Claim · G-003
David Grusch: Claims that for decades a “Cold War” unknown to the public has been underway to recover and exploit non-human physical material, in competition with rival powers to locate UAP crashes and landings, and that Russia and China have their own retrieval programs.
David Grusch · Jun 5, 2023 · The Debrief, article by Leslie Kean and Ralph Blumenthal (statements cleared by DOPSR) (Article)
Hearsay Legacy program and recoveries
Unverifiable
There is no public evidence either for or against beyond testimonies, and the part about Russia and China appears in the June 2023 NewsNation interview, known from a press summary.
- In support
- Karl Nell describes the idea of an arms race as fundamentally correct; according to The Debrief (June 5, 2023), “Jonathan Grey,” an identity used within the agency by an officer presented as a NASIC UAP analyst, states that retrievals are not limited to the United States; Jay Stratton, first director of the UAP task force and executive producer of The Age of Disclosure (who also published the book “Out of the Shadows” in October 2026), told Fox News (October 2026) that China and Russia are working on reverse engineering of non-human craft. None of these claims is accompanied by evidence.
- Against or denials
- The AARO Historical Report vol. 1 (2024) found no evidence of such programs; the finding concerns what AARO was able to examine. NASIC, through spokesperson Michelle Martz (Dayton Daily News, June 12, 2023), said it had no record of an employee named "Jonathan Grey", cited in the pro; Blumenthal (The Debrief) replied that he had confirmed that a person with that identity works there. Neither position is documented.
Sources
- AARO, Report on the Historical Record of U.S. Government Involvement with UAP, vol. 1 (March 8, 2024), copy on The Black Vault (primary source)
- Higgypop, summary of Grusch's claims in the NewsNation interview (published in 2025) (press)
- The Debrief, “Intelligence Officials Say U.S. Has Retrieved Non-Human Craft” (Kean and Blumenthal, June 5, 2023) (press, pro-disclosure)
- Sentinel News, Jay Stratton on Fox News about craft of non-human origin (October 13, 2026) (press, pro-disclosure)
- Skeptic (Michael Shermer), review of “The Age of Disclosure” (November 23, 2025), with the caption on the executive producers (analysis, skeptical)
On this site
People 1
Claims 2
- David Grusch: Claims that the United States holds material of non-human origin, including intact and partially intact craft. Disputed
- David Grusch: Claims that some crashed UFOs were entrusted to a defense contractor. Disputed
Where the claims come from 1
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UAPgrade's entries are compiled with artificial intelligence (three verifiers with opposing roles) and checked against the sources listed above: how we work. Have a document that changes this entry? Bring it to the Investigations Unit.