The head of the Pentagon’s UFO office is retiring, days after admitting there could be some truth in a whistleblower’s shocking claims that the US government is hiding evidence of aliens.
In an interview with Politico, Dr Sean Kirkpatrick said he had decided to step down after achieving his goals, having postponed retirement to take on the role.
Dr Kirkpatrick has been director of the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) since it was founded by the Biden administration last year, and in the 18 months since its inception the issue of UFOs has generated much public and political interest.
This reached a fever pitch in the summer after former US intelligence officer David Charles Grusch alleged the government had evidence of ‘intact and partially intact’ alien vehicles.
Speaking during a congressional hearing into Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP), the official name for UFOs, he went further, adding that people had been ‘harmed or injured’ in an effort to cover up the information.
Dr Kirkpatrick said AARO had attempted to contact Mr Grusch about his claims repeatedly, which the whistleblower denied.
However, speaking during an off-camera meeting with the press on Halloween, the AARO director admitted some of the claims could be true.
‘We are investigating each and every one of [Grusch’s claims],’ he said. ‘We’re cross-referencing those. There are some bits of information that are turning out to be things and events that really happened.
‘A lot of it is still under review, and we’re putting all that together into our historical report.’
The report is one of the final tasks he will complete before leaving next month. His current deputy, Tim Phillips, will lead AARO until a permanent replacement is found.
Dr Kirkpatrick postponed his retirement to take up the role, during which time AARO launched a website sharing declassified information on UFOs – which now allows troops and government employees to report their own sightings.
He also co-authored a draft paper with Harvard ‘alien hunter’ Professor Avi Loeb, leaked online, which suggested the UAP studied by AARO could be ‘alien probes’ sent to study Earth by a mothership out in the cosmos.
While he did not give permission for the paper to be published, Dr Kirkpatrick said he did not regret his involvement.
In an interview with Politico, he said ‘the best thing that could come out of this job is to prove that there are aliens’.
‘If we don’t prove it’s aliens, then what we’re finding is evidence of other people doing stuff in our backyard,’ he said. ‘And that’s not good.’
His statement may come as a surprise to many UFO enthusiasts, who have previously labelled Dr Kirkpatrick as a ‘gatekeeper’ of the government’s UFO secrets.
MORE : Pentagon questioned after opening UFO tracking website
MORE : UFO whistleblower claims US has proof of ‘intact’ alien craft
MORE : UFO whistleblower claims people have been ‘harmed’ to hide proof of alien life
Get your need-to-know
latest news, feel-good stories, analysis and more
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
