Claims Made By ‘UFO Whistleblower’ David Grusch Are Pure Science Fiction

UFO fever has been sweeping through the internet in the wake of explosive claims made by “UFO whistleblower” David Grusch, a former military intelligence official and Air Force veteran who says the U.S. government is in possession of alien spacecraft.

Grusch recently appeared on NewsNation to elaborate on his claims, interviewed by journalist Ross Coulthart.

The past few years have seen the fringe beliefs of UFO enthusiasts spread from The Joe Rogan Experience to the New York Times and the Guardian, imbuing UFO mythology with a newfound sense of legitimacy.

During his NewsNation interview, Grusch offered no evidence for his extraordinary claims, but said that his information comes from “several sources.” Grusch confirmed that he had not personally seen any of the alleged alien spacecraft, but has seen “some interesting photos” and “read some very interesting reports.”

UFO skeptic Mick West released an excellent response video to Grusch’s interview that delves into the details of his claims. Notably, many of Grusch’s claims contain illogical assumptions, popularized by science fiction tropes.

While science fiction can offer a glimpse into an imagined future, the genre often reflects the cultural anxieties and technological limitations of the time period in which it is conceived.

What are Grusch’s claims?

Grusch claims that the United States is in possession of multiple “vehicles” or “spacecraft” constructed by a “non-human intelligence” and that their existence is being concealed from the public.

Grusch says that these spacecraft have “either landed or crashed” on Earth, and that both the U.S. government and defense contractors are currently working to reverse-engineer the technology.

Extraordinarily, Grusch even claimed that some of the vehicles contained the bodies of pilots, and that some of the spacecraft were “very large, like a football field kinda size.”

Grusch stated that the vehicles were not “necessarily extraterrestrial,” and speculated that they might come from another dimension, stating, “as somebody who studied physics, where maybe they’re coming from a different physical dimension, as described in quantum mechanics.”

Grusch described the vehicles as being composed of “extremely strange, heavy, atomic metal, you know, high up at the periodic table, arrangements that we don’t understand.”

Grusch hinted that some of the alien beings were malevolent, and had even killed humans. Grusch also implied that there is some kind of secret agreement between the government and aliens, and that people have been murdered to protect the secret.

Grusch claimed that he was taking “great personal risk and obvious professional risk” by speaking to the media.

Why is this science fiction?

Let’s start with the claim that these vehicles have crash-landed on Earth.

Whether one believes that said vehicles are extraterrestrial or inter-dimensional in origin, it is an extraordinary leap of logic to assume that they are janky enough to crash, let alone with the frequency that Grusch and other UFO enthusiasts claim.

Star Wars, Star Trek, Futurama, and Rick and Morty all frequently depict spaceships that crash-land, for the sake of narrative, rather than logic.

A crash forces the characters into a difficult situation, perhaps marooned on a hostile world, or forced to engage with alien inhabitants; it is a widely used trope because it sparks drama.

However, if one assumes that alien life is advanced enough to design vehicles capable of prolonged periods of space travel (or inter-dimensional travel), then why are they crashing like drunk teenagers?

Indeed, why would these vehicles be piloted at all?

Humanity is advanced enough to design automated drones, but we rarely see drones being deployed by aliens in fiction, simply because it would be underwhelming. We want stories in which humanity encounters alien beings in the flesh; it’s just not fun to imagine an automated invasion, even if it might be more logical.

Grusch’s claims rely on the assumption that advanced technology doesn’t really advance at all; crashes occur so frequently that we can collect fallen ships like trading cards, and that some contain bodies, like the space jockey from Alien.

UFO enthusiasts often assume that our civilization is capable of recognizing unfathomably advanced technology, and attempting to reverse-engineer it. Again, these assumptions echo popular science fiction tropes.

Remember the much-mocked finale of Independence Day, in which an alien invasion is thwarted by a virus sent from a Mac PowerBook? That was a silly plot twist, based on the idea that the technology of the 90’s was compatible with that of an advanced alien species capable of interstellar travel.

Yet, that goofy blockbuster logic is being credulously repeated by Grusch and other UFO enthusiasts.

Imagine, if you will, a medieval peasant stumbling upon a Mac PowerBook. The device would be completely unfathomable, indistinguishable from magic, even to the best and brightest minds of that time period.

None would even be able to recognize its function, let alone reverse-engineer it. So, why would we assume that we could grasp the complexities of an inter-dimensional spacecraft?

Of course, there’s also the awkward fact that so many people on the planet now carry high-definition cameras in their pockets, and yet, UFO footage is always a grainy, blurry mess.

Lastly, Grusch’s claims of a vast, insidious cover-up, so secret that others have been murdered to protect it, is undermined by the fact he has been given a platform to broadcast these claims.

The legendary astronomer Carl Sagan often said that he would love to see evidence of advanced alien life, but always emphasized the importance of critical thinking. Sagan famously stated, “extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.”

Grusch has provided no evidence for his claims, which are suspiciously close to common science fiction tropes, and should be recognized as such.

If the truth really is out there, it is unlikely to follow the logic of fiction.