Key figures
The former intelligence officer whose 2023 crash-retrieval claims led to a House hearing. 13 events, newest first.
Select any year above to see what happened that year.
Open David Grusch as a timeline
Whistleblowers12 Jan 2024
Intelligence Community Inspector General Thomas Monheim gave a classified UAP briefing to a House Oversight subcommittee following David Grusch's 2023 testimony. Members came out divided: some said they learned little, while Rep. Jared Moskowitz said it showed progress on parts of Grusch's claims.
Photo: Office of the Director of National Intelligence, Public domain
Whistleblowers17 Nov 2023
The Sol Foundation, a UAP research and policy group led by Stanford's Garry Nolan, held an invitation-only two-day symposium at Stanford. Speakers included former NOAA official Tim Gallaudet and Army Col. Karl Nell, and David Grusch appeared remotely. Lecture videos were later posted.
Photo: King of Hearts, CC BY-SA 3.0
Media9 Aug 2023
Two weeks after his House testimony, The Intercept's Ken Klippenstein reported Virginia police records of 2014 and 2018 mental health incidents involving David Grusch and asked how he kept his clearance. A statement from Grusch cited PTSD; The Intercept said the records were public, not leaked.
Photo: U.S. House Subcommittee on National Security, the Border, and Foreign Affairs, Public domain
Government28 Jul 2023
Days after the July 2023 UAP hearing, Rep. Tim Burchett said efforts led by Rep. Anna Paulina Luna to question David Grusch in a secure facility were stalled by a claimed problem with Grusch's clearance, which he called ridiculous. Luna later said permission had been granted.
Photo: House Creative Services, Public domain
Whistleblowers26 Jul 2023
Former Air Force intelligence officer David Grusch testified under oath that he had been told of a decades-long program to recover craft of non-human origin, which he said he learned through interviews rather than firsthand access. The Pentagon and AARO have said they found no verifiable evidence of such programs.
Photo: U.S. House Subcommittee on National Security, the Border, and Foreign Affairs, Public domain
Government6 Jun 2023
Days after David Grusch's claims of a secret crash-retrieval program went public, Oversight Chairman James Comer said his committee planned a UAP hearing, with Reps. Anna Paulina Luna and Tim Burchett leading the inquiry. The Pentagon said it had found nothing verifiable to support Grusch.
Photo: US House of Representatives, Public domain
Media5 Jun 2023
Leslie Kean and Ralph Blumenthal reported in The Debrief that ex-intelligence officer David Grusch told Congress and the Intelligence Community Inspector General that the U.S. holds craft of non-human origin. His statements were cleared for release by the Pentagon's prepublication review office.
Photo: U.S. House Subcommittee on National Security, the Border, and Foreign Affairs, Public domain
MediaJun 2023
NewsNation aired Ross Coulthart's interview with former intelligence officer David Grusch, who alleged a secret U.S. program had recovered craft of non-human origin. The claims were unverified; Grusch repeated several under oath before a House panel in July 2023.
Photo: U.S. House Subcommittee on National Security, the Border, and Foreign Affairs (screenshot from..., Public domain
GovernmentJun 2023
After David Grusch alleged a hidden craft-retrieval program, Defense Department spokesperson Sue Gough told NewsNation that AARO had found no verifiable information that programs to hold or reverse-engineer extraterrestrial materials ever existed.
Photo: U.S. House Subcommittee on National Security, the Border, and Foreign Affairs, Public domain
Whistleblowers7 Apr 2023
Former intelligence officer David Grusch, who had represented the NRO and NGA on UAP task force work, left government service on April 7, 2023. About two months later The Debrief published his claims that the U.S. holds craft of non-human origin.
Photo: U.S. House Subcommittee on National Security, the Border, and Foreign Affairs, Public domain
WhistleblowersMay 2022
Former intelligence officer David Grusch filed an urgent-concern and reprisal complaint with the Intelligence Community Inspector General, alleging UAP information was withheld from Congress. He says the IG found it credible and urgent in July 2022; his underlying claims remain unverified.
Photo: ODNI, Public domain
MediaJul 2021
Australian investigative journalist Ross Coulthart's book 'In Plain Sight: An Investigation into UFOs and Impossible Science' came out from HarperCollins in Australia, with a U.S. edition that October. Reviewers were divided; Coulthart later conducted the 2023 Grusch interview.
Photo: Mosman Library, CC BY 2.0
Whistleblowers2019
In sworn 2023 testimony, former intelligence officer David Grusch said that as a National Reconnaissance Office reservist he was a member of the UAP Task Force from 2019 to 2021. He said this work was the basis for his later claims, which the Pentagon disputes.
Photo: U.S. House Subcommittee on National Security, the Border, and Foreign Affairs, Public domain
