An ex-Department of Defense (DoD) official made some out-of-this-world claims about UFOs on Monday.
Christopher Mellon, a former deputy assistant secretary of defense for intelligence and Senate staffer, told NewsNation host Chris Cuomo that a congressional hearing scheduled for Wednesday provides an “opportunity” to better understand the issue from credible sources.
Christopher Mellon on NewsNation
“I’ve been told that we have recovered technology that did not originate on this earth by officials in the Department of Defense and by former intelligence officials.”#ufotwitter #ufo #uap pic.twitter.com/h72ltWwAfI
— UAP James (@UAPJames) July 25, 2023
Planned by a House Oversight subcommittee, the hearing on unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAPs) is set to feature testimony from two former Navy pilots who claim to have witnessed mysterious flying objects that appear to defy the laws of physics while participating in training exercises.
Also announced as a witness was David Grusch, a U.S. military and intelligence veteran who has gone public with allegations about crafts of non-human origin being retrieved and kept from Congress.
Lending some credence to Grusch’s assertions about a cover-up, Mellon said he has been told that “we have recovered technology that did not originate on this earth by officials in the Department of Defense and by former intelligence officials,” some of whom he has referred “to the office that is undertaking this investigation.”
Mellon also said he expects Grusch “will provide some new information that we have not heard before” at the hearing, but he stressed that Grusch is limited by law in what he can reveal, including identifying intelligence personnel who may be involved in the matter.
Congress “needs to get” further information from the Intelligence Community inspector general, with whom Grusch has lodged his whistleblower complaint, Mellon added.
Amid rising interest in unanswered questions about UAPs, there has already been a push by lawmakers for legislation to encourage more disclosures.
In response to claims about hidden UAP programs, the DoD has pointed to its All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO), which has been tasked with investigating UFOs, and said that team has “not discovered any verifiable information to substantiate claims that any programs regarding the possession or reverse-engineering of any extraterrestrial materials have existed in the past or exist currently.”
Mellon argued there is a “direct conflict” between statements made by AARO Director Sean Kirkpatrick, who claims his office has not been denied any information, and “what these other folks are saying.”
Congress is “in the middle and they’ve got to sort it out,” he said, making the case that having AARO lead the charge in looking into allegations of recovered technology presents “an inherent conflict of interest” akin to “asking the Reagan administration to investigate the Iran-Contra affair.”