Ralph Blumenthal

Former NYT reporter who co-wrote the 2017 AATIP story and the 2023 Grusch story with Leslie Kean. Biographer of John Mack.

Current role: Distinguished Lecturer, Baruch College (CUNY); author; co-reports UAP stories with Leslie Kean for The New York Times and The Debrief

Former roles:

Staff reporter, The New York Times (1964 to 2009)

Background

Ralph Blumenthal was a reporter for The New York Times from 1964 to 2009, covering metro, foreign, investigative and crime stories, and was part of the metro team that won a Pulitzer Prize for coverage of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. He is now a Distinguished Lecturer at Baruch College, CUNY. His UAP work is almost entirely co-bylined with Leslie Kean: the December 2017 Times story that revealed AATIP, the May 2019 Times story on Navy pilot sightings, the June 2023 Debrief story introducing David Grusch, and a January 2026 Debrief piece on the Varginha witnesses in Congress. His 2021 book The Believer is a biography of Harvard psychiatrist John E. Mack. The Baruch profile carries the bibliography.

On the record

2026-01-30 – The Debrief, with Kean – reported the 15 January meeting between Reps. Burchett, Luna and Burlison and three Brazilian Varginha witnesses, and the 20 January National Press Club event. Witness Dr. Italo Venturelli: "I wouldn't say it communicated telepathically; it communicated empathetically." The article states the case lacks physical, photographic or official documentary evidence. – The Debrief
2024-08-16 – The New York Times, with Kean – "A Memoir Offers an Insider's Perspective into the Pentagon's U.F.O. Hunt", previewing Luis Elizondo's memoir. – Baruch bibliography
2023-06-05 – The Debrief, with Kean – reported that David Grusch had given Congress and the Intelligence Community Inspector General information about programmes he says retrieved craft. Grusch: "The material includes intact and partially intact vehicles." – The Debrief
2019-05-26 – The New York Times, with Helene Cooper and Kean – "'Wow, What Is That?' Navy Pilots Report Unexplained Flying Objects". – Baruch bibliography
2017-12-16 – The New York Times, with Cooper and Kean – "Glowing Auras and 'Black Money': The Pentagon's Mysterious U.F.O. Program", plus the companion piece "2 Navy Airmen and an Object That 'Accelerated Like Nothing I've Ever Seen'". – NYT

Responses and criticism

Coverage of the 2023 Debrief story pointed out that Grusch had not personally seen the craft he described and relied on interviews with other officials. – The Week, summarising The Guardian

Timeline of involvement

1964 to 2009 – reporter, The New York Times
2017-12-16 – co-writes the NYT story revealing AATIP
2019-05-26 – co-writes the NYT Navy pilots story
2021-03-15 – The Believer published
2023-06-05 – co-writes the Debrief story introducing David Grusch
2024-08-16 – NYT piece on Elizondo's memoir
2026-01-30 – Debrief story on the Varginha witnesses

Relevant links

Part of the Key People in Disclosure series. Verified 2026-10-10. Spotted an error? Reach out.