WASHINGTON: David Grusch, a former Air Force intelligence officer, testified before Congress on Wednesday that the US government has been concealing a longstanding program that retrieves and reverse engineers unidentified flying objects (UFOs).

The Pentagon has denied Grusch's claims.The US government uses UAPs, or “unidentified aerial phenomena", in place of UFOs for official communications.Grusch said that he was asked in 2019 by the head of a government task force on UFOs to identify all highly classified programs relating to the task force's mission.

At the time, Grusch was detailed to the National Reconnaissance Office, the agency that operates US spy satellites."I was informed in the course of my official duties of a multi-decade UFO crash retrieval and reverse engineering program to which I was denied access," he said.Grusch also said that he believes the US government has been aware of "non-human" activity since the 1930s.Grusch claimed he has not personally seen any UFO, but he knows of "multiple colleagues" who have been injured by them.

He also said he has interviewed individuals who have recovered "nonhuman biologics" from crashed UFOs.Grusch said he prefers to use the term "nonhuman" rather than "alien" or "extraterrestrial" because he said the evidence does not definitively prove that the biologics came from another planet.When asked by Representative Eric Burlison, R-Mo, to substantiate the crashed UFOs claim, Grusch said he could not divulge specific details, citing the sensitivity of the information.

However, he did offer some insight into what he personally witnessed.Grusch said he became a government whistleblower after his discovery and has faced retaliation for coming forward.

He declined to be more specific about the retaliatory tactics, citing an ongoing investigation.“It was very brutal and very unfortunate, some of the tactics they used to hurt me both professionally and personally,” he said.The Pentagon has denied Grusch's claims, saying that investigators have not found any evidence to support them.

However, Grusch's testimony has generated bipartisan interest in Congress, and some lawmakers have called for the government to be more transparent about its UFO research.The hearing comes as the Pentagon has been under increasing pressure to investigate UFOs.

In December, the department released a report that said it had received "several hundreds" of new reports of UFO sightings since launching a renewed effort to investigate the phenomenon.The report said that the vast majority of the UFO sightings could be explained by known objects, such as balloons or airplanes.

However, the report also said that there were a small number of sightings that could not be explained, and that the government was still trying to determine what they were.Grusch's testimony adds to the growing mystery surrounding UFOs.

It remains to be seen whether the government will ever be able to provide definitive answers about what these objects are and where they come from.In the meantime, Grusch's claims have sparked a renewed debate about the possibility of extraterrestrial life.

While some people remain skeptical, others are intrigued by the possibility that we may not be alone in the universe.Asked if there may be life beyond Earth, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said he does not have a position on the issue one way or another."What we believe is that there are unexplained aerial phenomena that have been cited and reported by pilots -- Navy and Air Force," he said, adding: "We don't have the answers about what these phenomena are."In recent years, the US government has shifted its approach towards UAPs, demonstrating a growing seriousness in addressing the matter.One significant development was Nasa's inaugural public meeting on UAPs held in May.

During this meeting, NASA emphasized the need for a more rigorous scientific approach to investigate and determine the origins of the numerous mysterious sightings.Additionally, the Pentagon has increased its focus on the subject following a series of unexplainable sightings reported by US Navy and Air Force pilots.The primary concern driving this heightened attention is the possibility that these sightings could be attributed to unknown aerial surveillance technology employed by China.

The worry is that such technology might be gathering intelligence on US defense capabilities, raising potential national security implications.(With inputs from agencies)