United States: AARO Director Kirkpatrick disputes UAP hearing claims in LinkedIn statement
On 27 July 2023, AARO Director Sean M. Kirkpatrick issued a LinkedIn statement disputing claims made at the previous day's congressional hearing that portrayed AARO as uncooperative, and suggested that David Grusch had refused to speak with AARO investigators.
Background
AARO Director Sean M. Kirkpatrick issued a statement on LinkedIn disputing several claims made during the previous day's congressional hearing that portrayed AARO and its employees as uncooperative. Without naming Grusch, Kirkpatrick appeared to cast doubt on the former intelligence officer's claims of reprisals and extrajudicial violence, suggesting that David Grusch had refused to speak with AARO investigators. The same day, AARO made further attempts to contact Grusch through an "associate" who was meeting with him the following day. The Debrief reported the statement on 28 July 2023; The Black Vault later published FOIA records on AARO's attempts to engage Grusch (2024) and on legal advice given to him (2025). The account follows the entry in George M. Eberhart's chronology UFOs and Intelligence (CUFOS) and the sources cited there; it is not an independent determination by From Beyond Space.