> the UFO phenomenon is real

What do you mean by this? Recordings of shit in the sky doesn't mean aliens. In that sense, it's obvious that the phenomenon is real.

Grusch doesn't know anything, he only repeats what he's been told, and what he's been told comes from the same group of Skinwalker Ranch/UFO grifters that have been blowing smoke up the backsides of Schumer and other credulous dupes for years. There is no reason to believe aliens are real in this scenario, or that whatever goes on in private briefings involves "real evidence" of such, as opposed to just passing on more nonsense that happens to be classified (like a lot of the already debunked UAP videos.)

Just because someone says something under oath, doesn't mean it's true. Just because someone says something in a SCIF, doesn't mean it's true. Just because a video seems to show a weird light or an orb or a triangle and the government says it hasn't been tampered with, doesn't mean the government is admitting that it shows proof of actual extraterrestrial craft.

The scenario presented in TFA is the simplest explanation that makes the most sense, even more so than it all being a distraction or intentional psyop to fool the Chinese or Russians. Maybe at the core of everything, there is some exotic foreign drone activity the Navy wants people to feel free to report, but the stigma of "UFOs" has gotten in the way. I can see some of this being part of a campaign by the military to make the phenomenon credible for the sake of national security, but not because actual aliens are involved.

> intentional psyop to fool the Chinese or Russians

It might be partly that, but I don't think it's only that. Because Grusch says that Russians and Chinese themselves have the tech and are considering disclosure. Russia and China will know that's false, making it self-defeating.

David Grusch is supposedly in the process of writing an op-ed in which he reveals more about his actual knowledge. He was not allowed to talk publicly about his actual involvement.

As to "for the sake of national security", I am really not buying this angle. There are plenty of scarecrows to use for increased spending - Russia, China, Middle East, North Korea. The media has not covered this topic at all. You would expect more engagement if this was really a push for more money.

I work with a lot of DoD analysts. The vast majority are ex-military, having spent time at the Pentagon doing basically the same job they do at our company now. And they are all, to the last one, some version of nutty.