A declassified Australian intelligence review from 1971 suggests that U.S. officials, including the CIA, believed some unidentified flying objects (UFOs) might be extraterrestrial craft and secretly worked to understand their propulsion systems, according to Air Force veteran David Grusch. Grusch, who previously served as an intelligence officer for the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) and on the UAP Task Force, urged the White House to release what he called the 'smoking gun' evidence of UFOs' reality.
During a press conference on Capitol Hill, Grusch directed attention to pages seven through 16 of the Australian report, authored by O.H. Turner, head of the Nuclear Branch in Australia's Joint Intelligence Organization. He stated that this section details U.S. cover-up involvement by the CIA in the 1970s.
According to the review, a government agency composed of rocket, nuclear, and intelligence specialists studied UFO reports between 1948 and 1952. The objective was to gather information about the design and propulsion of craft that investigators believed could be "interplanetary spaceships." The document repeatedly indicates that this agency was "almost certainly the CIA."
The report suggests that the government's interest stemmed from a belief among some intelligence officials that the observed objects were not Soviet technology but vehicles of possible extraterrestrial origin. An early Air Force intelligence analysis reportedly concluded that some UFO sightings involved real objects exhibiting flight characteristics far beyond known U.S. aircraft, leading investigators to consider an extraterrestrial source.
The Australian review traces U.S. government involvement in UFO investigations back to 1947, when the Air Technical Intelligence Center began examining early "flying saucer" sightings. Initially, investigators suspected advanced Soviet technology, but by the end of 1947, many involved in Project Sign, the first official U.S. government UFO study, had shifted toward the possibility that the craft originated beyond Earth. However, senior officials reportedly rejected the extraterrestrial explanation due to insufficient evidence, leading to a retreat from attempts to solve the mystery.
Project Sign was replaced in 1949 by Project Grudge, which the review described as an effort to discredit UFO reports and reduce public acceptance of the phenomenon, possibly due to fears of public panic or embarrassment over the inability to explain the sightings. Meanwhile, the review noted that another agency, identified as "almost certainly the CIA," continued examining UFO reports with the aim of collecting design and propulsion data.
Despite efforts to downplay the phenomenon, sightings continued. By 1952, the Air Force launched Project Blue Book to analyze thousands of reports. That summer saw a significant surge in sightings, including incidents over Washington D.C. Some intelligence officials reportedly concluded these objects could be extraterrestrial craft, leading to the release of 41 classified cases that contradicted earlier explanations. The CIA, however, reportedly focused on the concern that the volume of reports was overwhelming military communications and distracting from monitoring potential Soviet threats.
In January 1953, the CIA's Office of Scientific Intelligence convened the Robertson Panel. While the panel recommended continued investigation, the review argues the agency ultimately favored publicly downplaying UFOs while expanding intelligence collection covertly. Project Blue Book was gradually transformed into a small public-facing office primarily responsible for providing explanations for sightings, with more sensitive intelligence work moved elsewhere within the military structure.
Turner argued that studies conducted under Blue Book showed the most credible sightings were often the hardest to explain, and that officials privately regarded these unexplained cases as fundamentally different from known aircraft, astronomical objects, or conventional phenomena. The review also linked intelligence interest in UFO performance characteristics to government support for advanced aerospace projects and anti-gravity research, suggesting a fear that the Soviet Union might master such technology first.
Grusch, who served 14 years in the Air Force and then as an intelligence officer for the NRO from 2019 to 2021, stated he became a whistleblower after allegedly learning that elements of the U.S. government had prevented Congressional oversight on matters related to extraterrestrials. He testified before Congress in 2023, claiming that secret government departments had been running UFO retrieval and reverse-engineering programs for decades. His call for the release of information highlights ongoing efforts to pressure officials for greater transparency on the topic of unidentified aerial phenomena.