CLASSIFICATION: PARTIALLY DECLASSIFIED (Ongoing Congressional Investigation) SUBJECTS: Department of Defense, AARO, AATIP, Immaculate Constellation --- The Whistleblower (June 2023) In June 2023, David Charles Grusch, a former intelligence officer with the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency and veteran of the Afgha nistan conflict, filed a whistleblower complaint with the intelligence community inspector general. His claim: the United States government has operated a multi-decade UAP retrieval and reverse-engineering program — and has concealed it from Congress. Grusch stated, under oath, that the government possesses "intact and partially intact vehicles of non-human origin." He named specific programs, specific locations, and specific individuals. The Pentagon's response: "No verifiable information." AATIP and Elizondo (2007–2012) The story starts earlier. In 2007, the Defense Intelligence Agency launched the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP), funded with $22 million tucked into the Pentagon's $600 billion budget. Luis Elizondo, a career intelligence officer, ran the program from 2010 until his resignation in 2017. In his resignation letter to Secretary of Defense James Mattis, Elizondo wrote that the program's findings were being suppressed and that there were "many accounts" from military personnel of UAP encounters that went uninvestigated. When Elizondo went public in 2017, alongside New York Times reporting on the existence of AATIP and release of Navy pilot videos showing objects performing maneuvers impossible with known technology, the Pentagon initially denied AATIP ever existed. Then they admitted it existed but said it was defunded in 2012. Former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who secured the original funding, said the program continued after 2012 under different names. The Immaculate Constellation Grusch's testimony referenced a program called "Immaculate Constellation" — an effort to catalog and analyze UAP encounters reported across all branches of the military. According to Grusch and other sources, this program operated outside normal reporting channels, bypassing congressional oversight entirely. The program allegedly collected: Sensor data from military platforms showing objects traveling at hypersonic speeds with no visible propulsion Testimony from military pilots who encountered objects that jammed radar and weapon systems Physical material recovered from unidentified craft AARO, the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office, was established in 2022 to provide official government analysis of UAP reports. Its March 2024 historical report concluded there was "no empirical evidence" of off-world technology or government concealment. Multiple whistleblowers have disputed this finding. Grusch called it "insulting" to the men and women who have risked their careers to report encounters. The Congressional Hearings (July 2023) On July 26, 2023, the House Oversight Committee held the first open congressional hearing on UAP in over 50 years. Three witnesses testified: David Grusch — former NGA intelligence officer Ryan Graves — former Navy F/A-18 pilot, executive director of Americans for Safe Aerospace David Fravor — former Navy Commander who encountered the "Tic Tac" UAP in 2004 Fravor described observing a 40-foot wingless, white craft that descended from 60,000 feet to sea level in seconds, hovered over the ocean, then accelerated away at speeds that defied known aerodynamics. His targeting radar couldn't track it. Grusch testified that he knew of "exact locations" where recovered craft were being stored. When asked directly if people had been harmed to keep the programs secret, he answered: "Yes." He then said he could provide details only in a classified setting. Congress has held those classified sessions. What was said behind closed doors remains classified. The Disinformation Problem Perhaps the most disturbing element of the UAP story is the deliberate disinformation. According to Grusch and other sources, elements within the Pentagon have: Planted false stories in media to discredit witnesses Used classification authority to bury legitimate encounters in unrelated programs Redirected UAP investigations into conventional aerospace projects to obscure funding trails Threatened whistleblowers with prosecution under the Espionage Act Some of this disinformation served a dual purpose: hiding genuine UAP evidence and concealing classified weapons programs. The line between the two has been deliberately blurred. Former Pentagon official Christopher Mellon wrote in a 2017 Politico op-ed that the government's handling of UAP evidence represented "a profound failure of the intelligence community" to fulfill its obligation to national security. Where It Stands Now As of 2026: AARO continues to issue reports finding "no evidence" while whistleblowers continue to come forward Multiple congressional committees are conducting ongoing investigations with classified briefings The 2023 NDAA included language requiring government agencies to report all UAP-related information to AARO Lawsuits under FOIA have been filed and are slowly forcing document releases Several nations have established their own UAP investigation offices The Pentagon's official position has not changed: there is no evidence of extraterrestrial technology, no recovered craft, no cover-up. The whistleblowers under oath disagree. TDA Research Assessment Year / Event / Official Response 2004 / Nimitz "Tic Tac" encounter / "Anomalous aerial vehicles" 2007 / AATIP launched / Denied existence 2017 / NYT exposé / Admitted existence, claimed defunded 2021 / Pentagon UAP report / "Most remain unresolved" 2023 / Grusch whistleblower complaint / "No verifiable information" 2023 / Congressional hearing / Ongoing 2024 / AARO historical report / "No empirical evidence" They didn't ask if you wanted to know what's in the sky — or what's being kept from you about it. _- The Department_