27 July 2023 , 11:16
866
0
An historic first-of-its-kind hearing about UFOs and indications of alien activity was rocked by a supposed whistleblower's bombshell claims about "non-human" material found at crash sites on Earth.
Former intelligence official and retired Major David Grusch testified Wednesday to Congress claiming that a longstanding program that retrieves and reverse-engineers unidentified flying objects has been concealed. The Pentagon has denied his claims.
Asked whether the US government had information about extraterrestrial life, Mr Grusch said the US likely has been aware of “non-human” activity since the 1930s. During the hearing, Representative Nancy Mace tried to get Mr Grusch to elaborate on his knowledge of non-terrestrial bodies. She asked about the alleged recovered non-human craft, and asked if the pilots had been recovered along with the craft, which Mr Grusch said he could not confirm.
David Grusch claimed that 'non-human' biologics were recoveredHowever, he went on to say when pushed: "As I've stated publicly already in my NewsNation interview, biologics came with some of these recoveries, yeah." Asked to elaborate whether they were human or non-human, he confirmed: "Non-human, and that was the assessment of people with direct knowledge on the programme I talked to that are currently still on the programme."
While the study of mysterious aircraft or objects often evokes talk of aliens and “little green men,” Democrats and Republicans in recent years have pushed for more research as a national security matter due to concerns that sightings observed by pilots may be tied to US adversaries.
Stargazers spot baffling aerial phenomenon that looks like oil on water
The whistleblower confirmed that non-human biologic material has been found (https://www.facebook.com/groups/unexplainedufosightings/permalink/2974369776112664/)Grusch said he was asked in 2019 by the head of a government task force on UAPs to identify all highly classified programs relating to the task force's mission. At the time, Grusch was detailed to the National Reconnaissance Office, the agency that operates US spy satellites.
“I was informed in the course of my official duties of a multi-decade UAP crash retrieval and reverse engineering program to which I was denied access,” he said.
In a statement, Defense Department spokeswoman Sue Gough said investigators have 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.” The statement did not address UFOs that are not suspected of being extraterrestrial objects.
Retired Navy Commander David Fravor has seen these flying objects numerous times, he says - and so did the rest of his team (Getty Images)Mr Grusch says he became a government whistleblower after his discovery and has faced retaliation for coming forward. He declined to be more specific about the retaliatory tactics, citing an ongoing investigation. “It was very brutal and very unfortunate, some of the tactics they used to hurt me both professionally and personally,” he said.
Republican Glenn Grothman chaired the panel's hearing and joked to a packed audience: “Welcome to the most exciting subcommittee in Congress this week.”
There was bipartisan interest in Mr Grusch’s claims and a more sober tone than other recent hearings featuring whistleblowers celebrated by Republicans and criticised by Democrats. Lawmakers in both parties asked Mr Grusch about his study of UFOs and the consequences he faced and how they could find out more about the government’s UAP programs.
Ryan Graves, executive director of Americans for Safe Aerospace said that spotting UFOs was common for his team (Getty Images)“I take it that you’re arguing what we need is real transparency and reporting systems so we can get some clarity on what’s going on out there,” said Republican Jamie Raskin.
Some lawmakers criticised the Pentagon for not providing more details in a classified briefing or releasing images that could be shown to the public. In previous hearings, Pentagon officials showed a video taken from an F-18 military plane that showed an image of one balloon-like shape.
Whistleblower David Grusch accused the government of a cover-up which had been going on for "decades" (AP)Pentagon officials in December said they had received “several hundreds” of new reports since launching a renewed effort to investigate reports of UFOs.
At that point, “we have not seen anything, and we’re still very early on, that would lead us to believe that any of the objects that we have seen are of alien origin,” said Ronald Moultrie, the undersecretary of defence for intelligence and security. “Any unauthorised system in our airspace we deem as a threat to safety.”
Second Chinese spy balloon spotted soaring over Latin America