Every year, thousands of fragments of material from deep space burn up as they enter Earth’s atmosphere, and around one in three Americans reportedly think some of what falls from the sky could be extraterrestrial.
For decades, official agencies have largely avoided public discussion about alleged alien life and Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs). Skeptics argue the secrecy has often helped fuel conspiracies that distract from a more earthly explanation: classified aircraft and weapons tests carried out by the US military.
This week, however, fresh controversy has been sparked by comments from a former, CIA-connected government researcher who says the so-called deep state has already retrieved multiple non-human entities—and is keeping that evidence out of public view.
Dr. Hal Puthoff, a long-time adviser linked to the Advanced Aerospace Weapon System Applications Program, addressed the subject during an episode of The Diary of a CEO, where he discussed what he described as four distinct categories of alien life.
Speaking to Steven Bartlett, 89-year-old Puthoff revealed: “People who have been involved in recoveries have said there are at least four types. Four separate types.
“Now I have not had direct access to that but I believe the people who I talked to — four separate types of life.”
Puthoff, who studied at Stanford, did not go into detail about what those “four types” are. But others who are frequently cited in discussions about alleged non-human intelligence have previously outlined similar classifications.
According to the NY Post, Dr Eric Davis has described purported alien life as fitting into four categories that many would find unsettling: Grays, Nordics, Insectoids, and Reptilians.
Eric Davis describes the four species. pic.twitter.com/nplx3cRyOS
— Jason Wilde (@JasonWilde108) August 21, 2025
Davis has also claimed these beings are broadly humanoid in form—typically described as having two arms and two legs—though he suggests only two of the four groups are comparable to humans in height.
In that telling, Nordic and Reptilian beings are said to be roughly human-sized—meaning any reported encounter would place them at eye level with the people who claim to have seen them.