Is It Time To Take Aliens Seriously?

Multiple high ranking intelligence officials have confirmed the existence of more than 12 alien space craft on earth. Their claims are extraordinary, but are they true?

Photo by Albert Antony on Unsplash

by Ben Cohen

I am not a UFO guy. I am fairly certain alien life exists given the infinite nature of the universe, but I don’t spend a lot of time thinking about it. I enjoy some sci-fi movies and literature, but it isn’t my preferred genre. Given the generally thin physical evidence for the existence of visiting UFOs, my instinct is to tune out when I hear about new sightings or stories of abduction.

It’s not that I discount these stories — bizarrely, I have my own home video footage of bizarre lights in the sky I saw in London in 1997. I don’t know what to make of the video I shot, but in the absence of the crafts landing in my back garden and a meet and greet with small green beings, my guess would be that there was a perfectly rational explanation.

Image of the rotating lights I saw in my back garden in Clapham, London in 1997.

Evidence please

If aliens and their aircrafts exist, I want to see them with my own eyes — or at least have verified, non-manipulated footage from a credible media organization. I do believe the New York Times released military footage of UFOs (or UAPs — Unidentified Arial Phenomena) constitutes real evidence of something, but the footage is inconclusive and impossible to verify. Extraordinary claims as they say, require extraordinary evidence.

If I was forced to bet on whether aliens have been visiting earth and abducting humans, it would probably be a “no”.

That was until the last couple of weeks when a story broke that genuinely shocked me, and I had a chance encounter with a neighbor who works as an astrobiologist studying extraterrestrial life

It’s OK to ask questions

UFO sightings are now so common now that the U.S. government is significantly expanding their investigation into the subject. NASA even formed a panel last year to, as NBC News reported, gather “more high-quality data to properly investigate unusual sightings”. After years of stigma attached to those who have spoken out about their UFO sightings — pilots and Navy officers in particular — this is undoubtedly a good thing. There is no scientific reason not to entertain the possibility of aliens visiting earth, and given the regularity of UFO sightings, it seems sensible to at least study it properly. Science, after all, is about open, non-biased inquiry.

What would this open inquiry look like?

Firstly, it would mean taking eye witness accounts seriously and following up on their claims. Harvard psychiatrist John Edward Mack for example, did just that in the early 90’s by conducting a decade long study of 200 men and women who had reported alien encounter experiences. Mack initially believed his subjects would exhibit signs of mental illness and their abduction stories could be dismissed as hallucinatory experiences. This turned out not to be the case, and Mack developed an interesting, if esoteric thesis on spirituality and an expanded understanding of reality. Mack’s view was that their experiences were real, but could only be understood outside of the Western materialist view of reality.

Mack of course was limited in his ability to verify the testimony of his patients given none of them had ongoing access to the aliens or their spacecraft in physical reality.

A new, utterly shocking case

But what about ex-military and government scientists with high level security clearances who have claimed they have seen captured UFOs and even worked on them? My reaction to these claims over the years has been to broadly dismiss them. I found Bob Lazar’s fantastical story of working on radically advance alien spacecraft in Area 51 in the 1980’s to be interesting, but given no one else verified his claims and there is considerable doubt about his scientific background, impossible to know whether to take it seriously. Lazar had no photos, no documents, and no physical evidence

However, earlier this month, a well respected intelligence officer turned whistleblower named David Grusch gave Congress and the Intelligence Community Inspector General what The Debrief labeled “extensive classified information about deeply covert programs that he says possess retrieved intact and partially intact craft of non-human origin.” The story continues:

The information, he [Grusch] says, has been illegally withheld from Congress, and he filed a complaint alleging that he suffered illegal retaliation for his confidential disclosures, reported here for the first time.

Other intelligence officials, both active and retired, with knowledge of these programs through their work in various agencies, have independently provided similar, corroborating information, both on and off the record.

The whistleblower, David Charles Grusch, 36, a decorated former combat officer in Afghanistan, is a veteran of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) and the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO). He served as the reconnaissance office’s representative to the Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force from 2019-2021. From late 2021 to July 2022, he was the NGA’s co-lead for UAP analysis and its representative to the task force.

When the story broke, I assumed it was a hoax. When it became clear it wasn’t, I looked for more information on Grusch to see whether he had any ulterior motives, or financial interest in making up a UFO story. It turns out Grusch’s reputation is impeccable — his superiors routinely praised him for his ethical conduct, and he hasn’t taken any money for his story. The fact that reputable journalists have now reported that Grusch’s story has been corroborated by multiple high level sources is another indicator that we should be taking this very seriously.

The details of Grusch’s revelation are mind boggling. The Debrief story continues:

Grusch said the recoveries of partial fragments through and up to intact vehicles have been made for decades through the present day by the government, its allies, and defense contractors. Analysis has determined that the objects retrieved are “of exotic origin (non-human intelligence, whether extraterrestrial or unknown origin) based on the vehicle morphologies and material science testing and the possession of unique atomic arrangements and radiological signatures,” he said.

In filing his complaint, Grusch is represented by a lawyer who served as the original Intelligence Community Inspector General (ICIG).

“We are not talking about prosaic origins or identities,” Grusch said, referencing information he provided Congress and the current ICIG. “The material includes intact and partially intact vehicles.”

In accordance with protocols, Grusch provided the Defense Office of Prepublication and Security Review at the Department of Defense with the information he intended to disclose to us. His on-the-record statements were all “cleared for open publication” on April 4 and 6, 2023, in documents provided to us.

Grusch was also not the only high ranking intelligence official willing to go public:

Jonathan Grey is a generational officer of the United States Intelligence Community with a Top-Secret Clearance who currently works for the National Air and Space Intelligence Center (NASIC), where the analysis of UAP has been his focus. Previously he had experience serving Private Aerospace and Department of Defense Special Directive Task Forces.

“The non-human intelligence phenomenon is real. We are not alone,” Grey said. “Retrievals of this kind are not limited to the United States. This is a global phenomenon, and yet a global solution continues to elude us.”

Grusch hasn’t seen the aircraft himself, or the alien body one source told him existed. We don’t have photos or official government documents either (they are, as Grusch told reporters, highly classified). However, the story passes several sniff tests: Grusch is a reputable source. He has spoken to reputable journalists and media outlets. His story has been verified by others in the intelligence community — both on and off the record.

Grusch’s testimony appears to have shaken several politicians too, with several high ranking politicians pledging to investigate his accusations. Reported Wired:

While Grusch’s claims of alien life and recovered craft have made headlines, senators are alarmed by accusations that the federal government is hiding Special Access Programs from Congress.

“We need to just look into whether there are rogue SAP programs that no one is providing oversight for,” says Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, a New York Democrat who led the Senate’s April UAP hearing. “The goal for me will be to have a hearing on that at some point so that we can assess if these SAP’s actually exist.”

Gillibrand is sponsoring an amendment she hopes to attach to this year’s must-pass National Defense Authorization Act to mandate that no money can be spent on SAP’s unless it's been reported to Congress. “So if there are SAPs out there that are somehow outside of the normal chain of command and outside the normal appropriations process, they have to divulge that to Congress,” Gilibrand says.

More surprisingly, Sen. Marco Rubio, who is also sponsoring the amendment, told NewsNation that he has heard multiple firsthand accounts from people in “high positions in our government” who verify Grusch’s story. Rubio is pushing for Congressional access to the so-called crash sites and labs where these aircraft are allegedly hidden:

This story has troubled me greatly over the past few weeks, and I’ve run it past several trusted friends to make sure I’m not going crazy. After reading through the source material, every single one of them has confirmed that the story is not only shocking, but credible.

Probabilities

More recently I happened to meet a neighbor who is an astrobiologist at a very prominent and well funded non-governmental organization in Washington DC (I can’t reveal his name or where he works). He works specifically on the extraterrestrial search for life and has many friends working in NASA and one working on the panel investigating UFO sightings. I asked him what he thought of the story, and to my surprise, he didn’t bat an eyelid. While he hadn’t seen any evidence himself, he told me the probability of alien life was high, and that it wouldn’t surprise him if they were visiting. He also told me an odd story about the FBI recently raiding a NASA scientist’s house for no apparent reason, an event he thought was extremely suspicious.

None of this constitutes evidence of alien life or any sort of coverup. But the fact that a prominent scientist took the story seriously was, at least for me, confirmation that we really should pay attention to this.

Remain critical

It is possible that David Grusch is a conspiracy crank making up fantastical stories for attention. The high level government officials who claim to have seen these crafts may all be mistaken — it could be radically advanced Russian or Chinese craft using technology we don’t yet understand. Those are real possibilities and in the absence of more evidence, the best working explanations.

That being said, it is important to be critical of the skeptic position too. How likely is it that Grusch is a fraud? How likely is it that multiple government and military officials with high level security clearance would not recognize human origin technology? How likely is it that they would talk to members of Congress about what they have seen?

It seems unlikely to me that so many people with very little gain would participate in such a fraud, so for now, I remain unconvinced either way.

Now that this is out in the open, Congress absolutely must investigate this. If whistleblowers can be protected, then they can tell us where the alleged craft are being kept. Then we can see for ourselves whether these extraordinary, paradigm shattering claims are true.

Listen to Ben and Justin debate this story on the latest episode of The Emergency Meeting Podcast: