Former Air Force intelligence officer Maj. David Grusch — a former senior member of the civilian executive service at the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency — testified before Congress yesterday that the U.S. government has been running an alien crash-retrieval program for decades.
As part of that program, Grusch claimed, the U.S. military has retrieved alien bodies, some of them even alive.
Seated in the packed hearing room’s audience were some true believers, including documentary filmmaker Jeremy Corbell and news anchor George Knapp — two men who have worked hard to elevate the real stories of unidentified aerial phenomenon in our skies.
Yet, there was a more ominous presence in the audience. Former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper appeared to be there as well.
Clapper’s colleague from the Obama administration, former CIA Director John Brennan, is on the record in 2020 as saying that Americans should be “open-minded” about the possibility of UFOs in our skies.
Indeed, that is basically what David Grusch spent several hours telling Congress yesterday.
All Flash, No Substance
Despite the length of his testimony, and the enthusiasm exhibited by the “I Want to Believe” crowd, little substance was given by a man that the media has described as “one of the highest intelligence officials in the country.”
In fact, many of the would-be whistleblower’s answers to the curious lawmakers’ queries began with some variation of, “I’m not at liberty to share that information in a public forum.”
That should have been a red flag for every elected official in the room.
David Grusch has presented himself to the media, the American people, and their elected representatives as a whistleblower who is risking his career — and all the benefits that come with that career — to be the Paul Revere of our era. He insists he is warning us about a threat that many Americans aren’t even aware of, but that impacts them daily.
It is true that Grusch sat before the Senate and House Intelligence Committees in closed hearings for approximately 11 hours.
In his public testimony yesterday, Grusch suggested he had provided detailed information about individuals and organizations — both in the government and in the private sector — involved with the purported alien crash-retrieval program.
However, Grusch insisted that he was bound by classification guidelines from disclosing that information in public.
The truly shocking thing, as a former congressional staffer, was how compliant with Grusch’s act the elected officials from both parties were.
The endlessly entertaining Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN) pressed Grusch repeatedly for specific answers pertaining to which organizations and individuals were involved in or at least aware of this decades-old alien crash-retrieval program.
He understandably demanded to know how the Defense Department was end-running congressional oversight of such a program for so long.
A Non-Whistleblower-Whistleblower
The so-called whistleblower, Grusch, answered that he wasn’t at liberty to share that information in public. Grusch did assure the congressman that he had already provided much of that information to the intelligence committees.
The chutzpah!
To be clear: An executive branch evading congressional oversight is a violation of our constitution. It’s illegal. Not sharing that information willingly with Congress, when asked under oath by an elected Congressman, would make Grusch an accessory to that ongoing crime. Yet Burchett seemed placated by these non-answer responses from a supposed whistleblower.
Burchett then sheepishly inquired if Grusch would give more detailed answers to Burchett’s questions in a Secured Compartment Information Facility, where classified material can be shared freely.
Grusch replied — to a member of the United States House of Representatives — that he could only do so if Burchett had the relevant clearances to receive such intelligence.
What information Grusch did share pertaining to the retrieval program and alien bodies being recovered was entirely unsubstantiated. He never saw the craft. Grusch never encountered the supposed alien beings.
Everything he experienced was secondhand from people who supposedly did see and encounter alien craft and beings. Beyond that, nothing he added under oath was any different from what can be found online, or on popular pseudoscience shows like Ancient Aliens.
While interesting, none of these claims has been vetted or verified.
I would further note that a close friend and highly placed official in the intelligence community told me last night, when I asked his opinion about the Grusch hearings, that he wasn’t “even paying attention to that sideshow.” Take from that what you will. But I have often found that if this person isn’t monitoring a situation, it’s usually something that isn’t as important as the media claims.
Asking the Real Questions
The greater question that must be asked is: why? Why did this hearing happen when it did? If it’s as important as Grusch and others insist, why even waste anyone’s time by saying you’re a whistleblower, and then not blowing the whistle when all eyes are on you and your cause?
Clearly, there’s something more going on than meets the eye.
Enterprising journalists and skeptical congresspeople should figure out what the play here is. Because it’s obvious that disclosure is not the intention here.
A 19FortyFive Senior Editor, Brandon J. Weichert is a former Congressional staffer and geopolitical analyst who is a contributor at The Washington Times, as well as at American Greatness and the Asia Times. He is the author of Winning Space: How America Remains a Superpower (Republic Book Publishers), Biohacked: China’s Race to Control Life (Encounter Books), and The Shadow War: Iran’s Quest for Supremacy (July 23). Weichert can be followed via Twitter @WeTheBrandon.
From 19FortyFive