Lexicon · Concept

crash retrieval

In ufology, the term "crash retrieval" (roncsmentés) refers to alleged operations in which government or military bodies recover and classify crashed aircraft of unknown origin and their wreckage, possibly also remains.

In ufological usage, "crash retrieval" (in Hungarian roughly "roncsmentés" or "leletmentés") refers to alleged events and procedures in which the wreckage, possibly also the biological remains, of a crashed flying object believed to be of unknown origin is secretly collected, transported away and hidden from the public.

What researchers claim

According to researchers and recollection-givers who deal with the subject, strictly classified programs set up specifically to recover and examine such wreckage have existed in the United States for decades. Among these they count the most famous case, the 1947 Roswell incident, which many consider the first documented "crash retrieval." More recently, David Grusch, a former intelligence official, stated that in his view several such crash retrieval programs have operated or are operating, and that their materials are handled by private companies outside the official military structures.

Official and skeptical position

Official investigations by the U.S. Department of Defense and AARO (All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office) have so far found no evidence that the wreckage of any vehicle of non-human origin is being stored in secret. According to skeptical researchers, a significant portion of the cases labeled "crash retrieval" can be explained by the recovery of terrestrial equipment (for example, balloons, experimental aircraft) and by the excessive secrecy practices of the Cold War era, rather than by alien technology.

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