Let NASA scientists weigh UFO evidence
David Grusch doesn’t have a piece of alien weaponry stashed in his basement. He doesn’t have sensational photos of a “Close Encounters”-esque spacecraft tucked away on a secure hard drive. He doesn’t have an audio recording of communications with an extraterrestrial being from a galaxy far, far away. He says he doesn’t have any documented mental illness.
What Grusch does claim to have, as a decorated former intelligence officer with extremely high-level security clearance, is firsthand knowledge that the U.S. Department of Defense and private aerospace companies are operating deeply covert programs with troves of highly classified information on UFOs — now officially known as UAPs or unidentified aerial phenomena — which include recovered nonhuman space crafts, technology and perhaps even alien bodies.
Grusch has gone public with these revelations through a federal whistleblower complaint reported last month, alleging that the information is being illegally withheld from Congress and that it is part of a much larger cover-up of an international arms race with
China and Russia in pursuit of weaponizing alien technology. He’s testified before Congress in closed-door sessions and is set to be one of the star witnesses in a hearing Wednesday afternoon convened by the House Subcommittee on National Security, the Border, and Foreign Affairs.
This is where you stop reading, put down your paper (or pause your scrolling), and roll your eyes.
Your internal monologue kicks in: Haven’t we been through this already? Didn’t we see a whole bunch of grainy videos released by the U.S. Navy a couple of years ago where Tic Tacshaped UAPs were seen pin-balling across the sky defying the laws of physics? And didn’t the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office, an agency within the Department of Defense tasked with investigating these anomalies, conclude that there was no evidence these objects had alien origins?
We share your healthy skepticism. Alien conspiracy theorists have created a cottage industry around purported spacecraft sightings from Roswell, N.M., to Aurora, Texas, all of which have been officially written off as either elaborate hoaxes or explainable phenomena. Sure, the naval pilot videos were visually compelling, indulging some of our wildest fantasies that the truth is, indeed, “out there.” Alas, without a smoking gun — or alien laser? — it’s easy to wave off any extraterrestrial claims as the province of Star Wars fanatics. In the words of famed cosmologist Carl Sagan, “extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.”
As such, Grusch’s claims, at minimum, require thorough interrogation by federal lawmakers, as well as qualified scientists and astrophysicists at NASA who can separate fact from science fiction.
Grusch has one thing the tinfoil hat-wearing yahoos of yore lack: the appearance of credibility. He was the co-leader for UAP analysis at the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency and a veteran of the National Reconnaissance Office. He was a liaison to the Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force from 2019 through 2021, which is where he was first briefed by intelligence officials that the U.S. possesses “many non-human” vehicles.
In an interview with News Nation, a new cable news channel that offers “engaging and unbiased news,” Grusch admits he initially thought the claims were “totally nuts,” until he started to do his own research, using his rare level of access within the national security complex to interrogate officials with knowledge of UAP materials.
“I came to the problem as a hardcore physics guy,” Grusch said. “So I have, you know, excuse my language, a high bulls—t factor. I was very methodical … interviewing people who didn’t know each other and making sure this wasn’t some kind of cover-up of some other program.”
Grusch eventually reported the information to the Intelligence Community Inspector General before filing his whistleblower complaint, which has piqued the interest of a bipartisan group of lawmakers.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, DN.Y., and Sens. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., and Marco Rubio, R-Fla., have sponsored legislation that would force the Pentagon to declassify records related to UAP sightings. The bill, proposed as an amendment to the annual defense policy bill, would force President Joe Biden to convene a nineperson commission, subject to Senate confirmation, that would vet which records could be made public.
We believe passing such a bill has little downside, as long as the commission is not just filled with national security bureaucrats. After all, we have an entire federal space agency here in Houston already leading the search for evidence of extraterrestrial life. Allowing NASA scientists access to additional declassified data will only help us draw conclusions as to whether these anomalies are simply airborne detritus or truly unexplainable.
Unlike the Pentagon’s national security leaders, who seem intent on quelling any speculation about aliens, NASA is actively trying to destigmatize reporting and researching UAPs. A 16-member team of independent experts within NASA is preparing a report that will map out how the federal government can better pool resources to further study these phenomena.
Essential to their work is gaining access to high-quality data — the type of information Grusch believes the Pentagon is keeping under lock and key.
Transparency is not only crucial for fostering trust between federal agencies, but also allowing the public to draw their own conclusions. Maybe Wednesday’s hearings will expose Grusch as yet another in a long line of misinformed conspiracy theorists. Or maybe he is just scratching the surface of a massive deep-state conspiracy. Either way, UFO skeptics and enthusiasts should welcome any additional information that could lead to answers as to whether we are truly alone in the vast universe, and what that knowledge means for our future.
A former intelligence officer is to address a House panel.