Person

David Grusch

Former intelligence officer (USAF, NRO, NGA); UAP whistleblower

2019– · Protagonists · Witness

Former U.S. Air Force intelligence officer with the rank of major, he worked at the NRO from 2016 to 2021 (from 2019, according to The Debrief, as the NRO representative in the UAP work that later merged into the task force established in August 2020) and then at the NGA until he left the government on April 7, 2023. In 2022 he filed with the Intelligence Community Inspector General (ICIG) a complaint for “urgent concern” and retaliation, judged credible and urgent at the admission stage, according to Grusch and The Debrief. He became known through The Debrief article of June 5, 2023 and his sworn testimony before the House on July 26, 2023. From March 27, 2025 to September 2026 he was special adviser to Rep. Eric Burlison.

Key claims

• Under oath (2023) he said that he had been informed, in the course of his official duties, of a decades-long program of retrieval and reverse engineering of non-human craft to which he was denied access.
• Claimed that non-human “biologics” were found with some retrievals, specifying under oath that he had not seen bodies in person.
• Maintains that the programs were hidden from Congress and funded with diverted funds; in 2026, according to a summary of his press conference, he spoke of slush funds for the legacy programs.
• In September 2026, as a guest of Joe Rogan, he said he had seen footage of three or four dead non-human beings and described several “species,” without presenting evidence.

Controversies

• In August 2023 The Intercept published police reports from 2014 and 2018 on personal difficulties of his, which Grusch acknowledged by speaking of post-traumatic stress disorder; according to unofficial accounts, his $2.5 million lawsuit against the Loudoun County sheriff's office was dismissed in August 2025.
• AARO and Kirkpatrick claim that he refused several invitations to speak with the office; Grusch replies that official contact came only in November 2023 and that AARO has no access to what he provided to the ICIG and Congress.
• His claims have grown over time, from saying he had seen no bodies (2023) to footage of corpses, reptilians, and black funds (2026), without new public evidence.
• His account of the Magenta retrieval (1933) with a role for Pius XII finds no corroboration in the documents released by Roberto Pinotti, which do not mention the Vatican.

Today

He left Burlison's staff in September 2026 after about 18 months. On September 30, 2026 he was a guest on The Joe Rogan Experience (episode 2560) with his most wide-ranging claims. He has a FOIA lawsuit pending against the Department of Defense, stayed in April 2026 with a subsequent outcome not known; according to an industry blog, in October 2026 he joined the public appeals to Trump for immunity for witnesses.

Documented authority

It measures how documented and verifiable what the person claims is, not their honesty. Each criterion is scored from 0 to 2.

Credentials 1/2

Roles consistent across all venues (sworn testimony, biography filed with the House) and never disputed by the DoD, but not confirmed by agency documents.

Direct access 1/2

By his own admission the central claims (craft, bodies) were relayed to him by more than 40 witnesses, while the few direct pieces of knowledge he declares (images reviewed, footage) are not documented.

Evidence provided 0/2

He has not made public any supporting documents, images or materials: the evidence he points to remains classified or entrusted to confidential channels.

Claims track record 1/2

The verifiable procedural facts (DOPSR clearance, complaint to the ICIG, FOIA lawsuit) are confirmed, but the claims have grown over time without new public evidence.

Conflicts of interest 1/2

Public role as adviser to Rep. Burlison on the UAP topic (2025–2026), compensation unknown; no books, films or fees tied to his claims are on record.

Sources

1. Transcript of the House hearing of July 26, 2023 (GovInfo) (primary source)
2. Press release from Eric Burlison: Grusch special adviser (March 27, 2025) (primary source)
3. The Black Vault, April 18, 2024: FOIA documents on AARO's attempts to hear from Grusch (primary source)
4. The Debrief (Kean and Blumenthal), June 5, 2023 (press, pro-disclosure)
5. The Intercept, August 9, 2023 (press)
6. The Joe Rogan Experience No. 2560 with David Grusch (September 30, 2026, Apple Podcasts) (video/audio)

On this site

Claims 82

• David Grusch: Claims that the United States holds material of non-human origin, including intact and partially intact craft. Disputed
• David Grusch: Maintains that the origin of these objects is “exotic,” that is, attributable to non-human intelligence… Disputed
• David Grusch: Claims that for decades a “Cold War” unknown to the public has been underway to recover and exploit… Unverifiable
• David Grusch: Claims that elements of the intelligence community concealed information about UAPs in order to deliberately… Unverifiable
• David Grusch: Says he was approached, in his official role, by people working on these programs, and maintains that… Unverifiable
• David Grusch: Claims to have confidentially provided the Pentagon's Inspector General, in July 2021, with classified UAP… Unverifiable
• David Grusch: Claims that in May 2022, through attorney Charles McCullough III (first Intelligence Community Inspector… Partly verified
• David Grusch: Claims that his public statements were cleared for publication by the Pentagon's Defense Office of… Verified
• David Grusch: Speculates that UFOs may come from “extra dimensions,” that is, from a multidimensional physical space that… Hypothesis or opinion
• David Grusch: Says he was informed of the existence of craft as large as a football field. Unverifiable
• David Grusch: Claims that some crashed UFOs were entrusted to a defense contractor. Disputed
• David Grusch: Maintains that not all non-human intelligences are benevolent: speaks of “malevolent activities” and states… Unverifiable
• David Grusch: Claims that the oldest case he was informed of is a craft recovered in Italy in 1933 by Mussolini's… Unverifiable
• David Grusch: Claims that Pope Pius XII informed the United States through confidential channels of the existence of the… Unverifiable
• David Grusch: Asked whether the Catholic Church and the Vatican know of the existence of non-human intelligences on the… Unverifiable
• David Grusch: Claims that in some retrievals the remains of “dead pilots” were found, as trusted colleagues told him and… Unverifiable
• David Grusch: Claims that some craft crashed and others landed, specifies that he has not seen one in person and says his… Unverifiable
• David Grusch: Claims that the recovered material shows exotic engineering, with specific isotopic ratios and heavy elements. Unverifiable
• David Grusch: Claims that the “weather balloon” explanation given for Roswell in 1947 was disinformation and that secrecy… Disputed
• David Grusch: Speculates that the shutdown of the missiles at Malmstrom base in 1967 may reflect behavior by non-human… Disputed
• David Grusch: Claims to have “substantive evidence” that white-collar crimes were used to hide the programs and that some… Unverifiable
• David Grusch: Maintains that for decades a disinformation campaign has been underway to reduce public interest in the… Unverifiable
• David Grusch: Presents himself as an intelligence officer for 14 years, in the Air Force with the rank of major and then… Partly verified
• David Grusch: Claims to have helped, together with the director, draft the 2019 security classification guide of the UAP… Unverifiable
• David Grusch: Claims that he was informed, in the course of his official duties, of a decades-long program to retrieve… Disputed
• David Grusch: Asked whether the government possesses UAPs, he answers “absolutely,” based on interviews with more than 40… Disputed
• David Grusch: Claims to know the exact locations where the material is said to be held and to have communicated them to… Partly verified
• David Grusch: Claims that in some retrievals non-human biological remains (“biologics”) were found, according to the… Disputed
• David Grusch: Asked by Rep. Eric Burlison whether he has seen any bodies, he answers that it is something he has not… Verified
• David Grusch: Asked whether he personally saw a craft, he answers that he must be careful in describing in that setting… Unverifiable
• David Grusch: Asked whether the government has had contact with non-human intelligences, he answers that it is a subject… Unverifiable
• David Grusch: Asked whether he knows of people who were harmed, he answers “yes, personally”; on the possibility that… Unverifiable
• David Grusch: Claims that several of his colleagues were physically injured, both by UAPs and by people, and that what he… Unverifiable
• David Grusch: Describes the retaliation he suffered as “very brutal” and as “administrative terrorism,” attributing… Unverifiable
• David Grusch: Claims that the programs are funded through misappropriation of funds and self-funding, including… Unverifiable
• David Grusch: Claims to have given the intelligence committees the names of companies and divisions involved, in about 11… Unverifiable
• David Grusch: Claims that the programs are controlled by a group of senior career executives, inside and outside the… Unverifiable
• David Grusch: Claims to know the names of the SAPs involved, the way they evaded oversight, when they began and who… Unverifiable
• David Grusch: Claims to have personally examined satellite imagery (“overhead collection”) showing cases he could not… Unverifiable
• David Grusch: Claims to have been cleared for most of the Defense Department's compartmented space and aerospace programs… Unverifiable
• David Grusch: Says he prefers the term “non-human” so as not to indicate an origin and traces the matter back to the 1930s. Unverifiable
• David Grusch: Speculates that the craft may be “projected” from a multidimensional space into ours, specifying that on… Hypothesis or opinion
• David Grusch: Rules out, as far as he knows, that the craft are U.S. products, observing that the retrievals predate many… Disputed
• David Grusch: Calls inaccurate the statement by AARO director Sean Kirkpatrick that there is no credible evidence, reports… Disputed
• David Grusch: Claims that nothing is classified above top secret, since the classification levels are those established by… Verified
• David Grusch: Criticizes a “lazy” attitude toward declassifying UAP videos and maintains that Americans have a right to… Hypothesis or opinion
• David Grusch: Replying to an article in The Intercept (August 9, 2023) that, based on police documents concerning him… Partly verified
• David Grusch: Calls the scaling back of the UAP Disclosure Act in the 2024 defense law (NDAA) the worst legislative… Hypothesis or opinion
• David Grusch: Claims that AARO contacted him officially only in November 2023, that his email of January 8, 2024 with… Disputed
• David Grusch: In a $2.5 million lawsuit, he argues that the release, by the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office, of 2018… Disputed
• David Grusch: In the press release announcing him as Special Advisor to Rep. Eric Burlison for UAP transparency and for… Hypothesis or opinion
• David Grusch: Claims that after his statements of June 2023 the Department of the Air Force filed a report against him for… Partly verified
• David Grusch: Claims to have sued the government under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) in the U.S. District Court… Verified
• David Grusch: Claims that, after his testimony to the Senate in late 2022, some of the physical materials held were moved. Unverifiable
• David Grusch: Hypothesizes that the slowness of disclosure serves to map the materials held in order to spare the… Unverifiable
• David Grusch: Claims that the CIA refused across the board to answer the written questions of the House Oversight… Unverifiable
• David Grusch: Claims that security clearance revocations have hit his former chief of staff at the NGA and his former… Unverifiable
• David Grusch: Claims that some officials who helped him reported “anomalous health incidents,” similar to the so-called… Unverifiable
• David Grusch: Argues that some of the UAP material could fall under the “Restricted Data” provided for by the Atomic… Unverifiable
• David Grusch: Argues that calling non-human intelligences “demonic” is theologically premature and very dangerous language. Hypothesis or opinion
• David Grusch: Claims that the government is aware of “several dozen” cases involving what he describes as non-human… Unverifiable
• David Grusch: Claims to have found, in the course of his investigation, “slush funds” amounting to billions of dollars a… Unverifiable
• David Grusch: Claims that there is a “continuum” of life forms, from corporeal, bipedal ones to what he regards as… Unverifiable
• David Grusch: Claims that audio, video and image recordings of retrievals and of biological material exist and have never… Unverifiable
• David Grusch: Calls for releasing from nondisclosure agreements (NDAs) those who have information on UAP and for granting… Hypothesis or opinion
• David Grusch: Argues that for decades U.S. authorities deliberately discredited the phenomenon: he cites a 1971 Australian… Partly verified
• David Grusch: Claims to have seen classified footage of a retrieval operation showing three or four corpses of non-human… Unverifiable
• David Grusch: Describes several non-human species: “Nordics” or “Tall Whites,” very beautiful; Grays, the tallest holding… Unverifiable
• David Grusch: Talks about wars between non-human intelligences: dead Grays found next to a destroyed Reptilian craft and… Unverifiable
• David Grusch: Reports accounts from colleagues according to which reptilians who survived a crash, over two meters tall… Unverifiable
• David Grusch: Lists the shapes of the craft (Tic Tacs, eggs, discs, boot heels, sunfish, boomerangs, crescents) and… Unverifiable
• David Grusch: Reports that some officials allegedly felt a telepathic contact or a sense of peace near the entities, that… Hypothesis or opinion
• David Grusch: Argues that the reverse engineering of recovered craft contributed to the development of frequency-selective… Unverifiable
• David Grusch: Claims that the recovered corpses were preserved and that their DNA was compared with the human genome, with… Unverifiable
• David Grusch: Talks about large undersea installations, “multiple city blocks” wide according to a list published on… Unverifiable
• David Grusch: Claims that Trump is the first president to have openly ordered the release of all government information on… Partly verified
• David Grusch: Claims to have learned, during a closed-door meeting with the Senate Intelligence Committee, that some… Unverifiable
• David Grusch: Claims to have received threats, together with his wife, in early 2022 and to have noticed suspicious… Unverifiable
• David Grusch: Argues that corrupt officials used human trafficking, including of minors, and possibly drug smuggling to… Unverifiable
• David Grusch: Reports that, according to Rep. Tim Burchett, Stephen Miller was “physically blocked” from accessing key… Unverifiable
• David Grusch: Proposes ancient-world readings of the phenomenon: Ezekiel's vision as a possible description of a craft… Hypothesis or opinion
• David Grusch: Describes the Magenta craft as a lenticular disc whose rim allegedly broke off, leaving a bell or acorn shape. Unverifiable

Promises 5

• David Grusch: To Rep. Ocasio-Cortez, who asked where to look for corroboration, Grusch replied that he would give precise… Not kept
• David Grusch: Grusch said he was confident that his actions would lead to greater transparency. Unverifiable
• David Grusch: Grusch said he expected an escalation of the matter over the following 60–90 days, also referring to… Unverifiable
• David Grusch: Grusch pointed to class-action or racketeering (RICO) lawsuits as an alternative route, if disclosure did… Deadline still open
• David Grusch: Grusch predicted that before the end of Trump's term everything will come out (craft, biologics, reverse… Deadline still open

Inconsistencies 14

• David Grusch: Bodies: “not seen” under oath, then footage of three or four corpses
• David Grusch: Contacts with AARO: the AARO memo and Grusch's version
• David Grusch: Magenta 1933: the Vatican absent from Pinotti's documents
• David Grusch: “Credible and urgent”: what the ICIG's assessment means
• David Grusch: The Air Force report: the DoD letter and Grusch's account
• David Grusch: Origin of NHI: from refusing to state it to a taxonomy of species
• David Grusch: Biological remains: from some retrievals to several dozen cases
• David Grusch: NHI violence: from generic harm to a clash with casualties
• David Grusch: Retaliation: from “administrative terrorism” to a plan to kill him
• David Grusch: Funding: from not knowing the figures to billions a year
• David Grusch: Locations: says he knows the exact locations, then says the material was moved
• David Grusch: Craft: has he not seen one, or can he say it only behind closed doors?
• David Grusch: Magenta: the “bell” detail absent from the original documents
• David Grusch: Confidential contacts and details: not in public in 2023, recounted in 2026

Official positions 13

• Pentagon (Department of Defense) (2023): The Pentagon stated that AARO had not discovered, up to that point, verifiable…
• House of Representatives – chairman of the Intelligence Committee (personal statement) (2023): The chairman of the House Intelligence Committee stated that he had no evidence for what…
• NASA (2023): Asked about Grusch's claims, NASA stated that it had found no credible evidence of…
• AARO – director (personal statement) (2023): The day after the hearing, Kirkpatrick wrote that the hearing had been offensive to AARO…
• Pentagon (Department of Defense) (2023): The Pentagon stated that it had no information about people injured or killed for…
• Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (2023): The highest-ranking officer of the U.S. armed forces said he had never encountered…
• Department of Defense (letter to Rep. Tim Burchett) (2023): Responding to Burchett, the DoD wrote that no one in the Air Force had filed a complaint…
• AARO (Department of Defense) (2024): In a memorandum for the record, AARO concluded that Grusch did not intend to provide the…
• Intelligence Community Inspector General (ICIG) (2024): After the roughly 90-minute classified briefing to the Oversight Committee on Grusch's…
• Former AARO director (personal opinion) (2024): After leaving his post, Kirkpatrick wrote that the retrieval narrative is a textbook…
• AARO (Department of Defense) (2024): The first volume of the historical report concludes that no government investigation has…
• Vatican Apostolic Archive (2024): Asked about Grusch's thesis that Pius XII allegedly passed information about the Magenta…
• AARO (Department of War) (2026): The consolidated FY2025 report attributes every resolved case to ordinary causes, again…

Documents 18

• The report of the Robertson Panel convened by the CIA (January 1953) Original available
• The 1971 note by Australian defense intelligence on U.S. handling of UFOs Original available
• The Air Force's 1995 report on Roswell (Project Mogul) Original available
• CIA's Role in the Study of UFOs, 1947–90 (Gerald Haines, 1997), with the 1953 Robertson Panel Original available
• The Joint Staff's procedures for reporting UAP and handing material over to AARO (May 19, 2023) Original available
• Grusch's written statement for the July 26, 2023 hearing Original available
• The biography filed by Grusch for the 2023 hearing Original available
• The transcript of the July 26, 2023 House hearing with Grusch, Graves and Fravor Original available
• The DoD's letter to Rep. Burchett: no Air Force complaint against Grusch Original available
• AARO's rules for receiving information covered by nondisclosure agreements, including the contacts with Grusch in November 2023 Documented provenance
• The AARO memorandum on the attempts to hear from Grusch Original available
• AARO's Historical Record Report, vol. 1 (March 2024) Original available
• The declassified documents on Kona Blue, the program proposed to DHS and never approved Original available
• The transcript of the September 9, 2025 hearing of the declassification task force Original available
• The Navy confirms its refusal to release 78 photographs classified as UAP (February 24, 2026) Documented provenance
• Grusch's FOIA lawsuit against the Department of Defense (court docket) Original available
• AARO's Consolidated Annual Report on UAP for Fiscal Year 2025 Original available
• The ODNI guidance that releases from nondisclosure agreements those who speak with AARO or PURSUE Documented provenance

Cases 1

• Magenta 1933: the alleged retrieval of a disc, known only from anonymous papers Disputed explanation

Where the claims come from 6

• The United States holds intact or partially intact craft of non-human origin, the product of a retrieval…
• Non-human biological remains, that is, bodies or “biologics,” were recovered together with the craft.
• In 1933 a non-human craft crashed near Magenta and was studied by Mussolini's “Gabinetto RS/33”; Pius XII…
• The United States has been engaged for decades in a secret “cold war” with rival powers, in particular…
• Those involved in the programs or who speak about them have suffered threats, retaliation, violence and even…
• The reverse engineering of recovered craft has contributed to the development of U.S. aerospace and military…

Timeline 37

• 1933: Magenta 1933: the alleged retrieval of a disc, known only from anonymous papers
• Apr 1945: Unverified account: U.S. troops allegedly took the Magenta craft at Vergiate
• May 1989: Bob Lazar says he worked on alien discs at the S-4 site, near Area 51
• Aug 14, 2020: The Pentagon establishes the UAP Task Force
• Jul 2021: Grusch hands over classified information to the DoD Inspector General
• May 2022: Grusch files with the ICIG a complaint of “urgent concern” and retaliation
• Jul 2022: According to Grusch, the ICIG deems the complaint “credible and urgent”
• Jul 20, 2022: The Pentagon creates AARO, the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office
• Apr 4, 2023: The DOPSR authorizes Grusch's statements, and on April 7 he leaves the government
• Jun 5, 2023: The Debrief publishes Grusch's allegations: non-human craft in U.S. hands
• Jun 7, 2023: To Le Parisien Grusch speaks of extra dimensions and of craft passed to contractors
• Jun 2023: Grusch's first television interview, with Ross Coulthart on NewsNation
• Jul 26, 2023: House hearing: Grusch speaks under oath of “non-human biologics”
• Jul 27, 2023: Kirkpatrick: the central source of the allegations refused to speak with AARO
• Aug 9, 2023: The Intercept publishes police reports on Grusch from 2014 and 2018
• Sep 27, 2023: Public reports at least 30 other whistleblowers backing Grusch
• Dec 6, 2023: The 2024 Defense budget guts the UAP Disclosure Act: the NARA archive remains
• Jan 12, 2024: The Intelligence Community Inspector General briefs the House behind closed doors on Grusch
• Mar 8, 2024: AARO publishes the historical report (vol. 1): no evidence of alien technology
• Apr 18, 2024: FOIA documents: AARO tried several times to hear from Grusch
• Jun 2024: The Vatican Apostolic Archive: no known source for Grusch's claim about Pius XII
• Jul 2024: Grusch sues the Loudoun sheriff over the release of the reports
• Mar 9, 2025: “The Age of Disclosure,” narrated by Elizondo, debuts at the SXSW festival
• Mar 27, 2025: Grusch becomes special adviser to Rep. Eric Burlison
• Apr 29, 2025: The closed-door briefing with Grusch, Elizondo and Mellon is postponed
• May 2025: The three invitees do not appear at the May briefing and the promised hearing falls through
• Aug 2025: Gabbard on UFOs: she has her opinions but must be careful about what to share
• Sep 9, 2025: Hearing of Luna's task force on UAP transparency and whistleblower protection
• Mar 2, 2026: Grusch sues the Department of Defense to obtain documents (FOIA)
• May 5, 2026: Grusch on Judicial Watch: a complaint against him and “moved” materials
• May 18, 2026: A DoD letter is published: no Air Force complaint against Grusch
• May 2026: The “Disclosure Forum 2026” in Congress with Gillibrand, Burlison and Burchett
• Jun 9, 2026: Grusch's press conference at the Capitol: “slush funds” and biological material
• Jun 15, 2026: NewsNation: a Vatican source finds no trace of the Magenta case in the archives
• Sep 2026: Grusch leaves Rep. Burlison's office after about 18 months
• Sep 30, 2026: Grusch on Joe Rogan: footage of bodies, reptilian beings and armed clashes
• Oct 2026: Grusch joins public appeals to Trump for immunity for witnesses

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