Department of Defense (DoD) spokesperson, Susan Gough, told Liberation Times:
"To date, AARO has not discovered any verifiable information to substantiate claims that any programs regarding the possession or reverse-engineering of extraterrestrial materials have existed in the past or exist currently."But when pushed, whether the term "extraterrestrial" could extend to materials of unknown origin or non-human intelligences (a term used specifically by whistleblower David Grusch), Gough declined to go beyond the existing on-record statements provided by the DoD.
Liberation Times has offered the DoD an opportunity to comment further on its stance regarding such terminology - as of publication, there is no indication that such a move is likely.
Although noteworthy that the DoD refuses to comment further, this is not an admission that programs dealing with materials of unknown or non-human origin have been discovered.
There may be a variety of reasons for using the term "extraterrestrial", a term which means 'of or from outside the earth or its atmosphere.'
Comment: See also: