David Grusch, a former National Reconnaissance Officer representative of Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena Task Force, testified Wednesday that the U.S. has been aware of extraterrestrial aircraft since the 1930s. Drew Angerer / Getty Images
Whistleblower alleges government coverup of UFO sightings, recovery efforts
Former intelligence official turned whistleblower David Grusch told lawmakers that the federal government has conducted “a multi-decade UAP crash retrieval and reverse engineering program” that has collected “non-human” remains.
A former intelligence official told lawmakers Wednesday that the federal government has misappropriated funds to retrieve and reverse engineer technology from crashed unidentified flying objects and has “non-human” remains in its possession from these recovery efforts.
During his explosive testimony under oath before the House Oversight Subcommittee on National Security, the Border and Foreign Affairs, David Grusch — a former national reconnaissance officer who served as a member of the Pentagon’s task force on unidentified anomalous phenomena, or UAP — alleged that the federal government has relied on intimidation, budgetary trickery and classified reporting to conceal its decades-long awareness of extraterrestrial aircraft.
Grusch made international news last month after he publicly shared his allegations.
Over the course of his work, Grusch told lawmakers he was made aware of “a multi-decade UAP crash retrieval and reverse engineering program,” adding that the government was “absolutely” in possession of recovered craft and has been aware of the existence of non-human aircraft since the 1930s.
“The recoveries pre-date a lot of our work in this area,” he said.
Grusch told lawmakers he filed a whistleblower complaint with the Inspector General of the Intelligence Community regarding the government’s covert actions “following concerning reports from multiple esteemed and credentialed current and former military and intelligence community individuals that the U.S. government is operating with secrecy — above congressional oversight — with regards to UAPs.”
In addition to retrieving downed UAPs, Grusch told lawmakers that “biologics came with some of these recoveries.” While he did not view the remains himself, Grusch said they were “non-human” in origin, based on “the assessment of people with direct knowledge on the program I talked to.”
Grusch further alleged that the government’s recovery and reverse engineering efforts are subsidized by the “misappropriation of funds” and that he has “specific knowledge” of money budgeted for one program but subsequently redirected to fund UAP-related programs.
“I have concerns, based on the interviews I conducted under my official duties, of potential violations of the Federal Acquisition Regulation,” he added, saying that “specific corporations” have been involved in the government’s UAP programs — details which he said he previously shared with the House and Senate Intelligence committees.
He also said he had personal knowledge of individuals who were harmed to cover up or conceal knowledge of extraterrestrial technology. When asked if he knew of anyone who had been murdered, Grusch said he “directed people with that knowledge to the appropriate authorities.”
Lawmakers expressed concerns about the government’s unwillingness to allow a more detailed summary of Grusch’s allegations in a secure setting. Grusch repeatedly told members he was limited in what he could say during a public hearing.
“We were even denied access to a classified briefing in a [sensitive compartmented information facility] prior to this hearing due to the amount of hoops that we had to jump through to grant temporary clearance to witness Grusch who has knowledge of classified information,” Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., said.
Congress has taken steps to enhance reporting on UAPs, including establishing the Pentagon’s All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office last year to investigate sightings. The head of that office, Sean Kirkpatrick, told Senate lawmakers in April that they had found “no credible evidence thus far of extraterrestrial activity, off-world technology or objects that defy the known laws of physics.”
But lawmakers at Wednesday’s hearing said that the intelligence community’s unwillingness to fully disclose the extent of its activities would not be tolerated moving forward.
“This is an issue of government transparency,” Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., said, adding that “we’re going to uncover the coverup.”