Last updated: January 8 2026
| Date | Event | Detail | Source |
| 2004-2005 | Grusch admitted to the University of Pittsburgh on an Air Force ROTC scholarship. | DOPSR Approval – April 4, 2023 | |
| 2008-2009 | Grusch graduates from university. | Receives a Bachelor of Science (B.S.) in Physics as well as a Master of Arts with Honors in Intelligence Studies. | DOPSR Approval – April 4, 2023 |
| August 19th 2011 | Grusch is a 1st Lt., UFG intelligence duty officer. | “This is a fast-paced learning experience,” said 1st Lt. David Grusch, an [Ulchi Freedom Guardian] intelligence duty officer who volunteered to participate. “It took me out of comfort zone and pushed my operational knowledge”, explained Grusch, who serves as a wing space control intelligence officer at Peterson Air Force Base, Co. | Link |
| 2013 | Chief of Intelligence for the Air Force Space Command – 3rd Space Experimentation Squadron (SES). | @JeremyCorbell Post | |
| 2016-2021 | Served with the National Reconnaissance Office as Senior Intelligence Officer and led the production of the NRO director’s daily briefing. | From 2016 to 2021, he served with the National Reconnaissance Office as Senior Intelligence Officer and led the production of the NRO director’s daily briefing. Grusch was a GS-15 civilian, the military equivalent of a Colonel. | |
| ~June 2017 | Grusch says he was briefing a senior official on unrelated SAPs when the official told him about Lue Elizondo and AAWSAP. | “I remember in a very senior official’s office in McLean, briefing that senior official into about a couple hundred special access programs. At the time, I was a trusted individual advising the joint chiefs on certain black programs. And I remember that individual who was a coworker of Lue Elizondo mentioned, “oh, there’s this guy named Lue Elizondo over at the Pentagon. He’s running some UFO program. We think he lost his mind. He’s giving the under Secretary of Defense for intelligence a hard time. And this was six months prior to that Leslie Kean and Ralph Blumenthal article in December, 2017. And I was like, I don’t know who this Lue guy is. He sounds crazy to me. I don’t know about some UFO program, but little did I know about six or seven months after that, I saw that on the news and that’s what caught my attention.” | Tucker Carlson Interview |
| October 1 2018 | Grusch was committed to a mental health facility based in part on a report that he “made a suicidal statement” after Grusch’s wife told him he was an alcoholic and suggested that he get help. | The Intercept | |
| Early 2019 | Begins role as Reconnaissance office’s representative to the Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force. | ||
| December 2019 | Grusch moves to Colorado Springs, CO. | ||
| 2019-2020 | Nat Kobitz gives Ross Coulthart names of people he claimed worked on crash retrieval program. | Ross Coulthart: “Nat was one of the chief geeks for the US Navy and he was dying and he gave me leads, and I’ve never spoken about this before, but he gave me leads that led me to people working in what they purported was a secret program involving the retrieval and attempted reverse engineering of non-human technology. And I’ve been speaking to those people for some time, and it was they who told me about Dave Grusch and it was they who vouched about Dave Grusch to me.” Kobitz died on April 5, 2020. | “Whistleblower David Grusch – Need to Know”, 06-05-23 |
| March 2020 | Eric Davis briefs Grusch, provides him with breadcrumbs to carry out his investigation. | Davis: “I was fortunate to meet Dave Grusch at the behest of Jay Stratton. Dave was an aero-liaison officer to the UAP Task Force. And Dave was working for his boss at the NRO. Jay put Dave, and Dave’s boss and I together, and I briefed them for 2.5 days, just a week before COVID struck. And Dave took all of my classified and proprietary information of all the investigations I did at NIDS, AFRO and working for Hal Puthoff at EarthTech, and he took that data and ran with it. And what you now know the aftermath of that was his classified whistleblower complaint to the IG of the IC. So, there is a there there.” | |
| October 9 2020 | SAP Access Suspension | “On October 9, 2020, while the Complainant was working as [redacted], the [redacted] Special Access Program Central Office (SAPCO) suspended his Special Access Program (SAP) accesses in response to a potential security violation.” | DODOIG-2025-000932 |
| November 5 2020 | SCI Access Suspension | “[redacted] suspended the Complainant’s accesses to SCI on November 5, 2020, until the matter was resolved.” | DODOIG-2025-000932 |
| November 18 2020 | Incident Report Entered | “On November 18, 2020, [redacted] entered an incident report into the Defense Information System for Security acknowledging that [redacted] received documentation from the [redacted] indicating that it was suspending the Complainant’s access due to the [redacted] revoking his eligibility.” | DODOIG-2025-000932 |
| December 17 2020 | SCI Access Reinstated | “after the Complainant answered [redacted] questions, [redacted] reinstated the Complainant’s SCI access, and the [redacted] Security Officer notified the [redacted] CAF on December 17, 2020.” | DODOIG-2025-000932 |
| April 2021 | Grusch meets Harry Reid and presents slide deck to him. | “”The DoD IG FOIA release to BlackVault today highlights an organization proposal to succeed UAPTF that myself and my colleagues developed on our own time before the AARO office was created. Not only did I brief DoD IG Evaluations team on this proposal, but I also presented the same chart deck to Sen Harry Reid in April 2021 in a personal capacity for his guidance. He was very enthusiastic on the idea of a National Space Lab to receive records and UAP material from executive branch agencies who would then federate it out to academia and other partners in a whole of government approach. He was going to use the OSAR proposal as a basis of his next discussion with President Biden.” | |
| July 12 2021 | As part of the DoD IG’s “Evaluation of the DoD’s Actions Regarding Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena”, Grusch is interviewed and provides an Air Force point of contact regarding potential recovered UAP material. | He believed that his identity, and the fact that he had provided testimony, were disclosed “to individuals and/or entities” within the Department of Defense and the Intelligence Community outside the IG’s office. He did not allege that this information was improperly disclosed by any member of that office. As a result, Grusch suffered months of retaliation and reprisals related to these disclosures beginning in 2021. | DoD work paper documenting the Grusch interview |
| ~September 1 2021 | Loss of Jurisdiction Memorandum | “The [redacted] Security office notified the [redacted] Office of Personnel Security via a Loss of Jurisdiction memorandum on or about September 1, 2021, that the [redacted] might have an adjudicative interest in the matter with the Complainant.” | DODOIG-2025-000932 |
| September 7 2021 | DCSA CAS Favorable Eligibility | “before the DCSA CAS granted the Complainant a favorable DoD eligibility for access to classified information on September 7, 2021” | DODOIG-2025-000932 |
| November 2021 | Begins role – IMA to the Commander, 318 Cyber Operations Group, Detachment 3, Nellis AFB, NV | Performed Commander duties as an augmentee for an active-duty unit. The mission of the 318th Group is to be an information warfare group, training and integrating advanced tactics, technologies, and tools arming America’s warfighters with decisive information warfare combat power. Leaves role April 2022. | |
| November 1 2021 | Grusch Contacts DoD OIG Staff | Internal DoD OIG email initiated with subject “Heads up: Contact with UAP interviewees.” OIG staff member replied same day: “Grusch reached out to me Thursday evening” | DODOIG-2024-000451 |
| Late 2021 | Begins role as NGA’s co-lead for UAP analysis and its representative to the task force. | Serving as Senior Geospatial-Intelligence Capabilities Integration Officer for the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA). | DOPSR Approval – April 4, 2023 |
| December 28 2021 | CE Program Issues Flag | “On December 28, 2021, the [redacted] Continuous Evaluations (CE) program determined that the [redacted] did not have records regarding the Complainant’s [redacted], stating an interview was required to resolve this.” | DODOIG-2025-000932 |
| January 27 2022 | CE Notified of Loss of Jurisdiction Memo | “On January 27, 2022, the [redacted] CE was notified of the Loss of Jurisdiction memorandum from the [redacted] of the Complainant’s possible [redacted] while employed at the [redacted].” | DODOIG-2025-000932 |
| February 2022 | Compass Rose Legal group begins representation of David Grusch | Grusch claims he retained Compass Rose in response to the government trying to revoke his security clearance. “And it turns out I found out after the fact I was under criminal investigation for four months. I was never interviewed. I didn’t even know what it was about. But then I found out afterwards when they tried to use that to revoke my clearance. Now mind you, I have a good attorney, the former inspector general, and we litigated that, we rebutted that and everything was, I was cleared of any wrongdoing. I maintained my clearance.” (Tucker Carlson Interview) | Compass Rose Legal Group Statement |
| February 11 2022 | Signed Attorney Authorization | “I do solemnly affirm under the penalties of perjury and upon personal knowledge that the contents of the foregoing paper are true to the best of my knowledge.” [Authorization and Privacy Waiver signed this date] | DODOIG-2025-000932 |
| February 2022 | Submitted for SAPs and CAPs | “In February 2022, [redacted] through [redacted] began submitting the Complainant for SAPs and CAPs.” | DODOIG-2025-000932 |
| March 2022 | Steven Greer claims he met with Grusch. | ||
| March 3 2022 | TS/SCI Favorable Eligibility Granted | “On March 3, 2022, the [redacted] CAF granted the Complainant a Top Secret/Sensitive Compartmented Information (TS/SCI) favorable eligibility determination based on reciprocity from the DCSA CAS’ favorable eligibility determination.” | DODOIG-2025-000932 |
| May 25th 2022 | McCullough filed a Disclosure of Urgent Concern(s); Complaint of Reprisal on behalf of Grusch with the Intelligence Community Inspector General regarding detailed information that Grusch had gathered beginning in 2019 while working for the UAP Task Force. | The complaint states that Grusch has direct knowledge that UAP-related classified information has been withheld and/or concealed from Congress by “elements” of the intelligence community “to purposely and intentionally thwart legitimate Congressional oversight of the UAP Program.” All testimony Grusch provided for the classified complaint was provided under oath. After submitting, Grusch was told to submit his reprisal complaint to the DoD IG: “Also on [May 25th 2022], the Complainant filed a UAP-related disclosure, as well as a whistleblower reprisal complaint, to [redacted]. [redacted] informed him that he would need to submit his reprisal complaint with the DoD OIG.” (Page 44) | DODOIG-2025-000932 |
| May 27 2022 | Memorandum For Record | “[redacted] wrote a Memorandum For Record on May 27, 2022… [redacted] acknowledged in his Memorandum For Record that the Complainant had recently filed a whistleblower reprisal complaint with [redacted] on [redacted], and [redacted] was concerned that any negative personnel action taken against the Complainant while any [redacted] investigation was underway would greatly increase the risk of exposure to allegations of cover-up and reprisal.” | DODOIG-2025-000932 |
| May 31st 2022 | David Grusch is interviewed by member of Canadian Parliament, Larry Maguire | Canadian MP Seeks Answers on UAP from US Intel Officer | |
| June 2 2022 | CAF Suspends Access to Classified Information | “[redacted] called the [redacted] CE branch on June 1, 2022, notifying it of [redacted], and the next day, the [redacted] CAF suspended the Complainant’s access to classified information pending completion of [redacted].” | DODOIG-2025-000932 |
| June 2nd-3rd 2022 | During the SCU conference, Grusch approaches Jeremy Corbell and George Knapp at a bar and introduces himself. | Knapp: We were at the SCU conference in Huntsville, Alabama. We went down there. It’s a great event. A lot of really interesting people live in that community working in defense programs, intelligence operations, and it was a great excuse for a lot of those folks to get together. And we were invited and we went along. We took a camera, and we’re in it. It’s held in this little place. It’s like a club and a bar, and we’re in there and you’re shooting video. Your buddy Niles is shooting video. Corbell: You didn’t really tell me exactly what we’re doing. You had some people that you wanted us to meet with and to record with, and one of those people was Jay Stratton. The world hadn’t known anything at that point. The world at large had not known anything. But we were also told well in advance that there were other people that are in position to know that we may be approached by or we may meet and man, yeah, let’s just be honest. It sounds so crazy, but it’s true. I brought my buddy Niles Harrison, we’ve covered that in another episode. And he was filming and little did I know, he’s filming at this public event. There’s not supposed to be cameras there, but they allowed us. So thank you, SCU, I got that moment. Niles got that moment when Dave Grusch leans over to you for the first time, unknown to the world. This was a year ago, over a year ago. And starts talking with you. And that’s when that Pandora’s box – by the way, we ended up meeting out at a bar with Gary Nolan, who’s awesome, and we ended up just having a couple drinks and talking. That’s when it really sunk in. (Weaponized Podcast) | |
| June 27 2022 | Grusch Requests Interview Records from DoD OIG | Grusch emailed DoD OIG staff copying Randolph Stone requesting records from his July 2021 interview: “Please see JWICS. DNI IG is requesting any records produced from my 12 Jul 2021 interview with you and your staff.” Stone forwarded message to colleagues with “FYSA” (For Your Situational Awareness) notation. | DODOIG-2024-000451 |
| Mid-Late 2022 | Helps draft language on UAP for the FY2023 National Defense Authorization Act. | ||
| July 2022 | The Intelligence Community Inspector General found his complaint of reprisal “credible and urgent.” | According to Grusch, a summary was immediately submitted to the Director of National Intelligence, Avril Haines; the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence; and the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. | |
| July 2022 | Grusch leaves role as NGA’s co-lead for UAP analysis and its representative to the task force. | ||
| Summer 2022 | A whistleblower reprisal investigation was launched, and Grusch began his communication with the staff of the Congressional intelligence committees in private closed-door sessions. | According to Grusch, certain information which he obtained in his investigation could not be put before Congressional staffers because they did not have the necessary clearances or the appropriate investigative authority. | |
| August 2 2022 | Reprisal Complaint Filed with DoD Hotline | “On August 2, 2022, the Complainant filed a reprisal complaint with the DoD Hotline alleging that [redacted] and that he was subjected to numerous adverse security clearance actions. Specifically, he alleged that while his eligibility for access to classified information was currently intact with the [redacted] at the TS/SCI level, his compartmented accesses at numerous elements were ‘mysteriously and without plausible explanation—suspended, canceled, delayed, denied, and/or improperly obstructed.'” | DODOIG-2025-000932 |
| August 25-28th 2022 | Grusch introduced to TheUfoJoe by George Knapp and Jeremy Corbell while at the “56 Year Mission: Las Vegas” Star Trek convention. | Event Archive.org | |
| August 29 2022 | Grusch is placed on probation at his job. | During an interview, Corbell states that the day after the convention, Grusch was placed on probation. | |
| August 29 2022 | DoD Consolidated Adjudications Facility (CAF) issues Letter of Intent (LOI) and Statement of Reasons (SOR) to revoke Grusch’s classified access eligibility. | “On August 29, 2022, the [REDACTED] CAF provided the Complainant an LOI and an SOR notifying him that it intended to revoke his eligibility for access to classified information… The notice also removed the Complainant’s access to classified systems and facilities and required him to relinquish his access badges and be placed on paid administrative leave pending the adjudication process.” | DoD OIG Report |
| August 29 2022 | Statement of Reasons Content | The SOR concluded: “‘A whole person assessment of your behavior as identified under these concerns, reflects questionable judgment, lack of candor, dishonesty, or unwillingness to comply with rules and regulations raising questions about your reliability, trustworthiness, and ability to protect classified or sensitive information.'” | DODOIG-2025-000932 |
| September 1 2022 | Senate Armed Services Committee Inquires About Grusch | DoD OIG Legislative Affairs staffer noted: “The SASC reached out to ask if we have any information on an NGA employee named Dave Grusch” | DODOIG-2024-000451 |
| September 23 2022 | Response to SOR Submitted | “The Complainant submitted his response to the SOR on September 23, 2022.” | DODOIG-2025-000932 |
| September 28 2022 | Final Letter of Revocation Submitted for Review | “[redacted] reviewed the Complainant’s response to the SOR and submitted a final Letter of Revocation (LOR) for review on September 28, 2022.” | DODOIG-2025-000932 |
| November 8 2022 | LOR Sent to Office of General Counsel | “[redacted] reviewed the Complainant’s response and sent the final LOR to the [redacted] Office of General Counsel on November 8, 2022…” | DODOIG-2025-000932 |
| December 2022 | Provided Congress with hours of recorded classified information transcribed into hundreds of pages which included specific data about the materials recovery program. | “Multiple sources confirmed that David Grusch’s Congressional testimony occurred in December 2022, at the Top Secret Sensitive Compartmented Information level. On the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, while no congressmen attended the briefing, over twenty congressional staffers, committee lawyers, Grusch and the Inspector General representative, were present. With their classified laptops, these staffers took notes while David Grusch testified for four hours. Now, things were different at the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and his is important. Grusch testified for over eight hours. Who was in the room for Grusch’s eight-hour testimony in December? Grusch, the Inspector General representative, a court reporter, and two committee lawyers.” | YouTube |
| December 12-13 2022 | DoD Consolidated Adjudications Facility (CAF) signs final letter revoking Grusch’s classified access eligibility. | “On December 12, 2022, [REDACTED] signed the final letter of revocation, and on December 13, 2022, emailed the letter to the Complainant notifying him that the CAF revoked his eligibility for access to classified information.” | DoD OIG Report |
| January 9 2023 | PSAB Appeal Hearing | “On January 9, 2023, after the [redacted] CAF revoked his clearance, the Complainant appeared before an [redacted] Personnel Security Appeals Board (PSAB) and presented his appeal to the revocation.” | DODOIG-2025-000932 |
| January 10 2023 | PSAB Overturns Revocation; TS/SCI Reinstated | “On January 10, 2023, [redacted] notified the Complainant’s attorney via letter that the PSAB overturned the original [redacted] determination to revoke his eligibility for access to SCI, and that his TS/SCI was reinstated this date.” On the PSAB decision: “[redacted] said that the Complainant provided compelling information on each of the other factors outlined in the SOR, which the board felt mitigated the security concerns. As a result, the board… voted unanimously to restore the Complainant’s security clearance.” | DODOIG-2025-000932 |
| February 1 2023 | Resubmitted for Compartmented Accesses | “[redacted] told us that after the Complainant returned to work with his restored security clearance, he resubmitted the Complainant for [redacted] compartmented accesses on February 1, 2023. According to [redacted], no action was taken on the submissions…” | DODOIG-2025-000932 |
| February 17 2023 | Second Reprisal Complaint Filed with DoD Hotline | Second whistleblower reprisal complaint filed via DoD intake system. | DODOIG-2025-000932 |
| March 7 2023 | Grusch submits “DCG Summary” to DOPSR for public release. | The Black Vault | |
| March 22 2023 | Security Clearance Debriefing | “[redacted] debriefed the Complainant on his security clearance on March 22, 2023, and the Complainant [redacted].” | DODOIG-2025-000932 |
| April 4 2023 | DOPSR approves “DCG Summary” for public release. | UAP Research Wiki | |
| April 5 2023 | Grusch submits “Interview Questions” to DOPSR for public release. | The Black Vault | |
| April 6 2023 | DOPSR approves “Interview Questions” for public release. | UAP Research Wiki | |
| April 7 2023 | Grusch left the government on April 7, 2023, in order, he said, to advance government accountability through public awareness. | ||
| June 5 2023 | Grusch goes public in an article published by The Debrief. | The Debrief | |
| June 6 2023 | STATEMENT FROM DAVID GRUSCH re: Greer (Twitter) | Greer’s original statement: “Please note that this is extremely topical given the fact that one of the whistleblower’s is going out to the media wide today as this is a very timely and topical story. In fact, Dr. Greer mentored this key whistleblower David Charles Grusch, and has provided actionable intelligence to him and senior members of his team. The information Dr. Greer provided was essential in Grusch’s critical investigations and findings. Dr. Greer will discuss how these findings will impact his call for Congress to take Constitutional control of this issue.” Grusch’s Statement: “I took my job very seriously, and early on, I allowed various individuals that alleged they had information to speak their truth as part of my evaluation process. I have not been mentored by anyone, and my public disclosure has been done independently under my own free will. I emphatically request that Steven Greer cease using my name to promote his personal agenda” | |
| June 7 2023 | Le Parisien Interview | ||
| June 9 2023 | Compass Rose Legal Group issue a statement saying they have ended their formal association with David Grusch | ||
| June 11 2023 | Grusch’s first TV interview – NewsNation with Ross Coulthart | YouTube | |
| June 13 2023 | Statement to Jeremy Corbell | “During my investigations, very little was from the usual crowd that has some knowledge. Most people that confirm details to ICIG are current government employees with top secret clearances. People that literally handled the materials in the classified program. Those individuals provided exact locations of where the stuff was.” [Italics in the original have been converted to bold.] | Youtube |
| June 27 2023 | Interview with Max Moszkowicz of Nieuwe Revu | Nieuwe Revu by Max Moszkowicz | |
| July 23 2023 | Grusch testifies in front of United States House Committee on Oversight and Accountability | Testimony | |
| August 8 2023 | Interview with BBC Radio 4’s The World Tonight | Youtube | |
| August 8 2023 | Having become aware of impending reporting by The Intercept, Grusch releases statement on mental health | Statement on Mental Health | |
| August 9 2023 | Intercept publishes reporting detailing incidents related to Grusch’s mental health | The Intercept | |
| September 10 2023 | Grusch mini-documentary with Jesse Michels | Youtube | |
| September 12 2023 | Kirkpatrick Emails Stone | Email from Dr. Sean Kirkpatrick (AARO director) to Randolph Stone completely redacted. | DODOIG-2024-000451 |
| September 2023 | House Oversight Requests Classified UAP Report | House Committee on Oversight and Accountability requested classified UAP report review and expressed interest in learning about Grusch. Stone expressed clearance concerns: “how can we confirm that the staffers have the proper clearance (TS/SCI)? … I don’t want a spill!!!” | DODOIG-2024-000451 |
| October 19 2023 | Classified Briefing Planning | Correspondence references planned classified briefing on UAPs for House Oversight Committee. Email notes: “some Members have gone down and looked at [the report] ahead of time” | DODOIG-2024-000451 |
| October 21 2023 | Grusch interview with County Highway Magazine | Walter Kirn / County Highway Magazine | |
| October 25 2023 | Grusch has phone call with Senator Gillibrand. | Gillibrand Public Schedule | |
| October 31 2023 | Grusch statement to Brian Entin responding to Kirkpatrick’s claims AARO had invited him to interview. | Earlier in the day, Kirkpatrick had made this statement: “So, the last time I believe I spoke with Mr. Grusch was when I was in the J2 at U.S. Space Command about five years ago, and it was not on this topic. Now, we have interviewed a whole range of people, over 30 people now. I think we’ve interviewed most of the people that he may have talked to, but we don’t know that. And we have extended an invitation at least four or five times now for him to come in over the last eight months or so and has been declined.” Grusch’s response via Brian Entin: “I have zero emails or calls from them. That is a lie.” | Youtube |
| November 11 2023 | Grusch speaks at Robert Pinotti International Coalition for Extraterrestrial Research | Youtube | |
| December 11 2023 | Grusch says he recently got additional security approvals through DOPSR that will allow him to share his first hand specific knowledge of “some parts of the program”, and that he is currently drafting an Op-Ed that will be released “in the next few weeks.” | ||
| July 16 2024 | Grusch files a lawsuit against the Sheriff who released an incident report detailing a mental health episode in response to a FOIA request by Intercept reporter Ken Klippenstein. Grusch seeks over $2.3 million in damages. | ||
| February 13 2025 | Preliminary Report Provided | “We provided a preliminary report of investigation to the Complainant and his counsel on February 13, 2025, and gave them the opportunity to respond to our preliminary conclusion.” | DODOIG-2025-000932 |
| February 20 2025 | Complainant Non-Concurs with Conclusion | “The Complainant responded via email through counsel on February 20, 2025, nonconcurring with our conclusion, but he did not provide any additional information.” | DODOIG-2025-000932 |
| February 2025 | DoD OIG whistleblower reprisal investigation closes. | Investigation concluded that protected UAP disclosures were “not a contributing factor” to the clearance revocation decision. | DoD OIG Report |
| March 26 2025 | Grusch joins Rep. Burlison’s staff. | ||
| April 15 2025 | Rep. Burlison says David Grusch has provided House Oversight with names of 20 officials that are read-in to classified UFO programs | ||
| May 13 2025 | Grusch and Rep. Burlison meet with AARO. |