Non-human intelligence (NHI): what the UFO term means
Updated October 29, 2026
Short answer
Non-human intelligence (NHI) is the term US lawmakers and UFO whistleblowers use for any intelligent being that isn't human, without saying where it comes from. The Schumer–Rounds UAP Disclosure Act of 2023 defined it as "any sentient intelligent non-human lifeform regardless of nature or ultimate origin." Defining a term is not confirming it: no government has made public any evidence that NHI exists.
Status: As of October 29, 2026: the term appears in US law, but no evidence of non-human intelligence has been made public.
All the latest on Nonhuman Intelligence
What NHI stands for
In UFO discussions, NHI stands for non-human intelligence: a thinking being that is not human. Outside this subject the same letters mean other things, from health insurance to people's names; this page is about the UFO term.
The phrase is deliberately broader than "alien" or "extraterrestrial," which both say the being comes from another planet. NHI only says what it is not. That is why lawmakers and former officials took it up: it let them talk seriously about UAP without sounding like science fiction, and without committing to an origin they couldn't prove.
Where the term comes from: the UAP Disclosure Act of 2023
On July 13, 2023, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Sen. Mike Rounds, joined by Senators Marco Rubio, Kirsten Gillibrand, Todd Young and Martin Heinrich, filed the UAP Disclosure Act as an amendment to the fiscal 2024 defense bill. It introduced several new legal definitions:
- Non-human intelligence: "any sentient intelligent non-human lifeform regardless of nature or ultimate origin that may be presumed responsible for unidentified anomalous phenomena or of which the Federal Government has become aware."
- Technologies of unknown origin: materials, craft, debris and equipment associated with UAP, or "incorporating science and technology that lacks prosaic attribution or known means of human manufacture."
- Legacy program: any government, industry or academic effort "to collect, exploit, or reverse engineer technologies of unknown origin or examine biological evidence of living or deceased non-human intelligence" from before the law.
A records law, not an announcement
The bill was modeled on the JFK assassination records law. It ordered agencies to send UAP records to the National Archives and set up an independent review board to decide what to release. One section told the government to use eminent domain over any recovered technology or biological evidence held privately, and to show it to the board, "should it exist." The definition made sure the law would cover such material if it turned up. It did not say that it exists.
The final defense law, signed on December 22, 2023, kept a smaller version. It created a UAP Records Collection at the National Archives for records on UAP, "technologies of unknown origin, and non-human intelligence," but it dropped the definition itself, the independent review board and the eminent domain power.
Supporters have tried to restore the full act since. In July 2026 the House adopted Rep. Eric Burlison's version as an amendment to the fiscal 2027 defense bill, with a review board that would have subpoena power. As of late October 2026 the final bill had not passed. The full story is in the UAP Disclosure Act explainer.
"Non-human biologics": Grusch's testimony
The phrase reached a mass audience on July 26, 2023, when David Grusch, a former Air Force intelligence officer who co-led UAP analysis at the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, testified before a House Oversight subcommittee. He said he had been informed of "a multi-decade UAP crash retrieval and reverse engineering program" and denied access to it.
Asked by Rep. Nancy Mace whether the government had the bodies of pilots, he said "biologics came with some of these recoveries," and that they were "non-human," according to people with direct knowledge of the program he had talked to. "Non-human biologics" became shorthand for that claim. Grusch offered details only in a classified setting, and no such material has been shown publicly.
NHI versus aliens: what the wider term allows
"Regardless of nature or ultimate origin" means the legal definition covers extraterrestrials but doesn't require them. People who use the term say it leaves room for other ideas, such as intelligence hidden on Earth itself. In 2024 Tim Lomas and Brendan Case of Harvard's Human Flourishing Program and anthropologist Michael Masters published a paper arguing for scientific openness to a "cryptoterrestrial" explanation of that kind, while acknowledging that most scientists would be skeptical.
These are hypotheses about what NHI might be if it exists. There is no evidence for any of them. The breadth of the term is a matter of wording, not a finding.
Who uses the term
The term spread from the bill text into public debate through a few groups:
- Lawmakers. Schumer and Rounds wrote it into the 2023 bill, and from there it reached the law that was signed.
- Whistleblowers. Grusch's written testimony to Congress refers to "Non-Human Reverse Engineering Programs."
- Former officials. Retired Army colonel Karl Nell, who according to his published biography worked with the Pentagon's UAP Task Force, said at the SALT investment conference in New York in May 2024 that non-human intelligence exists and has been interacting with humanity. He presented no evidence.
- Documentaries, podcasts and UFO advocates, where NHI is now standard vocabulary.
What officials say about NHI
No US agency has confirmed non-human intelligence. AARO, the Pentagon's UFO office, found in its March 2024 historical report no empirical evidence for claims that the government and private companies have been reverse-engineering extraterrestrial technology, and called those claims inaccurate. Its July 2026 annual report said that "to date, no evidence suggests that a USG or private entity has ever captured or exploited UAP-derived materials."
The seven PURSUE releases the Department of War published on war.gov between May and October 2026 contain historical reports, photos and memos. The department has not said that any of them shows non-human intelligence. For a dated status, see has the government confirmed aliens?
Questions and answers
What does NHI mean in UFO terms?
NHI means non-human intelligence: any intelligent being that isn't human, whatever its origin. It is the term US lawmakers and UFO whistleblowers use instead of "aliens."
What is the legal definition of non-human intelligence?
The UAP Disclosure Act of 2023 defined it as "any sentient intelligent non-human lifeform regardless of nature or ultimate origin that may be presumed responsible for unidentified anomalous phenomena or of which the Federal Government has become aware." The law signed in December 2023 uses the term but dropped that definition.
Is non-human intelligence the same as aliens?
Not exactly. Aliens, or extraterrestrials, come from another planet by definition, while NHI only says the intelligence isn't human. Any intelligent extraterrestrial would count as NHI, but the term doesn't assume where NHI comes from.
Does non-human intelligence exist?
No evidence has been made public that it does. AARO, NASA and the 2026 PURSUE releases have presented no proof of non-human intelligence on or near Earth, and the witnesses who claim it have not shown evidence publicly.
What are non-human biologics?
The phrase comes from David Grusch's July 2023 testimony that biological material recovered with crashed craft was judged "non-human" by people he spoke to. He relied on what others told him, and nothing of the kind has been shown publicly.
What did Karl Nell say about non-human intelligence?
Retired Army colonel Karl Nell said at a New York conference in May 2024 that non-human intelligence exists and has been interacting with humanity. He presented no evidence, and no agency has confirmed his claim.
Is non-human intelligence living in the ocean?
Some witnesses describe objects entering or leaving the sea, and the 2023 bill's definition of UAP covered undersea craft. No evidence has been made public that any non-human intelligence lives in the ocean.
From the past hours
UFO news todaySources
- Congressional Record, July 13, 2023: SA 797, the UAP Disclosure Act of 2023 (bill text and definitions)
- Public Law 118-31 (NDAA for fiscal 2024), sections 1841–1843: UAP Records Collection
- David Grusch: written statement to the House Oversight subcommittee (July 26, 2023)
- House Oversight subcommittee hearing on UAP (July 26, 2023)
- AARO: Report on the Historical Record of U.S. Government Involvement with UAP, Volume I (March 2024)
- AARO: Fiscal Year 2025 Consolidated Annual Report on UAP (July 2026)
- Rep. Eric Burlison: House adopts UAP disclosure amendment to the FY2027 NDAA (July 22, 2026)
- Lomas, Case and Masters: The cryptoterrestrial hypothesis (Philosophy and Cosmology, 2024)
More explainers
- The UAP Disclosure Act: what it says and where it standsThe UAP Disclosure Act would force US UFO records into public view. What the bill says, what became law in 2023, and its status in the 2027 defense bill.
- Has the US government confirmed aliens? Here's where things standNo. As of October 29, 2026, no US agency or president has confirmed aliens or non-human intelligence. What AARO, NASA, Trump and Obama actually said.
- Is the US government hiding aliens? The claims and the evidenceWhistleblowers say the US hides crashed UFOs and non-human bodies; the Pentagon says it found no evidence. What each side has shown, and what is proven.
- Are aliens real? Yes, no, and what we actually knowAre aliens real? There's no proof. Life elsewhere is plausible, but no UFO has been shown to be alien. What science, NASA, AARO and the 2026 UFO files say.