--- title: "Military UFO Head Resigns After Being Grilled About Whistleblower Claims" description: "After getting some intense media grilling about whistleblower reports, the man who headed up the Pentagon's UFO office is stepping down." date: "2023-11-08" modified: "2023-11-08" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/pentagon-ufo-head-resigns" categories: - "Military" - "Off-World" - "Science & Energy" - "Space" tags: - "Pentagon" - "the digest" - "uaps" - "ufos" --- # Military UFO Head Resigns After Being Grilled About Whistleblower Claims ![After getting some intense media grilling about whistleblower reports, the man who headed up the Pentagon's UFO office is stepping down.]() *An adult man levitated into a flying saucer. \Image: Mark Stevenson/Stocktrek Images via Getty\* ## Head Out After getting some intense media grilling about whistleblower reports, the man who headed up the Pentagon's UFO office is stepping down. As [*Politico* reports](), Sean Kirkpatrick is leaving his role as the director of the Department of Defense's All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) after less than 18 months on the job and will be replaced by his deputy, Tim Phillips, until the Pentagon can appoint a more permanent director. Notably, Kirkpatrick's exit from the office came just over a week after a [protracted media exchange]() in which he admitted that claims made by whistleblower David Grusch — whose [allegations about widespread alien coverups]() and the government's possession of [reverse-engineered alien technology]() the AARO head had [previously called "insulting]()" — just might have had some merit after all. "We're investigating each and every one of \[Grusch's claims\]," the now-resigned AARO director said during the off-camera Halloween meeting with the press. "We're cross-referencing those. There are some bits of information that are turning out to be things and events that really happened." "A lot of it is still under review," Kirkpatrick continued, "and we're putting all that together into our historical report." ## Earth to Mothership As *Politico* points out, Kirkpatrick postponed his planned retirement to take the reins as the first director of the AARO when it was [established under its current name]() and purview in 2022 — and reading between the lines, he may have done so in part because he, like Grusch, believes the truth is out there. Indeed, while still in his role as the head of the department tasked with coordinating military reports on what the government refers to as "unidentified aerial phenomena" or UAPs, Kirkpatrick teamed up with Harvard's [divisive alien hunter]() Avi Loeb in authoring a paper about a potential "[alien mothership]()." In an interview with *Politico* about his resignation, Kirkpatrick said that the paper he authored with Loeb was a draft that wasn't meant to be published, but that he didn't regret his involvement in penning it. "The best thing that could come out of this job is to prove that there are aliens," he told the magazine. "If we don’t prove it’s aliens, then what we’re finding is evidence of other people doing stuff in our backyard, and that’s not good." **More on government UFO hunters:** *[NASA Releases Name of Its First-Ever "UFO Czar" After Threats]()* ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()