He says he almost got some material to study.He said that he almost gained access to an "object" (a UFO)--not material.“It’s there. I was working with a group about seven or eight years ago and I literally got within a few weeks of gaining access to one of the objects.
He has recovered exotic "material" in his lab (or so he and others have been saying).
I assume “object” referred to a part of or device from the UFO, not the entirety.