On July 26, the House Oversight subcommittee on National Security, the Border and Foreign Affairs held a hearing entitled “Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena: Implications on National Security, Public Safety, and Government Transparency.” The hearing on UAPS, more commonly known as UFOs, featured testimony from David Grusch, a former National Reconnaissance Officer Representative for the Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena Task Force of the Department of Defense (DOD).
In addition to making headline grabbing claims about UFO crashes and “nonhuman biologics,” Grusch claims that he faced retaliation for raising concerns about lack oversight over the DOD’s handling of UAP sightings.
“I became a Whistleblower, through a PPD-19 Urgent Concern filing with the Intelligence Community Inspector General (ICIG), following concerning reports from multiple esteemed and credentialed current and former military and Intelligence Community individuals that the US Government is operating with secrecy – above Congressional oversight – with regards to UAPs,” Grusch stated in his testimony.
He continued:
“I was informed, in the course of my official duties, of a multi-decade UAP crash retrieval and reverse engineering program to which I was denied access to those additional read-on’s.
“I made the decision based on the data I collected, to report this information to my superiors and multiple Inspectors General, and in effect become a whistleblower.
“As you know, I have suffered retaliation for my decision. But I am hopeful that my actions will ultimately lead to a positive outcome of increased transparency.”
Later on in the hearing, Grusch was asked to further explain the retaliation he faced but he decline to provide details, citing an ongoing investigation.
Under the Whistleblower Protection Act (WPA), DOD whistleblowers are protected from retaliation for engaging in protected forms of whistleblowing. The DOD’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) Whistleblower Reprisal Investigations Directorate investigates allegations of whistleblower reprisal made by members of the Armed Forces.
On July 31, the DOD OIG sent out a tweet celebrating National Whistleblower Day:
National Whistleblower Day commemorates the bravery of whistleblowers around the world who have stepped forward to expose fraud, waste, and abuse. pic.twitter.com/3kKrth4kZY
— DoD Office of Inspector General (@DoD_IG) July 31, 2023