Case · 2008
Needles, California crash — 2008
DOE / Army helicopters; Hume's favourite case, probably X-37B
Hume groups Needles with Peru on recovery mechanics: DOE presence, possibly Army S-64, hard-to-get Army files. He calls it one of his favourite cases and, as opinion, most likely an X-37B. George Knapp's reporting is the public spine; Hume also notes Frank Costigan speaking to someone in NNSS insignia — NEST, contractor, or security, he is not sure.
Findings
Each line is tagged as a FOIA outcome, something someone told Hume, open literature, a leak, or Hume's own reading. Do not treat the last as a document.
- 01Hume's reading
Hume's doctrine map (DOE / NEST / Army aviation) is the same one he uses for Peru 1997. Army files were 'like pulling teeth.'
- 02Hume's reading
Crash-origin opinion (experimental UAS / X-37B) is Hume's, labelled as such, not a FOIA finding.
- 03Hume's reading
No Hume FOIA release is logged specifically as a Needles production; the case lives as comparative doctrine plus open reporting.
Names
RG Hume
Independent FOIA researcher
UK researcher who files FOI/FOIA against MOD, DSTL, AARO, NNSA, DOE, FBI, CIA-adjacent holdings, EPA, CBP and police. Publishes as @rgh_ufos. Has said his name is on requests, has appeared in BBC and Mail Online, and was cited by Jesse Michels for the NNSA Starfish Prime response.
George Knapp
Investigative journalist
Original interviewer of Al O'Donnell. Hume treats the Knapp vs Jacobson versions as a documented narrative split worth studying, not as a gotcha. Hume also points at Knapp's Needles 2008 reporting as the public spine of that crash-retrieval case.
Agencies
Source posts
Public posts by @rgh_ufos. Open may be blocked inside this preview — copy the URL and paste it in a new tab.
- 2026-02-03
Knapp talking about his investigation into one of my favourite cases the Needles 08 crash (most likely X37b).