David Grusch, the UAP whistleblower

About David Grusch

The full story, section by section

The story of David Grusch in 8 parts. Tap any part to read it in full.

1. BackgroundGrusch is an Afghanistan combat veteran and former Air Force intelligence officer.Read this part → Illustration drawn for this site — not a photograph.
2. Going publicOn 5 June 2023 Kean and Blumenthal published Grusch's story in The Debrief, a self-funded website specialising in "frontier science".Read this part → David Grusch giving testimony on 26 July 2023 before the U.S. House Subcommittee on National Security, the Border, and Foreign Affairs. A hearing on "Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena: Implications on National Security, Public Safety, and Government T… · Photo: U.S. House Subcommittee on National Security, the Border, and Foreign Affairs (screenshot from government website video , Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
3. His claimsAcross his interviews and testimony, Grusch has said:Read this part → Illustration drawn for this site — not a photograph.
4. Congressional testimonyRepresentatives Anna Paulina Luna and Tim Burchett organised the hearing of 26 July 2023.Read this part → A congressional hearing on July 26, 2023, under the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, with Ryan Graves, David Grusch, and David Fravor. · Photo: U.S. House Committee On Oversight and Accountability, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
5. Official responsesPentagon spokeswoman Sue Gough said AARO had "not discovered any verifiable information to substantiate claims" of programs to possess or reverse-engineer extraterrestrial materials.Read this part → Dr. Sean Kirkpatrick, director of All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office at the Department of Defense, gives a presentation during a public meeting of NASA’s unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) independent study team, Wednesday, May 31, 2023 at the Mary W. Jackson NASA Headquarters building in Wash · Photo: NASA/Joel Kowsky, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
6. Scientists and commentatorsScientists have pointed above all to the lack of evidence:Read this part → Illustration drawn for this site — not a photograph.
7. Mental health recordsIn August 2023 The Intercept reported, from Loudoun County, Virginia, police records, that Grusch had been detained for mental health evaluation after incidents in 2014 and 2018.Read this part → Illustration drawn for this site — not a photograph.
8. Legislative impactIn July 2023 Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senator Mike Rounds proposed the UAP Disclosure Act of 2023, a 64-page amendment to the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act.Read this part → Illustration drawn for this site — not a photograph.

Read the full David Grusch article →

Key people

The people at the centre of the story — witnesses, investigators, officials and sceptics:

• Leslie KeanLeslie Kean is an American investigative journalist and author known for her reporting on unidentified flying objects and her 2010 best-selling book on the subject. She co-authored a 2017 New York Ti…
• Ralph BlumenthalRalph Blumenthal is an American journalist and author who worked as a staff reporter for The New York Times from 1964 to 2009. He covered wars, organized crime, and culture, and led the team that won…
• Ross CoulthartRoss Coulthart is an Australian investigative journalist and author who spent decades working in television current affairs before shifting his focus to unidentified flying objects. In 2021, he publi…
• Anna Paulina LunaAnna Paulina Luna is an American Republican politician and Air Force veteran who has represented Florida's 13th congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives since 2023.
• Tim BurchettTim Burchett is an American Republican politician who has served in the U.S. House of Representatives for Tennessee's 2nd congressional district since January 2019, following prior service as a state…
• David FravorDavid Fravor is a retired U.S. Navy commander and fighter pilot who served for 24 years before retiring in 2006.
• Ryan GravesRyan Graves is a former U.S. Navy F/A-18F Super Hornet pilot who became a prominent witness regarding unidentified anomalous phenomena.
• Jeremy CorbellJeremy Kenyon Lockyer Corbell is an American artist, documentary filmmaker, and ufologist based in Los Angeles who became a prominent figure in the UFO community by the late 2010s. His work includes …
• George KnappGeorge T. Knapp is an American journalist, news anchor, and radio host who works for KLAS-TV in Las Vegas and hosts Coast to Coast AM. He is best known for his extensive investigative reporting on UF…
• Robert BigelowRobert Thomas Bigelow is an American businessman from Las Vegas who made a fortune in real estate and the Budget Suites of America hotel chain. He founded Bigelow Aerospace to develop expandable spac…
• Harry ReidHarry Reid was an American lawyer and politician who served as a U.S. senator from Nevada and Senate majority leader.
• Marco RubioMarco Antonio Rubio is an American Republican politician born in Miami in 1971 who represented Florida in the US Senate from 2011 to 2025. He became a prominent congressional figure regarding unident…
• Kirsten GillibrandKirsten Gillibrand is an American lawyer and Democratic politician who has served as a U.S. senator from New York since 2009.
• Garry NolanGarry Philip James Nolan is a British-American immunologist, inventor, and professor at Stanford University known for his work in single-cell analysis technologies and biotechnology companies. Alongs…

Related cases & events

Events and sightings linked to David Grusch:

🗓️ Event · 3 min readUAP hearingsPublic hearings in the U.S. Congress on UFOs and UAP, from 1966 to the whistleblower hearings of 2023–2025.🗓️ Event · 5 min readGAO testimony on special access programs (1986)In July 1986, the U.S. General Accounting Office reported on poor document controls and limited Pentagon oversight within a special access program at Lockheed Corporation.🗓️ Event · 6 min readDan Sherman on programs above special accessFormer U.S. Air Force specialist Dan Sherman claimed in his 1997 book, Above Black, that he served in an unacknowledged alien communication program hidden beneath ordinary electronic intelligence missions during the early 1990s.🗓️ Event · 6 min readCSETI on unacknowledged special access programsIn an August 1998 paper, Steven Greer of the Center for the Study of Extraterrestrial Intelligence (CSETI) claimed that senior U.S. leaders were kept uninformed about UFOs because the subject was managed inside Unacknowledged Special Access Programs.🗓️ Event · 7 min readPrivatized control group claim (1999)An anonymous seven-page letter sent to UFO document collector Timothy Cooper in July 1999 claimed that the MJ-12 group stopped being a government body in 1969 and became a private concern financed by big money and science. The unauthenticated document alleged…🗓️ Event · 6 min readWill Miller on senior officials kept in the darkThis article is about claims made by retired U.S. Navy commander Will Miller regarding government secrecy surrounding UFOs.🗓️ Event · 7 min readVallée on privatized UFO research (2002)This article is about a May 6, 2002 journal entry by UFO researcher Jacques Vallée, in which he concluded that United States UFO research had almost certainly been privatized outside government circles. During a conversation at the National Institute for Disc…🗓️ Event · 9 min readWilson–Davis notesThe Wilson–Davis notes are a 15-page document that surfaced online in 2019, presenting a physicist's record of a 16 October 2002 conversation with retired Vice Admiral Thomas R. Wilson. The notes describe Wilson's alleged 1997 search for a secret aerospace pr…🗓️ Event · 6 min readFour "iron post" sourcesThis article is about defense analyst James T. Westwood identifying four unnamed government insiders who allegedly confirmed a hidden program for reverse-engineering alien hardware. According to journal entries from March 2004, these sources included military…

Programs, organizations & documents

The official programs, groups and papers involved:

🏢 Organization · 13 min readU.S. Air ForceThe United States Air Force is the air service branch of the U.S. armed forces that became an independent service in September 1947.📄 Document · 8 min readUAP Disclosure ActThe Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena Disclosure Act of 2023 was a legislative proposal by U.S. Senators Chuck Schumer and Mike Rounds to force the release of government records regarding UFOs and UAPs.🏢 Organization · 15 min readAAROThe All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) is a United States Department of Defense organization created on July 20, 2022, to investigate unidentified anomalous phenomena. Its scope covers objects in the air, at sea, in space, and moving between those do…🏢 Organization · 6 min readNational Reconnaissance OfficeThe National Reconnaissance Office is a United States agency part of the Department of Defense that designs, builds, launches, and operates government intelligence satellites. Created in 1961, the organization operated in strict secrecy until its existence wa…🏢 Organization · 6 min readUAP Task ForceThe Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force was a United States Department of Defense program that collected and analyzed military reports of unidentified aerial phenomena from August 2020 to November 2021. Managed by the under secretary of defense for intel…📄 Document · 7 min readNational Defense Authorization ActThe National Defense Authorization Act is the annual U.S. law that sets the budget, spending, and policies for the Department of Defense.📄 Document · 7 min readAARO Historical Record ReportThe AARO Historical Record Report is a Pentagon review of U.S. government involvement with unidentified anomalous phenomena since 1945, required by Congress and released in March 2024.🏢 Organization · 9 min readDefense Intelligence AgencyThe Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) is the United States Department of Defense's main military intelligence agency, established in 1961 and headquartered in Washington, D.C. It produces a significant portion of the intelligence in the President's Daily Brie…🏢 Organization · 11 min readLockheed MartinLockheed Martin is an American defense and aerospace manufacturer formed in March 1995 through the merger of the Lockheed Corporation and Martin Marietta. Headquartered in North Bethesda, Maryland, it has been the United States federal government's largest co…

Books, films & documentaries

Where to read and watch more:

🎬 Book or film · 6 min readThe DebriefThe Debrief is an American online news site launched in late 2020 by Micah Hanks, Tim McMillan, and MJ Banias to cover science, aerospace, defense, and unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP). The site has closely followed government UAP reports, including publis…🎬 Book or film · 8 min readSkinwalkers at the PentagonSkinwalkers at the Pentagon is a 2021 book by James Lacatski, Colm Kelleher, and George Knapp that details the secret Defense Intelligence Agency program known as the Advanced Aerospace Weapon System Applications Program (AAWSAP). Spanning events from 2007 to…

Related topics & places

Ideas, terms and places that come up in the story:

📖 Term · 13 min readUnidentified anomalous phenomenaUnidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) is the U.S. government's current term for unidentified objects or events in the air, space, or underwater.📖 Term · 17 min readUnidentified flying objectAn unidentified flying object, or UFO, is an unexplained phenomenon or object seen in the sky, with the modern craze originating in the United States in June 1947. While popular culture often equates UFOs with alien spacecraft, most investigations reveal them…📖 Term · 7 min readNon-human intelligenceNon-human intelligence (NHI) is a term used to describe non-human beings or systems, which has become prominent in recent discussions and whistleblower claims regarding unidentified anomalous phenomena. Although various individuals and legislative proposals h…📖 Term · 7 min readSpecial access programA special access program (SAP) is a security arrangement used by the United States federal government to provide heightened safeguards and access limits for highly classified information. These programs span various categories within the Department of Defense…🧭 Topic overview · 30 min readSecrecy & cover-up (topic)This overview page covers official secrecy, classification, and cover-up claims regarding unidentified anomalous phenomena from 1947 to 2023. It outlines historical classified studies, released government records, and modern claims of hidden reverse-engineeri…🧭 Topic overview · 26 min readGovernment programs (topic)This encyclopedia overview outlines government and private programs established to study UFOs and UAPs from 1947 to 2023. U.S.🧭 Topic overview · 22 min readBeings & bodies (topic)This topic overview covers reports and claims about non-human beings, bodies, and biological material spanning from 1947 to 2023. It outlines various second-hand and anonymous accounts involving crash-retrieval stories and alien abductions, mostly centered in…🧭 Topic overview · 19 min readCrashes & retrievals (topic)This topic overview covers claims from 1947 to 2023 that governments have recovered and studied crashed non-human craft or debris. Beginning with the 1947 Roswell incident in New Mexico, ufology claims have expanded through various witness accounts and testim…🧭 Topic overview · 12 min readCongress & law (topic)This topic overview covers congressional hearings, laws, and inquiries regarding unidentified anomalous phenomena from 1950 to 2022. During the Cold War, Congress primarily received closed briefings from the Air Force, but since 2017 it has driven official po…

🏛️ Official records

• House Oversight UAP hearing with Grusch, Graves and Fravor (2023)U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Accountability · July 26, 2023“Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena: Implications on National Security, Public Safety, and Government Transparency”, with former intelligence officer David Grusch and former Navy aviators Ryan Graves and David Fravor.

🛸 UFO sightings about David Grusch

Sightings that mention David Grusch

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More in the encyclopedia

Other articles that link to or mention David Grusch:

• Eric W. DavisEric W. Davis is an American astrophysicist who has worked on speculative propulsion physics, studies on teleportation, and as a consultant to Pentagon UFO programs. He is well-known in UFO circles f…
• Steven GreerSteven Macon Greer is an American ufologist and retired emergency-room physician who founded the Center for the Study of Extraterrestrial Intelligence in 1990 and the Disclosure Project in 1993. He i…
• Luis ElizondoLuis Elizondo is a former American Army counterintelligence officer and Defense Department official who became a prominent figure in the modern UFO debate after resigning in October 2017. He stated t…
• Eric Davis on recovered hardware (2019)This article is about astrophysicist Eric W. Davis and his claims that the U.S.
• Chuck SchumerCharles Schumer is an American politician who has served as a United States senator from New York since 1999 and has led the Senate Democratic Caucus. In 2023, he and Republican senator Mike Rounds i…
• Mike RoundsMike Rounds is an American businessman and Republican politician who has served as a United States senator from South Dakota since 2015, following two terms as the state's governor from 2003 to 2011.…
• Vallée on a contractor controlling the issue (2020)This article covers remarks made by UFO researcher Jacques Vallée on December 4, 2020, regarding the control of the UFO issue. According to a timeline submitted by Michael Shellenberger, Vallée state…
• Coulthart on contractor scientists (2022)In 2022, Australian journalist Ross Coulthart stated in an interview that government contractors conduct secret research related to unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) outside of normal oversight.…
• Elizondo on rogue programs (2021)In September 2021, Luis Elizondo stated on a podcast episode that any UFO programs besides AATIP likely operated as rogue programs without proper oversight. He also discussed his Pentagon background,…
• Contractor speculation dinner (2004)The contractor speculation dinner was a private gathering held in March 2004, recorded in the published journals of researcher Jacques Vallée. Vallée dined with Christopher Green, Hal Puthoff, Eric D…
• Eric Davis on an existing crash-retrieval programDuring a 2018 radio broadcast, physicist Eric Davis claimed that a secret government UFO crash-retrieval program still existed and that his Pentagon-funded study could have accessed it with proper le…
• Puthoff locates the hardware program (2007)On August 4, 2007, physicist Hal Puthoff told Jacques Vallée in a journal-recorded conversation that he believed private defense contractors controlled secret UFO hardware and could override governme…
• Homeland Security and BAASS (2011)KONA BLUE was a proposed Department of Homeland Security special access program established in July 2011 by individuals associated with the Pentagon's ended UFO study. The program aimed to investigat…
• Garry Nolan on crash materials and contractorsGarry P. J. Nolan is a Stanford University professor of pathology and immunology whose research includes studying alleged unidentified anomalous phenomena materials and individuals harmed near anomal…
• Crash retrievalCrash retrieval is the alleged recovery of crashed non-human craft and their occupants by the United States government or others, starting with the 1947 Roswell incident. Numerous unverified claims a…
• Gimbal and GoFast videosThe Gimbal and GoFast videos are two infrared recordings of unidentified objects made in early 2015 off the U.S. East Coast by U.
• Committees told more than the public (2022)In December 2022, journalist Christopher Sharp reported that congressional committees had received more detailed information about unidentified anomalous phenomena, including whistleblower testimony,…
• General Accounting OfficeThe General Accounting Office, renamed the Government Accountability Office in 2004, is the audit and investigation agency of the United States Congress that handles matters related to public funds a…

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