2023-07-29 04:22:35
WASHINGTON (AP) — A top Pentagon official who lashed out at a widely watched hearing on UFOs this week in Congress, described the claims made as “an insult” to staff investigating the sightings and accused a key witness. not to cooperate with the federal government’s inquiry.
In a letter posted on his personal LinkedIn page and shared on social media Friday, Dr. Sean Kirkpatrick censored much of the testimony of a retired Air Force intelligence officer who made headlines around the world and had encouraged who believe in extraterrestrial life.
Retired Air Force Major David Grusch testified Wednesday that the United States has concealed what he says is a “multi-decade” program to collect and reverse engineer unidentified aerial phenomena (UAPs), the official term for with which the US government has replaced that of UFOs.
Some of what the United States has recovered, Grusch testified, are non-human “biologicals” that he has not seen and learned regarding from “individuals with direct knowledge of the program.”
Kirkpatrick, a career intelligence officer, was appointed a year ago head of the All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO), which belongs to the Pentagon, and which has the purpose of centralizing investigations into fanis. . Pentagon and US intelligence agencies had faced demands from Congress in recent years to improve investigations of reports of objects flying at unusual speeds or trajectories in the interest of national security.
Kirkpatrick wrote the letter on Thursday and the Defense Department confirmed Friday that he published it in his personal capacity. Kirkpatrick did not respond to AP messages seeking comment on the matter.
He writes in part that “I cannot let yesterday’s hearing go by without sharing how insulting it was to the Department of Defense and Intelligence Community officials who decided to join AARO, many with far from unreasonable fears regarding the dangers they would face. this might carry over to their careers.”
“They are truth seekers, just like me,” Kirkpatrick said. “But you certainly did not register that impression at yesterday’s hearing.”
In a separate statement, Pentagon spokeswoman Sue Gough rejected other assertions by Grusch and other witnesses before a House Oversight subcommittee.
The Pentagon “has no information that any person was injured or killed as a result of providing information” regarding UFOs, Gough said. The Pentagon has also failed to discover “any verifiable information to substantiate claims that programs related to the possession or reverse engineering of extraterrestrial materials have existed in the past or currently exist.”
Kirkpatrick wrote: “AARO has yet to find any credible evidence to support claims regarding a program to reverse engineer non-human technology.”
In December, he told reporters that the Pentagon was investigating “several hundred” new reports following pilots and other personnel were required to come forward if they had any sightings.
Kirkpatrick wrote in his letter that the allegations related to “retaliation, which would include physical assaults and insinuations of homicide, are extraordinarily serious, which explains why law enforcement agencies are crucial members of the AARO team, specifically in addressing and taking immediate action in the event that someone would make such accusations.”
“However, contrary to assertions made during the hearing, the central source of those allegations has refused to speak to AARO,” Kirkpatrick said. He did not explicitly mention by name Grusch, who said he allegedly faced retaliation and declined to answer when asked by a representative if anyone was killed to hide information regarding UFOs.
Messages left at a phone number and an email address belonging to Grusch remained unanswered Friday.
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