“As an intelligence officer, I would expect all of you to expect me to lie to you.” So the former director of the Pentagon’s UFO analysis office quipped to an audience in 2022.

Since his retirement in December, Sean Kirkpatrick has been on a media tour unusual for former intelligence officials.

Kirkpatrick now indirectly accuses top members of Congress of holding a “religious belief” in UFOs “that transcends critical thinking and rational thought.” In his most pointed commentary, he has also fired back at whistleblowers alleging the existence of surreptitious government UFO retrieval and reverse engineering efforts.

According to Kirkpatrick, “none of [the UFO whistleblowers] have any firsthand evidence or knowledge. They're all relaying stories that they've heard from other people.”

At least three sources contradict Kirkpatrick’s statement.

First, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, has said that multiple whistleblowers with “firsthand knowledge or firsthand claims” of UFO retrieval and reverse engineering activities have spoken to Congress.

Rubio also stated that the whistleblowers are “saying to us what you’ve seen out there in the public record…about legacy [UFO] programs...Most of [the UFO whistleblowers] have held very high clearances and high positions within our government. So, you do ask yourself: ‘What incentive would so many people with that kind of qualification – these are serious people – have to come forward and make something up?’”

Congress, it appears, referred at least some of these individuals to Kirkpatrick. According to Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.), who sits on the House Intelligence Committee and chairs a key China-focused committee, new protections enacted by Congress resulted in “all sorts of [UFO whistleblowers]........

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