(NewsNation) — A former Navy rear admiral and administrator of the government’s lead meteorological agency told NewsNation he believes whistleblower David Grusch’s claims of a secret UFO retrieval program run by the Pentagon.

These are historic times in the growing push for greater government transparency surrounding UAPs, more commonly called UFOs.

Legislation that adds unprecedented disclosure demands to the annual defense spending bill hangs in the balance.

NewsNation continues to put a spotlight on whistleblower testimony and efforts by lawmakers to bring more transparency to the UFO issue. One of those people is retired U.S. Navy Rear Admiral Tim Gallaudet, who led the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) under former President Donald Trump.

Gallaudet said he is convinced the story Grusch is telling is true based on his experience in the military and government. He also told NewsNation correspondent Ross Coulthart there were attempts to cover up UFO sightings by members of the military. NewsNation is not able to independently verify the evidence that Gallaudet said led him to this conclusion.

Gallaudet said the planet has been visited by entities he described as “non-human.” He said he absolutely believes non-human intelligent beings are real.

“We’re being visited by non-human intelligence with technology we really don’t understand and with intentions we don’t understand either,” he said.

Gallaudet spent his career serving his country, starting in the Navy where he worked in areas like aircraft carrier combat operations and assisting Navy SEAL teams during counter-terrorism operations, according to his official biography.

More recently he served as acting administrator of NOAA, the agency that forecasts weather and monitors ocean and atmospheric conditions, where he analyzed the science behind weather and other phenomena.

“One of my jobs in the Navy, I was the chief meteorologist of the Navy at the time when Orion was encountering the UAP off the U.S. East Coast,” he said.

Gallaudet said he received a video containing the “Go fast” video, which shows a fighter pilot’s encounter with a UAP, from his superior officers.

“I learn now that these were occurring in training airspace and causing near mid-air collisions. So that safety issue is important,” he said. “But the Navy didn’t do anything about it. Then they actually pulled back that email from my computer on the secret network.”

Gallaudet believes that was part of a cover-up.

“This technology, we’re still trying to learn about and it could give us an advantage in any military conflict,” Gallaudet said. “That’s a good reason not to disclose the nature of the technology. I think for the foreseeable future, we don’t want to release and disclose all of the technology that we’ve recovered. However, I think it’s about time that we do disclose that we are in contact with non-human intelligence, that’s what needs to be put out there in the public.”

Gallaudet also said it’s important to talk openly about the flight safety risks that go along with UAP encounters.

Despite his level of seniority in the Navy and NOAA, Gallaudet said he was not put into any UAP programs.

“They’re special access programs, very tightly restricted. So you have to look into what one’s job is and the need to know,” he said.

For classification or clearance at a certain level, Gallaudet explained those two elements are prerequisites to gaining access.

“In my job as oceanographer of the Navy, for example, it really wouldn’t have made sense for me to have been read into these crash retrieval programs,” Gallaudet said. “it’s really kind of a Cold War legacy of over classification.”

The government has continued to deny any crash-retrieval programs involving non-human technology. While those like Grusch and Gallaudet are speaking out about their experiences, other high-ranking people in government continue to say they have seen no credible evidence of UAP phenomena.

“What you have going on right now with legacy classify programs, special access programs without Congressional direction and White House policy, that’s not going to change,” he said.