wild turn. A former government officer named David Grusch is alleging that physical evidence of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena, otherwise known as UAPs, is being illegally withheld from the U.S. Congress. Note we’re not talking about “sightings” anymore. He’s alleging there are actual crashed objects.
The Debrief first reported the story on June 5, 2023. As of this writing (June 8, 2023) – over the past two days – numerous other media have picked up on the story, including The Guardian, Fox News, The Intelligencer, NewsNation, and others. And the word “aliens” is trending on Twitter.
Grusch gave an initial video interview to NewsNation on June 5. Additionally, there will reportedly be a longer interview airing this coming Sunday.
Yes, it’s a wild story. But let’s look at what we know so far.
Crashed UFOs?
UAPs – or UFOs – have been a hot topic of discussion and media coverage in the past few years. And most of new anecdotes about unidentified flying objects have come from military pilots. The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2022 required the Director of National Intelligence, in consultation with the Secretary of Defense, to submit an annual report to the U.S. Congress on Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAPs).
The U.S. Department of Defense established an All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) to investigate unknown objects in the air, sea, and/or space and/or on land.
The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics has gotten involved, as has NASA (check the links on their names to see how). And Harvard University astrophysicist Avi Loeb – whose 2021 book is called Extraterrestrial, and who has another book coming out this summer featuring his thoughts on UAPs – founded a research project at Harvard centered on the subject, called the Galileo Project.
In other words, in recent years, U.S. Congresspeople, the military and a few scientists have been talking about UAPs.
Of course, claims related to UFOs have been around for hundreds of years. And, in the U.S. at least, they’ve increased since the Roswell incident of 1947, another supposed UFO crash.
We live in a space age, after all. So it makes sense to wonder whether alien beings ever visited our world. There’ve been plenty of reported “sightings.” Even the recent discussion by the military is based on just “sightings.”
A crashed UFO? That’s something else … if it’s real.
Reported testimony on crashed UFOs by Grusch
Enter David Grusch. He is 36 years old. He’s a decorated former combat officer who served in Afghanistan. He has worked for the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) and the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO). In addition, he also worked with the Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force (UAPTF) from 2019-2021. At that time, the Office of Naval Intelligence ran the UAPTF, which was a precursor to today’s larger AARO. According to The Debrief, it was during his two-year stint at the UAPTF that Grusch began to compile “detailed information” about UFOs.
Now, according to current reporting, Grusch has provided at least 11 hours of closed-door testimony and classified evidence, under oath, to both the Intelligence Community Inspector General (ICIG) and the U.S. Congress.
That testimony includes allegations that information about UFOs (UAPs) has been withheld from Congress for decades. Grusch also said he has also experienced illegal retaliation for speaking about it. Grusch claims that the U.S. government, allies and defense contractors have recovered both partial fragments and intact alien spacecraft over the years. He claims that analysis has shown these to be “exotic and of non-human origin.” But he doesn’t say “it’s aliens” specifically. As The Debrief reported:
‘We are not talking about prosaic origins or identities,’ Grusch said, referencing information he provided Congress and the current ICIG. ‘The material includes intact and partially intact vehicles.’
Details of what Grusch did
Grusch told The Debrief he began providing information to the Intelligence Community Inspector General (ICIG) as early as July 2021. That’s when he started receiving harassment from others – which Grusch later called “retaliation” – for doing so.
Through his attorney, Grusch filed a Disclosure of Urgent Concern(s); Complaint of Reprisal to ICIG in May 2022.
The Debrief said:
The Intelligence Community Inspector General found his complaint ‘credible and urgent’ in July 2022. According to Grusch, a summary was immediately submitted to the Director of National Intelligence, Avril Haines; the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence; and the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.
Perhaps notably, since Grusch filed his complaint directly to the Intelligence Community Inspector General, he could face prosecution for perjury if he was to later be found guilty of lying.
Grush left government work in April 2023. According to The Debrief, he left:
… in order, he said, to advance government accountability through public awareness.
Read more details and comments at Above the Law.
Grusch has his supporters
Also, as The Debrief and The Guardian reported, Jonathan Grey apparently supports the claims being made by Grusch. Grey is a generational officer of the United States intelligence community with a top-secret clearance who currently works for the National Air and Space Intelligence Center (NASIC). He was quoted by The Debrief as saying:
The non-human intelligence phenomenon is real. We are not alone. Retrievals of this kind are not limited to the United States. This is a global phenomenon, and yet a global solution continues to elude us.
It should perhaps be noted that the website Media Bias/Fact Check gives The Debrief a pretty solid ranking, saying:
We also rate [The Debrief] as Mostly Factual rather than High due to not always backing claims with concrete evidence.
And worthy of note, perhaps, is that a section of The Debrief is dedicated to coverage of UFOs.
More support for Grusch
But is David Grusch himself credible? Some are calling him a whistleblower. But he’s only a whistleblower if his story is real.
A few of Grusch’s colleagues, in aerospace and even the U.S. Space Force, have voiced their support for him on LinkedIn. Jim Shell, former Chief Scientist, Lt. Col. USAF, said in a comment to Sean Allen’s LinkedIn post:
I will vouch for the integrity of Dave Grusch! Getting to the bottom of this is elusive and problematic, to say the least. I will assert no matter the conclusion of extraterrestrial materials or not, the DoD and IC security apparatus is in trouble and unwitting accomplices are fostering an abusive system.
Sean Allen at Space Systems Command, SSC/BC, U.S. Space Force, said:
Seems like it will be a busy week. I hope David Grusch stays safe.
Todd F. at Meraki Space Systems replied:
I’ve known for 30 years. We’re ready for disclosure. Let’s go!!!
So the chatter in support of Grusch may be interesting. It speaks to the fact that he has friends. But it doesn’t prove the reality of what Grusch is claiming.
A legal perspective
In addition, Jonathan Wolf at the website Above the Law wrote an overview of the developments from a legal perspective on June 8. He wrote, in part:
Grusch is no kook. He is a decorated veteran. Prior to leaving government work in April, Grusch had a celebrated 14-year career in U.S. intelligence.
Wolf also offered this opinion of Grusch’s claim, based on the words of retired Army Colonel Karl E. Nell, who served with Grusch on the UAP Task Force. According to Wolf, Nell called Grusch “beyond reproach” and noted that his story “concerning the existence of a terrestrial arms race occurring sub rosa over the past 80 years focused on reverse engineering technologies of unknown origin is fundamentally correct, as is the indisputable realization that at least some of these technologies of unknown origin derive from nonhuman intelligence.”
Bottom line: Is there any truth to the decades-long claims of crashed UFOs? A former government officer says there is, and has provided detailed classified testimony under oath.
You can watch Grusch’s initial interview here