FOIA Documents Reveal AARO’s Authorized and Repeated Attempts to Engage with David Grusch

The All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO), tasked to investigate Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP), made numerous attempts to interview UFO whistleblower David Grusch regarding his claims of U.S. Government engagement with extraterrestrial materials and technologies. These new documents were just released to The Black Vault in FOIA case 24-F-0266, which was filed on November 2, 2023, and they outline not only the timeline of events to contact Grusch, but numerous text messages and emails.

The following is an overview and brief timeline, as explained in a January 8, 2024, Memorandum for Record, which was one of the documents released in the case.

 Timeline of AARO’s Attempts to Engage David Grusch:

• June 8-13, 2023: Initial contact was made with known associates of Grusch, urging them to have him speak with AARO. These efforts were clarified during dialogues between AARO’s Director and individuals close to Grusch.
• June 26, 2023: AARO staff reached out directly for Grusch’s contact details and extended an interview invitation, which Grusch declined.
• June 28, 2023: After Grusch’s congressional testimony, AARO sought any verifiable information he might have shared with Congress.
• July 27, 2023: Further attempts to arrange an interview through another associate of Grusch, who was meeting him the following day.
• October 6, 2023: A secure call was made to encourage Grusch to participate in a formal interview.
• November 10, 2023: Grusch agreed to be interviewed on November 14, after Congressional staff urged his cooperation.
• November 14, 2023: Grusch failed to appear at the scheduled interview, expressing doubts about AARO’s authorization to handle classified information.
• November 19, 2023: AARO contacted Grusch again, reiterating their authorization and inviting him to discuss his claims, which he declined.
• January 8, 2024: AARO provided additional documentation to address Grusch’s concerns about confidentiality and classification handling, maintaining a standing invitation for an interview.

As noted in the above email also released in the records, there was a scheduled meeting with Grusch after he finally agreed to meet. However, he never showed, and seemingly even left them waiting in the lobby at the agreed meeting time and location.

Grusch later apologized in an email, but alluded to his no-show being tied to what he felt were unanswered questions that he wanted addressed prior to the meeting.

 

After the timeline was outlined, the memorandum ended with, “During interactions between AARO and Mr. Grusch from November 2023 to January 2024, it became evident that Mr. Grusch had no intention of providing AARO with information regarding his claims.”

But the memorandum outlining the timeline of contact attempts was not the full extent of the release. Numerous emails and text message exchanges were provided to support the above timeline.

One example of the latter were text message exchanges between Christopher Mellon, a former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Intelligence, and Dr. Sean Kirkpatrick, the Director of AARO at the time they were written, on the encrypted text messaging system known as Signal.  These messages reveal Mellon attempting to mediate between Grusch and AARO to clarify misunderstandings about AARO’s legal capacities.

Note: Mellon’s texts are in the grey/white and Kirkpatrick is in blue/white.

Through Mellon, Grusch was asking why AARO just did not get their information from the Inspector General’s office, as Kirkpatrick then explained due to the “criminal investigation” aspect of the material, they would not have access to it until the IG decided to release it. However, Kirkpatrick explained that Grusch still was able to give his testimony and evidence to AARO directly, outside of the criminal investigation.

Kirkpatrick labels Grusch’s assertions and Mellon’s response to him as “absurd and false” during the exchange.

Another exchange showed how Kirkpatrick told Mellon he was “… defending and adjudicating, and [Mellon was] undermining the very organization [he]purported to help establish for this purpose.” Mellon’s response was that he never claimed Grusch’s claims were “accurate” but he felt Grusch was “sincere and credible.” His full response is above. (Note: The message appears to have been cut off. An appeal has been filed for the rest of it under the “Read More” link, as shown in the screen shot).

The exchanges released began on June 11, 2023, and lasted until June 13, 2023. Another exchange was at an unknown date relaying AARO’s position that, “By law, AARO may receive all UAP-related information, including any classified national security information involving military, intelligence, and intelligence-related activities, at all levels of classification regardless of any restrictive access controls, special access programs, or compartmented access programs.”

Mellon agreed to pass that on to Grusch’s attorney, then he stated he would, “… seek to avoid further communication unless it is something that seems extraordinary or if [likely Kirkpatrick]initiate.” No further communication between Mellon and Kirkpatrick was released.

Another document in the FOIA release is the memorandum confirming AARO’s authority to receive and handle all UAP-related information, regardless of its classification. This memorandum, signed by Major General David Abba, Director, DoD Special Access Program Central Office (DoD SAPCO), explicitly states that AARO representatives are authorized to engage with individuals who possess sensitive U.S. Government information about UAPs, even if bound by nondisclosure agreements. This document is crucial because it directly counters Grusch’s claims of legal and security risks in cooperating with AARO, providing a clear legal basis for AARO’s ability to hear details about his story.

It should also be noted, that on April 17, 2024, Abba took part with the now acting Director of AARO Tim Phillips, in a classified briefing for some members of Congress. Details of that briefing, as of the writing of this article, are scant.

The detailed FOIA documents, including the timeline of engagements and the text messages with Christopher Mellon, demonstrate AARO’s persistent and legally supported efforts to involve David Grusch in their investigation. Despite these efforts, Grusch’s refusal to cooperate, based on disputed claims about AARO’s authority, raises more questions about the discrepancies between his public statements and his actions. The memorandum affirming AARO’s authorization to receive classified information is a critical piece of evidence supporting the office’s capacity to conduct its mandated tasks, reinforcing AARO’s role in the ongoing UAP investigations.

Numerous attempts by The Black Vault in the past to contact David Grusch about his claims have never been returned. No attempt was made to contact him for this specific article as all methods to contact him have been exhausted. The results of the appeal on the above case will be posted, when available.

Document Archive

Release Package for FOIA Case 24-F-0266 [28 Pages, 4MB]

 

 

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