I hate to be pedantic, b--actually, that's not true; I enjoy it plenty well.
Hearsay is a TYPE of evidence, albeit not a particularly reliable type of evidence. But you are correct, it is hearsay, and in fact, its second-hand hearsay.
But more to Loquebantur's point here (I think this was his point), this IS fundamentally different than similar claims that came before. You have one guy from the government making these sorts of claims (that's not the different part, this next part is), and you have 2 other decorated government officials and colleagues willing to, not only speaking highly of Grusch's integrity, but CORROBORATING HIS EXACT CLAIMS, and even going on to provide a further anecdotes.
That's not what normally happens.
Also, it is fundamentally different for this reason as well: All of this information and whatever Grusch learned was provided to congress, behind closed door to those with the clearance to hear it. As far as I am aware of, this level of type of information has never been provided to congress before.
This not insignificant; Congress has the the power to subpoena information, compel testimony, and ultimately verify or debunk these claims and information. And ultimately, if they deem it pertinent to do so, they have the autonomy to inform the American public.
Now, not to totally invalidate your other point:
I do think it is important to keep in mind here that Grusch himself has not seen any direct or hard evidence of 'materials of exotic origin'. He is merely saying that several high-level individuals have confided in him what is presumably first hand experiences, which, as you know, is second-hand hearsay.
So this leaves open the possibility that the individuals who were confiding in Grusch, were fooling themselves, were in some way deceived, or perhaps even wanting to fool Grusch himself.
Hearsay is a TYPE of evidence, albeit not a particularly reliable type of evidence. But you are correct, it is hearsay, and in fact, its second-hand hearsay.
But more to Loquebantur's point here (I think this was his point), this IS fundamentally different than similar claims that came before. You have one guy from the government making these sorts of claims (that's not the different part, this next part is), and you have 2 other decorated government officials and colleagues willing to, not only speaking highly of Grusch's integrity, but CORROBORATING HIS EXACT CLAIMS, and even going on to provide a further anecdotes. That's not what normally happens. Also, it is fundamentally different for this reason as well: All of this information and whatever Grusch learned was provided to congress, behind closed door to those with the clearance to hear it. As far as I am aware of, this level of type of information has never been provided to congress before.
This not insignificant; Congress has the the power to subpoena information, compel testimony, and ultimately verify or debunk these claims and information. And ultimately, if they deem it pertinent to do so, they have the autonomy to inform the American public.
Now, not to totally invalidate your other point: I do think it is important to keep in mind here that Grusch himself has not seen any direct or hard evidence of 'materials of exotic origin'. He is merely saying that several high-level individuals have confided in him what is presumably first hand experiences, which, as you know, is second-hand hearsay.
So this leaves open the possibility that the individuals who were confiding in Grusch, were fooling themselves, were in some way deceived, or perhaps even wanting to fool Grusch himself.