In July 2023, former military intelligence officer David Grusch testified under oath to the U.S. Congress that the government had for decades recovered and studied dozens of intact and partially preserved craft of non-human origin, as well as biological remains. Since then, testimonies have accumulated, but science continued to work with what remained in the public domain—photographs, reports, and blurry videos. That proved insufficient to confidently distinguish natural phenomena, terrestrial drones, or laser effects from something fundamentally different.
The situation began to change in the summer of 2026. On 31 July, Aaron Lucas, the first deputy director of National Intelligence, signed a memorandum. The document explicitly lifted the effect of non-disclosure agreements and contractual obligations that had prevented current and former government employees and contractors from speaking about UAP to authorized representatives—including within the PURSUE system and the AARO office. Information is to be submitted for review and possible declassification. This is not just a formality: the barrier that for years kept people silent has been officially removed.
It is against this backdrop that on 27 August, Harvard professor Avi Loeb, who heads the UAP Scientific Advisory Board to the U.S. government and the Galileo Project, publicly articulated the obvious next step. If materials have indeed been recovered, scientists must gain direct access to them. Even a gram of material would suffice to test its chemical and isotopic composition. Solar system material has a characteristic "fingerprint"—the result of the specific history of neighboring stars and supernovae. Material from another star system would be different. Technological traces—alloy structures, solid-state features—would also give themselves away. Biological samples are even easier to distinguish: a different molecular basis for genetic information, different chirality, or signs of synthetic biology.
Loeb reminds us that U.S. agencies have repeatedly recovered debris and remains from crash sites of ordinary military equipment. If some of the "unidentified" objects turn out to be products of rival states, that is a matter of national security. If they are of extraterrestrial origin, we face the most significant scientific discovery in human history, one that will determine our place among the stars for millions of years to come. Until access is granted, fundamental uncertainty remains. Testimonies are important, but they do not replace primary data and laboratory analysis.
While scientists wait, the Galileo Project continues to gather its own observations—multi-sensor stations operating in the infrared, optical, radio, and acoustic ranges. This is a long but honest path. However, if the "shortcut to truth" already lies in guarded repositories, endlessly analyzing blurry footage seems odd. Lucas's historic memorandum opened the door for those who know. Now it is up to ensuring that scientists can verify that knowledge with their own methods—without dogma and without omissions. What remained behind closed doors for decades is finally being brought to light.
