Recently released documents to The Black Vault via the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) offer a rare glimpse into the Department of Defense Inspector General’s evaluation of the DoD’s response to Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP). The documents focus on a June 12, 2021, interview with “UFO Whistleblower” David Grusch. The interview summary, part of the “Evaluation of the DoD’s Actions Regarding Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena” DODIG-2023-109, highlights Grusch’s critique of the existing UAP analysis methods and his proposal for a new approach.
David Grusch, dubbed the “UFO Whistleblower” by the mainstream media since he came forward with bombshell allegations (if true) about a UFO cover-up of non-human technology, pointed out the lack of a formal process for reporting and investigating UAP sightings.
Critiquing the shallow analysis in the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) UAP report, Grusch emphasized the need for more rigorous assessments, suggesting ‘red and blue’ teams for objective analysis.
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The documents also reveal Grusch’s vision for a “Strategic Anomaly Resolution Office,” dedicated to investigating UAPs and other strategic anomalies.
Accompanying this release was a PowerPoint presentation, notable for its lack of redactions or classification markings, which does raise the question on if it was an official PowerPoint presentation, or a “briefing” created by Grusch himself on his own time to pitch to the DoD.
The presentation included a never-before-seen seal for the proposed office, and a breakdown of how the office would operate and what it would attempt to accomplish.
Just six weeks after Grusch gave this idea in a Top Secret meeting with the DoD/IG, Christopher Mellon, former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Intelligence in the Clinton and George W. Bush administrations, opined the exact same idea for an office in a July 2021 blog post titled, “Suggestions for Congress on the UAP Issue.”
“I therefore suggest framing the issue broadly to give the troops a place to send all manner of strange and unexpected phenomena that don’t readily fit in an existing job jar,” Mellon wrote. “Perhaps something like ‘The Office of Strategic Anomaly Resolution’ that could become an analytic starting point for other anomalies.”
In November of that same year, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand introduced an amendment seeking to establish the “Anomaly Surveillance and Resolution Office“.
What was absent in the documents were details that Grusch has become more widely known for. Allegations of non-human ‘dead’ pilots of UAP; claims of crash retrieval and reverse engineering programs of craft of unknown origin; and the idea “white-collar crime” the was being committed to conceal UFO research efforts were all not mentioned in the DoD/IG’s notes. Redactions were minimal, and were all primarily FOIA exemption (b)(6), which essentially protects personal privacy. This rules out that any classified material was exempted within this release.
There was a mention, however, of “UAP Material” by Grusch, and it was tied to a Air Force point of contact. The identity of that individual was redacted.
Only 16 pages were released in response to the FOIA request for all documents related to Grusch’s communications with the DoD/IG, despite the request encompassing a wide range of materials including correspondence, reports, memos, and transcripts, filed in June of 2023. A new request has been filed to include information beyond the 2021 date.
The Black Vault also plans to file for transcripts of Grusch’s meeting with the DoD/IG in 2021, and any others since, though the absence of such transcripts in the initial release is puzzling since they were specifically requested in the original FOIA filing. This may indicate no transcripts were created.
As more developments happen, or additional documents are released, The Black Vault will bring it to you. Make sure you subscribe to the free e-newsletter to stay up-to-date.
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DoD Inspector General Releases Details of Interview With UFO Whistleblower David Grusch [18 Pages, 4.92MB]
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