INSIDER Finally Admitted the UFO Call Happened

John Podesta, Bill Clinton's former White House chief of staff and Hillary Clinton's 2016 campaign chairman. He confirmed on the record for the first time that he joined a call about UFOs with Tom DeLonge, a senior Lockheed Martin executive and a retired Air Force general. That general, Neil McCaslin, has been missing since February. Podesta's statement responds to David Grush's new interview on Joe Rogan's podcast. And in that interview, Grush claimed personnel killed a reptilian being, and he said Senate intelligence staff warned him about a threat to his life. Hey, UFOlogers, I'm Cristina Gomez, and this is your UFO news update. The Joe Rogan interview came out on Wednesday, nearly three years after Grush's first appearance on Rogan in November of 2023. One new detail is that Grush has left his job on Congressman Eric Berluson's staff, and Berluson's spokesman, Nate Lucas, confirmed to the outlet Paradigm that Grush left around Labor Day, but he couldn't give an exact date. Grush is no longer working in government and is now making claims he never made in public before. And we have gone into greater detail on this in yesterday's episode, which lays a foundation for the rest of this show today. Matthew Brown, the whistleblower behind the Immaculate Constellation report, said on the ClearHot podcast that Grush's 2023 testimony affected people inside the system who were deciding whether to come forward. The doubt kind of was erased from my mind by outside events. David Grush came forward and testified publicly. I was already on my way towards meeting with Sissy at that time, but seeing him come out and say these things in public and also realizing, oh, he's that person that people had been talking about on the inside that was never named, that's the guy, kind of gave me that extra confidence to go through with it. Grush's newest claim is about 2016. Emails published by WikiLeaks already show that DeLong wrote to Podesta about UFOs and his talks with McCaslin, and the emails pointed to a call in January of 2016. Grush now says those contacts were part of an organized effort. He told Rogan that Podesta approved what Grush called an acclamation and popularization effort. He said that's why DeLong was suddenly advised by McCaslin and by Robert Weiss, who Grush described as head of Lockheed Martin Skunk Works at that time. And Grush said those men didn't help DeLong because they were surprised he was a rock star. They said they had permission from higher up to use DeLong as a public face who could reach young people so the public would be prepared before 2016. Grush named former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper as one of the officials who gave the effort cover, and he also said the effort changed direction after Trump won in 2016, and he believes that helps explain why DeLong's origin to the Stars Academy project lost momentum. Paradigm reporter Ben Schreckinger brought Grush's claim to Podesta, and in an email, Podesta confirmed for the first time that he discussed UFOs with DeLong, McCaslin, and Weiss. He said DeLong arranged a conference call with those men, and according to Podesta, they discussed declassifying Defense Department files and reducing the stigma professionals face for taking UFOs seriously. Podesta disagreed with how Grush described the purpose of the call, and he said he wouldn't describe it in that way. He also said he has always believed the American people could handle the truth about UAP without being prepared for it first. How put off DeLong's co-founder to the Stars Academy gave Paradigm a different timeline entirely. He said he believes DeLong met McCaslin and Weiss before he met Podesta. If that is correct, it weakens the idea that Podesta brought this group together, and Weiss retired from Lockheed in 2018 and now serves on the board of the Ultramaritime. He didn't respond to Paradigm, and McCaslin is a former commander of the Air Force Research Laboratory. He left his Albuquerque home on February 27th and has not been found since. His wallet and a revolver are also gone. The FBI joined the search, and investigators have said they have no evidence of foul play thus far. But do you think the 2016 call was a planned effort to prepare the public or a push to declassify files as Podesta says? Well, you tell me. As covered yesterday, Grush went further on Rogan than he did in 2023. He described videos of humanoid beings being recovered from a crash, conflict between reptilian and gray beings, and a deep sea base. He also said a 2004 review found that the biggest reason to stay quiet was legal liability for defense contractors, not fear of public panic. And Brown raised the same issue on Cleared Hot. Take a listen. But that doesn't mean you should hide the truth from 360 million people. In Brown's new State of Play report, published Wednesday, described the obstacles. The White House's UAP Science Council Advisory Board, led by Avi Loeb, cannot receive classified data, and its members do not have security clearances. The White House has also waived some UAP secrecy agreements. But Brown says the waiver only allows classified disclosures to pursue the government's UAP release channel. It doesn't allow disclosures to Congress or to the public. Brown says this suggests the original agreement was written to keep information from the White House itself. He argues that an order alone simply won't be enough. I know people want to talk. What do you think it would take? It takes the president opening the door. It takes... You're talking about like an executive order or... Not just an executive order, but a sustained effort from the executive branch to put people in power and to follow through. Because if you just put an executive order out, and it's to the people who are keeping the secret, I mean, it's happening now. They're going to subvert the intent. So it's not just saying do this, it's do this, and here are the people who are going to go to war for it and do this the right way. Grush, Brown, Dylan Borland, and Geoffrey Nusitalli have asked the president for immunity and permission to speak publicly. In an appeal organized by filmmaker James Fox, Brown says early backchannel reports indicate the appeal has reached people close to the president. He also says people with direct access to Trump have confirmed that a disclosure speech has been prepared and that it could come before the midterms. Brown explained why the timing really matters to him here. This is, for me now, a no-fail mission. Either disclosure happens in some capacity, and this heat comes off, and there's some sort of protection extended to me and others like me, or this fades in the background and a few years down the line when there's not the spotlight on us, people just start having accidents. Brown is saying that public attention is what's keeping him safe. In his view, if disclosure stalls and the spotlight fades, whistleblowers like him are left exposed for accidents to lead to an untimely end. That is why what is happening right now is really important. Podesta has confirmed the 2016 call took place, but he rejects Grush's account of its purpose. Grush says Trump intends to disclose before his midterm ends. Brown says people close to the president have confirmed a disclosure speech exists. The whistleblowers are waiting on immunity, and they are waiting on that window. Do you think the speech, Trump's speech, will come before the midterms, or will that window close too? Leave your thoughts in the comments below. I'm Christina Gomez, that is it for today. I will see you again next time for another UFO news update. Be safe, and remember, keep your eyes on the skies.