4 Shocking Moments from Congress' UFO Hearing, from 'Non-Human' Pilots to Possible Contact with Aliens

Among his many claims, a Department of Defense whistleblower told the House Oversight Committee that “non-human” beings had been retrieved from spacecraft

A Department of Defense whistleblower made a number of shocking claims about unexplained aerial phenomena — or UAPs, the updated government term for UFOs — during testimony in a congressional hearing on Wednesday.

Among his many claims made under oath, former U.S. intelligence official David Grusch told the House Oversight Committee that “non-human” beings had been retrieved from spacecraft.

A former combat officer, Grusch co-led the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency’s Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP) analysis from late 2021 to July 2022. Grusch filed a complaint to Congress, alleging that he faced illegal retaliation for his confidential disclosures. Within those disclosures was information demonstrating “intact and partially intact vehicles” related to UAPs.

Below, some of Grusch's most startling claims from Wednesday's hearing.

Related: Congress Moves to Expose Evidence of UFOs in Rare Bipartisan Effort: ‘We’re Done with the Cover-Up’

U.S. Officials Have Recovered 'Non-Human' Remains of Pilots of UFOs

Perhaps the most headline-making moment of the hearing came when Republican Rep. Nancy Mace asked Grusch if he believed U.S. officials possessed the "bodies" of aliens.

"You believe we have crashed craft, as stated earlier — do you believe we have the bodies of the pilots who piloted this craft?" Mace asked.

Grusch then referred to his previous interviews with the press, saying: "As I've stated publicly already in my news station interview, biologics came with some of these recoveries, yeah."

Pressed by Mace on whether those biologics were "human or non-human," Grusch responded: "Non-human, and that was the assessment of people with direct knowledge of the program I talked to that are currently still in the program."

Grusch has stated, however, that he has not personally seen a UAP.

The U.S. Government Has Possibly Made Contact With Extraterrestrial Life

Elsewhere during his questioning with Mace, Grusch evaded a question about whether the U.S. government has made contact with intelligent extraterrestrial life, saying only: "That's something I can't discuss in a public setting."

But Grusch did say he is “absolutely” certain that the federal government is in possession of UAPs, and said he based that information on interviews with some 40 witnesses in recent years.

He also said he was at one point informed about a secret Pentagon program that worked to collect crashed UAPs and reverse-engineer or reconstruct the technology. “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,” Grusch told the panel.

Grusch claimed that program is funded by a "misappropriation" of government funds. The Pentagon has denied those claims.

Grusch Claimed He 'Personally Interviewed' People With Direct Knowledge of Non-Human-Origin Craft

At one point in the hearing, Grusch was asked whether he had met with people "with direct knowledge of non-human-origin craft."

"Yes, I personally interviewed those individuals," he said.

Elsewhere in his testimony, Grusch expressed his belief that the first time the U.S. became aware of evidence of extraterrestrial life was in the 1930s.

Related: NASA Launches Independent UFO Study with a 'Full' Report Expected by Mid-2023

Grusch Claimed Someone Was Injured When Attempting to Reverse-Engineer a UAP

In another striking moment, Grusch answered "yes," when asked whether he had any personal knowledge of a U.S. official being injured while attempting to reverse-engineer a UAP.

Asked for further clarification, Grusch said only, "You have to imagine, assessing an unknown unknown, there's a lot of potentialities you can't fully prepare for."

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In October 2022, NASA announced that an independent nine-month study into UFOs was officially underway.

The study focuses "solely on unclassified data" and will result in a "full" public report, which NASA expects to release in mid-2023, per a 2022 release.

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