A monumental UFO scandal is looming

The decades-long saga of unidentified flying objects (UFOs) is barreling headlong toward one of two stunning conclusions.

Either the U.S. government has mounted an extraordinary, decades-long coverup of UFO retrieval and reverse-engineering activities, or elements of the defense and intelligence establishment are engaging in a staggeringly brazen psychological disinformation campaign.

Either possibility would have profound implications for democracy, the role of government and perhaps also humanity’s place in the cosmos.

For these reasons, it is imperative that Congress and federal law enforcement agencies devote significant resources to investigating a series of remarkable UFO-related developments.

Importantly, a third explanation for recent events — that dozens of high-level, highly-cleared officials have come to believe enduring UFO myths, rumors and speculation as fact — appears increasingly unlikely.

In June, U.S. Air Force veteran and former intelligence official David Grusch alleged that elements of the U.S. government have secretly and illegally overseen a decades-long UFO retrieval and reverse-engineering effort. Two defense officials corroborated the broad contours of Grusch’s stunning claims.

Grusch has stated that he provided a wealth of highly classified evidence to the powerful internal investigative agencies overseeing the Department of Defense and the U.S intelligence community, but he has not presented any such evidence publicly.

However, the officials and lawmakers who have reviewed Grusch’s classified evidence are taking his extraordinary allegations seriously.

The inspector general of the intelligence community deemed Grusch’s allegations that UFO-related information was inappropriately concealed from Congress “credible and urgent.” Senate Intelligence Vice Chairman Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) confirmed the inspector general’s finding.

I. Charles McCullough, III, the intelligence community’s first inspector general and now an attorney in private practice, represents Grusch and sat directly behind him during a July 26 congressional hearing. It is extremely unlikely that such a high-profile lawyer and former top federal official would represent anyone making the kinds of extraordinary claims that Grusch is without robust evidence.

When asked during the July 26 congressional hearing whether he believes that the U.S. government possesses UFOs, Grusch stated, “Absolutely, based on interviewing over 40 witnesses over four years.”

Grusch continued, “I know the exact locations [of retrieved UFOs], and those locations were provided to the inspector general and…to the [congressional] intelligence committees.” Critically, Grusch stated, “I actually had the people with the first-hand knowledge provide a protected disclosure to the inspector general.”

It is unlikely that Grusch, speaking to Congress under oath, would perjure himself so brazenly over such specific, falsifiable facts, particularly with his high-profile attorney sitting directly behind him.

To that end, it is safe to assume that more than three dozen individuals did indeed tell Grusch of a decades-long UFO retrieval and reverse-engineering program, and that those with “first-hand knowledge” provided corroborating information to the intelligence community inspector general.

One theory for Grusch’s allegations is that the individuals he interviewed became convinced that decades-old myths and rumors of ultra-secret UFO retrieval and reverse-engineering programs are true. However, given the significant penalties for making false statements to an inspector general, it is extremely unlikely that multiple high-level, highly-cleared officials would falsely claim to have first-hand knowledge of myths and rumors.

Rubio and Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.), a member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, have stated that multiple individuals with first-hand knowledge of Grusch’s allegations have spoken to Congress.

Rubio put it succinctly: “Either what [Grusch] is saying is partially true or entirely true, or we have some really smart, educated people with high clearances and very important positions in our government who are crazy and are leading us on a goose chase.”

“Most of these people,” Rubio continued, “have held very high clearances and high positions within our government. So, you ask yourself: ‘What incentive would so many people with that kind of qualification — these are serious people — have to come forward and make something up?’”

This leaves two extraordinary possibilities — that Grusch is correct and elements within and outside of the U.S. government oversee a decades-old UFO retrieval and reverse-engineering effort – a profound, paradigm-shifting development — or, to quote Grusch, “multiple esteemed and credentialed current and former” government officials “with a long-standing track record of legitimacy and service to this country” are engaging in a brazen disinformation campaign.

For their part, key lawmakers are taking Grusch’s allegations extremely seriously.

On July 13, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) introduced a measure that asserts eminent domain over “any and all recovered technologies of unknown origin…that may be controlled by private persons or entities.” It also defines and contains two dozen references to “non-human intelligence,” a term used frequently by Grusch to denote the uncertain origin of highly advanced technology allegedly retrieved. Such efforts are referred to as a “legacy program” in Schumer’s legislation.

In an in-depth NewsNation interview, Grusch also alleged that non-human remains have been recovered from UFOs. Schumer’s legislation requires that any “biological evidence of non-human intelligence” held by private companies be turned over to the federal government “in the interests of the public good.”

On June 22, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), along with Rubio and two other Republican senators, introduced legislation that would immediately halt funding for precisely the types of illegal, unreported programs described by Grusch.

The bill also instructs individuals with knowledge of such UFO-related activities to disclose all relevant information. It grants legal immunity if the information is reported appropriately within a defined timeframe.

Meanwhile, Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) and Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.), who spearheaded the 26 July congressional hearing featuring Grusch and two former naval aviators, are leading a bipartisan effort to establish a select committee to investigate Grusch’s allegations.

As Rubio stated, if Grusch is correct, “there’s a group of people who believe that they possess something that they don't need to share with anybody, including elected officials, who they view as temporary employees of the government.”

Rubio likened such a dynamic to “an internal military complex that’s their own government and is accountable to no one” which, ultimately, “would be a huge problem, if it’s even partially true.”

Although such revelations would shake public trust in government to its core, that trust might be rebuilt upon the paradigm-shifting knowledge that humanity is not alone in the cosmos.

Marik von Rennenkampff served as an analyst with the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of International Security and non-proliferation, as well as an Obama administration appointee at the U.S. Department of Defense.