A former military intelligence officer-turned-whistleblower told House lawmakers that Congress is being kept in the dark about unidentified anomalous phenomena.

  • stanleytweedle@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    This is kind of a funny inversion of typical political distraction games. Instead of ‘Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain’ we’re getting ‘Let’s pay attention to this guy saying there’s aliens behind every curtain. But still pay no attention to those guys behind me shoveling money into my pockets.’

    • DarkGamer@kbin.socialOP
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      1 year ago

      While I can’t speak for the congresspeople’s motivations, Grusch seems very credible and someone who could reasonably make such claims given his background and experience. More info about his claims here.

      Of course, extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence and it’s hard to know what’s really there given the classified nature of a lot of this. I’m hoping for more information to either prove or disprove his claims.

      • stanleytweedle@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        It’s a great deal for Grusch too. Massive media attention he can turn into book deals and speaking engagements for a lifetime and zero consequences for never even trying to provide proof of his claims. He gets to be a lifetime hero to people that ‘want to believe’ and in a month no one else will remember his name enough to challenge any of his claims.

        • DarkGamer@kbin.socialOP
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          1 year ago

          Perhaps so, but if that was all that was going on here I’m surprised Grusch got to be front and center at this congressional hearing. His testimony seemed to indicate that he has shared classified, vetted information with congress in closed sessions, and he seems like an educated man who not only has clearance but also a degree in physics.

          Grusch seems more credible than, say, Bob Lazar, or other such people who seem to be courting the UFO believer circuit, but it’s hard to know for sure, especially as a member of the public. I don’t feel like I have enough information to make my mind up about him but there’s enough there to indicate he should be listened to and his claims examined.

          Also, it’s worth noting he wasn’t the only witness. Pilots David Fravor and Ryan Graves also made similar claims about UAPs, although their testimony wasn’t as incredible as some of what Grusch had to say.

          • QHC@kbin.social
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            1 year ago

            Also, it’s worth noting he wasn’t the only witness.

            My understanding is that Grusch has not actually claimed to have first-hand evidence of anything he claims. He is relying on some other source telling him they’ve seen crazy shit, essentially.

            • DarkGamer@kbin.socialOP
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              1 year ago

              Yes, my understanding is also that he supposedly interviewed a lot of other people with clearance, and because of that a lot of the details and sources and evidence can’t be shared. The other pilots had firsthand accounts, IIRC, as well as video and sensor evidence.

              Perhaps this hearing will encourage declassification like they did with the JFK stuff, and put the matter to bed either way. Schumer & Rounds have introduced legislation to that effect.

          • stanleytweedle@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            Perhaps so, but if that was all that was going on here I’m surprised Grusch got to be front and center at this congressional hearing.

            See my first point about this being a political brownie-points bonanza. They’ve got a hot stage and a rising star. Of course they’re going to make a good show of it. And even with zero evidence- enthusiastic members of the public can’t get enough and will go on and on about how credible this guy seems because he’s saying things they really, really want to be true.

      • SkybreakerEngineer@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        "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,” basically adds up to “I totally worked on this super secret project that I can’t tell you about”.

        He never actually said he has any evidence, just beliefs.

        He’s not a whistle-blower, he’s a dupe.

    • Itty53@kbin.social
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      1 year ago

      They do it every time they want to keep inquiring and suspicious people distracted.

      Once is an occurrence. Twice is a coincidence. Every few years for the past six decades is a pattern. Nothing ever comes of it but in the end new shit got to happen without interruption.

      Like how do these people believe the government can keep aliens a secret but they won’t buy that?