2026 UAP Detection and Tracking Summit

A new UAP conference

A website has appeared advertising a two day  virtual conference titled "2026 UAP Detection and Tracking Summit," to be held 7-8 February 2026. The website lays out that "The Summit will explore the technologies, methodologies, and collaborative framework essential to understanding and monitoring UAP." 

It presents seven critical issues which the organizers believe need to be addressed including the "Need for frequency/spectrum analysis" and " Insufficient sustained funding."

A list of six "Summit goals" is presented, including "Establish scientific standards and methodologies" and "Secure adequate funding streams."

Themes and speakers

It is often by looking at the program details, that one can judge the worth of a conference such as this. Below is a list of themes and speakers, extracted from the event website:

1. "In our skies: The current state of UAP."

Congressman Eric Burlison.

2. "In our oceans."

Richard Dolan.

3. "Emerging platforms in UAP detection and tracking."

David Dominguez Hooper, Fred Pallesen, Gerry and John Tedesco, Rainer Haseit.

4. "Scientific foundations for UAP detection and tracking."

Matthew Szydagis.

5. "Multimodal UAP detection and tracking."

Philippe Ailleris, Adam Yingling, Gene Greneker.

6. "On the frontiers of UAP detection."

James Fowler. 

7. "International UAP detection and tracking."

Massimo Teodorani.

8. "Citizen reporting networks."

Peter Davenport, Robert Spearing.

9. " Skywatcher framework: Technical field operation to scientific analysis."

Garry Nolan.

10. "UAP detection: Policy and tracking oversight."

Speakers to be announced.

11. "Scaling UAP solutions."

Speakers to be announced.

12. "Strategic solutions roadmap."

Rich Hoffman, Adam Yingling. 

Trove of James E. McDonald UAP related material

A collection of UAP related, and other documents by/about the late James E. McDonald has been uploaded to a server at Princeton University in the USA. The collection sits on the website of Kirk T. McDonald, Professor Emeritus, Department of Physics at Princeton. 

Ann Druffel's 2003 book titled "Firestorm: Dr. James E. McDonald's Fight for UFO Science" gives details of McDonald's six children, including the eldest son Kirk. 

The trove of documents, the largest online collection of James E. McDonald's work of which I am aware, includes copies of:

* Letters

* UAP magazine articles

* John Kenneth Gillin's 2013 thesis about McDonald's UAP work

* McDonald's statement to the 1968 UFO Symposium

* A 100 page PDF of summaries of audio recordings of McDonald's 1967 interviews of Australian witnesses

* Various talks by McDonald

* Meteorological papers

* Details of the University of Arizona McDonald special collection

* A bibliography

* Newspaper articles

* An MP4 file titled "Westall_UFO" re the 6 April 1966 Westall, Melbourne, Australia event.

Acknowledgements:

1. Thanks to Melbourne researcher Jimmy Cychowski for advising me of the existence of this site.

2. Thanks also to Sydney researcher Anthony Clarke for providing the direct link to the UAP related material. 

Note:

I note that another one of McDonald's children, Ronilyn, in 1967 wrote a thesis as part of her Bachelors in Psychology titled "Psychological Aspects of Unidentified Flying Objects." 

The latest SOL Foundation symposium

The SOL Foundation

The latest SOL Foundation gathering took place between 24-27 October 2025, on the shores of Lake Maggiore, in northern Italy. The concept of a European event was to highlight the fact that the phenomenon is a global one, and not limited to the United States, where it has attracted the most interest in recent years.  Behind the scenes there has been quiet achievements in Europe, e.g. questions re UAP were asked in the European Parliament and UK Durham University held a webinar. 

The agenda

As set out on the SOL Foundation website, the agenda for the meeting was:

25 October 2025 Morning "The UAP Situation Today."

Dr. Beatriz Villarroel, astronomer, the Vanishing and Appearing Sources during a century of Observations (VASCO) Project.

Colonel (Retd) Karl Nell, aerospace executive

Luc Dini, Chairman, SIGMA2, 3AF France - Unidentified Aerospace Phenomena

General Pierre Bescond, member SIGMA2, 3AF.

25 October 2025 Afternoon "Understanding UAP and NHI."

Dr. Peter Skafish, sociocultural anthropologist, co-founder of the SOL Foundation

Dr. Diana Pasulka, Professor of Religious Studies, University of North Carolina, Wilmington

Dr. Karl Svozil, Austrian physicist

Dr. Jacques Vallee, Computer scientist, author

Dr. Garry Nolan, Rachford and Carlota A. Harris Professor Endowed Chair, Department of Pathology, Stanford University School of Medicine

Jake Barber. Skywatcher project. 

26 October 2025 Morning "Developing a Response."

"Fabio De Masi, member of the European Parliament

Dr. Christian Peters, Board of Advisors, Society for UAP Studies

Dr. Michael Bohlander, Chair in Global Law and SETI policy, Durham University (UK)

Maura Mindrila, entrepreneur and polymath. .

26 October 2025 Afternoon "Facing the Future-Opportunities and Dilemmas"

Admiral (Retd) Tim Gallaudet, former Administrator, National Ocean and Atmospherics Administration

Dr. Jacob Haqq-Misra, Blue Marble Space Institute of Seattle

Dr. Anna Brady Estevez, Founding Partner of American DeepTech, investment company

Jonathan Berte, Founder, Chairman of the Board, Robovision; Co-founder SOL Foundation

Michael Valliant, Computer scientist, data scientist, GEIPAN consultant. 

27 October 2025 Morning "Insights and  Reflections"

Dr. Iya Whiteley, Aviation and space psychologist

Dylan Borland, UAP whistleblower

Jeff Nuccetilli., USAF veteran.

Reports on the meeting

A number of individuals have posted their take on the meeting, including journalist Harald Havas, who writes for the Austrian media. 

As with previous SOL Foundation conferences, we can expect to see video recordings posted in due course.

At least two individuals from Australia, namely Clark Watson and Rhys Dalton-Morgan, attended the symposium. 

More documents leak from the BAASS AAWSAP CAPELLA data warehouse

What was CAPELLA?

The CAPELLA data warehouse was a collection of a number of internationally sourced databases, compiled by Bigelow Aerospace Advanced Space Studies (BAASS), the contractor for the Advanced Aerospace Weapon System Applications Program (AAWSAP), in the timeframe 2008-2010. The concept was created by Jacques Vallee and managed at BAASS by Douglas Kurth of USS Nimitz fame.

When AAWSAP ceased in 2010, the CAPELLA data warehouse was one of the Program's products which were forwarded to the Program sponsor, the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA). It was thought to have been lost, until evidence came forward that the CAPELLA data warehouse had reemerged. 

Lines of evidence

Two of the lines of evidence for this assertion are:

(1) In the 2021 book "Skinwalkers at the Pentagon" by James T. Lacatski et al, page 169.

"The authors are aware that the AAWSAP BAASS Data Warehouse, rather than lying fallow in a dusty warehouse or on a discarded hard drive, has been recently reactivated and is currently in use in various locations related to the government study of UAPs."

(2) In the 2025 book "Forbidden Science: Volume Six" by Jacques Vallee, page 481, diary entry dated 31 January 2019.

"In the meantime, an NRO senior officer who resigned from Trump's staff last year as director of cryptography strategic planning, has joined the TTSA board last week. I'm told that he may have kept a copy of Capella."

Vallee doesn't name this individual. However, two individuals joined the advisory board of the To The Stars Academy, in 2019, namely (May) J. Christopher Mizer (finance background) and (November) Joe Schurmer (AI background.) In a blog dated 15 July 2019, I noted that there was another individual who was listed in the 12 July 2019 TTSA "Offering circular" as a member of their advisory board, but not listed as such on their website. This was Chris Herndon, whose background included 20 plus years in Federal government service including spells as a Deputy Assistant to the President, and the Director of White House Information Technology. I haven't yet been able to determine exactly when Herndon joined the TTSA advisory board, but the "Offering circular" dated 11 February 2019 has him already listed there as a member of the advisory board. 

PhenomAInon

On 7 May 2022, a new website was launched called PhenomAInon. In a blog dated 8 May 2022 I noted that on that website were a number of database spreadsheets which were remarkably similar to those listed for CAPELLA. The creator and owner of the PhenomAInon website is Joe Schurman. 

A 31 January 2023 article titled "Houston innovator aims to connect the dots between data science and phenomena" appeared, written by Mike Damante. The article reported that Schurman had been working since 2019 on this topic. In part it read "Schurman has worked with the U.S. government's task force for unidentified anomalous phenomenon." (UAPTF). 

The article went on to say "While it soft launched in May of 2022 Schurman says they have several data sets that are waiting clearance from the U.S. government..."

The UAP research community

Discussions have occurred among the UAP research community that some individuals had accessed copies of certain BAASS AAWSAP files. Indeed, copies of documents such as the BAASS "Ten month report" were leaked onto the internet in recent times.

Investigations revealed that 34 files, mainly BAASS AAWSAP material had been acquired by individuals, by them querying the PhenomAInon website, ufo-gpt and skinwalker-gpt, and then downloading the resultant files. This methodology no longer works.

Listing of files

Below is a list of the names of these 34 files, some of which this author has previously seen "leaked" on the net, and some which are new to me. I understand that two of the files, namely CAPELLA-NIDS-15 and CAPELLA-UtahRanch4-non-photo, are in the 11 screen CAPELLA format, and inter alia, reveal the details of witnesses, which ought not to be revealed, even though the data is from 2008-2010. 

ufo-gpt 19 files

1. AARO Historical record Volume 1 [PDF.]

2. AATIP History - 22 slide presentation on the "Origination of the Program and Reasons for Sponsor Interests" by Hal Puthoff.

3. BLUEBOOK-SITE [Excel] Summary of Bluebook sightings. 15674 items.

4. Brazil-SITE [Excel] Summary of Brazilian sightings.356 items.

5. Canada database [Word] 3 pages. 

6. CAPELLA. [PDF] 42 pages. Vallee's proposal for a data warehouse.

7. CAPELLA database pilots summary [Word] 3 pages. Completion summary.

8. July 2009 Monthly reports [PDF] 530  pages. The 10 month report.

9. MUFON [PDF] 26 pages. The 12 areas to be explored.

10. NUFORC [Excel] 7390 cases. 

11. PILOTS-SITE [Excel] 483 cases.

12. Preliminary assessment UAP 2021 [PDF] 9 pages. ONI 2021.

13. Quality review 2009 BAASS [PDF] 79 pages. Internal DIA document.

14. Ranch database analysis [PDF] 101 pages. Project Management Addendum Report 11.

15. Teleport of objects [PDF] 31 pages. Intelligence Information Report. 

16. UAP analysis [PDF] 141 pages. Summary report of BAASS UAP analyses capabilities.

17. UFOCAT-SITE [Excel] 203805 cases.

18. UK-SITE [Excel] 2878 cases from United Kingdom Ministry of Defence files.

19. Weinstein pilot database [PDF] 29 pages. Project Management Addendum Report no. 9.

Skinwalker-gpt

1. 2009-12 Utah database report. [Word] 1 page.

2. CAPELLA -NIDS-15 [Excel] 1570 cases.

3. CAPELLA-UtahRanch4-non-photo [Excel]

4. Dodd and Reed investigation report [Word] 7 pages. 2009.

5. Dodd and Reed interview transcription 2009 [Word] 47 pages.

6. Hotspots [Word] 4 pages.

7. NIDS-SITE [Excel] 1568 items.

8. Ranch database analysis [PDF] 101 pages.

9. Ranch Mar Apr 2010 [PDF] 60 pages. Utah Task Force Investigation. Mar 22-26. Apr 19-23. 2010.

10. Skinwalker Ranch SITE [Excel] 586 items.

11. Utah Ranch debrief Robert Eikenhorst. [Word] 10 pages.

12. Utah Ranch debrief transcript [Word] Debrief of Courchaine 3 Sep 2009. 13 pages.

13. Debrief of Kelly Hill 2009 [Word] 3 pages.

14. Utah Ranch events - Master (v6) [Word} 26 pages. Sep 2207 to present.

15. Utah Ranch events subset [Word] 15 pages. Selected Utah Ranch events Aug 2009 to present.

Acknowledgement

I would like to thank researcher Dan Zetterstrom for sharing the names of these files.

Another U.S. Congressional UAP Hearing

Another Hearing

Previously, I have reported on a number of U.S. Congressional Hearings on the subject of UAP. Now, one more such Hearing has been announced, to be held on 9 September 2025. A 3 September 2025 Press Release  advised that the Task Force on the Declassification of Federal Secrets would hold a hearing titled "Restoring Public Trust Through UAP Transparency and Whistleblower Protection." This Task Force falls under the House of Representative's Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.

Witness list

The witness list for this Hearing, is as follows:

* Jeffrey Nuccetelli, Air Force Veteran

Involved in a UAP sighting in 2003, at Vandenberg Air Force Base, where a massive red square was reportedly above one of the launch pads. 

* Chief Alexandro Wiggins, UAP witness

Radar specialist aboard the USS Jackson. In 2023, had an encounter with four UAP which seemed to come out of the ocean

* George Knapp, UAP journalist

George needs no introduction to readers of this blog

* Dylan Borland, UAP witness, Air Force Veteran.

Worked for the USAF as a Geospatial Intelligence analyst; four years with aerospace company BAE Systems; and six years with Intrepid Solutions and Services LLC. 

Watch

To watch the livestream of the Hearing, click here.

Comment:

I will voice what some others have said after learning of the witness list. With no offence to any of the four individuals listed above, these are not the high powered; game changing; first hand  witnesses which need to be heard from. In my opinion, we need to hear directly from such people as William Neil McCasland; Thomas Wilson, and James T. Lacatski, who need to be subpoenaed to testify under oath. 

Update: 10 September 2025

For their written statements see below:

* Nuccetelli click here. 

* Wiggins click here.

* Knapp click here.

* Borland click here.

There was an additional, fifth witness, Joe Spielberger, Senior Policy Counsel, Project on Government Oversight, click here. 

There was also a video shown of an object being hit by a missile, off the coast of Yemen in 2024, which sparked a lot of interest among the UAP research community. Immediately, debate started up that the object was simply a balloon. Others disagreed. 

New UAP data workshop

Academics

In a blog post dated 8 October 2024 I wrote about academics and their interest in UAP. In a rather lengthy piece, I described the work of a number of academics in the time period 2006-2024.

Recently, in August 2025 a meeting was held in Washington DC involving both academics and other individuals interested in the topic of UAP data. Thanks to the National UFO Reporting Center in the U.S. for the following information about that meeting.

Workshop

The two day workshop was held on 5-6 August 2025, sponsored by the All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) and organized by Dr Gretchen Stahlman and Dr Tim Souck of Associated Universities Inc. The workshop was titled "2025 UAP Workshop: Narrative Data, Infrastructures, and Analysis." Stahlman had presented at the 2024 conference of the Society for UFO studies. Stahlman was also one of the organizers behind the May 2024 National Science Foundation workshop.

Attendees

The participants included:

* The Scientific Coalition for UFO Studies (SCU)

* The National Archives

* The Galileo Project

* The Society for UAP Studies

* UAPx

* National UFO Historical Record Center

* National UFO Reporting Center

* The Archives of the Impossible.

The discussions included:

* Data quality

* Data management

* Future data collection

* Improved cooperation between organizations involved in serious UAP studies.

BAASS' Project Colares/Brazil investigations

Historical perspective

In a blog article published in July 2024 I reviewed the interest of various individuals and organizations, in Brazilian UAP reports. One of these organizations was Bigelow Aerospace Advanced Space Studies (BAASS.)

In trying to piece together just what BAASS' deployment to Brazil entailed, French researcher Marc Cecotti and myself contacted a number of individuals in Brazil, the USA, and other countries. Our findings were reported in a series of Blog articles:

* 7 April 2020 "BAASS team visited Brazil"

* 17 April 2020 "Further insights into BAASS in Brazil in 2009"

* 24 April 2020 "BAASS in Brazil: emails and more"

* 28 April 2020 "BAASS Program Managers held meetings in Brazil."

Overall, we were able to build up a fairly clear picture of just what occurred during the BAASS visit to Brazil, and the purpose of their deployment.

The "Ten Month Report"

Pages 393 and following of the report give a detailed view of the Colares UAP events from 1977-1978, and the BAASS visit of 2009:

"On May 25 2009 two teams, a north team and a south team, from BAASS deployed to Brazil. The purpose of the north team's trip was to meet with two Brazilian UFO organiszations and leaders, as well as follow upon recent UFO sightings reported by several news media outlets...The south team travelled to various locations in Brazil in order to establish professional relationships between BAASS and several prominent Brazilian UFO organizations and leaders. The trip involved two BAASS program managers and occurred during the period May 25, 2009 through June 3, 2009."

From the work of Marc Cecotti and myself we deduced that the south team was Douglas Kurth and James A. Johnson. The north team was Melissa Godoy, Tim Koonce, Loran Huffman and Lucas Gornichec.  

An introductory section, of the report on "Brazilian Related UAP Material/Bob Pratt's Colares Files" summarizes what was known about the 1977-1978 events on and around the Brazilian island of Colares, previously publicly available on the Brazilian Air Forces' Operation Plate, relying heavily on the comprehensive work of US reporter Bob Pratt who conducted onsite investigations.

BAASS extracted data from this wealth of material, to prepare a CAPELLA database of the events at Colares. Page 415 of the report lists the "Brazil UAP Research Materials" which BAASS collected. BAASS teams in 2009 collected their own material supplied by individuals and organizations in Brazil.

What was BAASS doing with all this material? Page 422; "BAASS' interest is to examine the relationship between advanced space technology and physiological effects."

In the future

"In the future it would be beneficial for a BAASS team to take an investigative trip to Brazil to gather more information and materials from specific witnesses and victims associated with the Colares events."

"BAASS would like to acquire the entire portfolio of the Colares area investigation, including any official assessment made by the Brazilian Air Force, Brazilian government, or potential foreign military or government evaluation and assessments."

In a section headed "Progress on BAASS outreach to South America" details are given that "BAASS began a systematic program to research the number and quality of organizations in South America that were focused on UAPs,'" and gives a list of such organizations and their contact details.

Vallee

Given that Jacques Vallee made a number of visits to Brazil to gather data I note the following comment in Vallee's "Forbidden Science: Volume 6" in entries dated 2 and 4 July 2015.

"In the last few days my exchanges with the project have taken a new tone. In Brazil the BAASS team was composed of six investigators who travelled across the country, interviewed 17 officials, including General Uchoa, and came back with a report that led to a conference at the Brazilian embassy in DC, attended by Hal, Colm and Eric all under Air Force 'sponsorship.' A security officer determined that distribution of the report, after review by a military group, would be closed.  Since I am the only one of the group who met with Colonel Hollanda Lima and was briefed afterwards by his top security staff inside the Air Force base where the project was managed, I stand confused by all the obvious discrepancies. Many unreported details were shared with us, and we saw the original, secret data. I could have flagged errors and misquotes in later years. Now, I can't even read 'our' full report, even though my friends confess 'it doesn't reflect reality.'''

"I confess lingering concern about the way the Brazil trip was handled, a missed opportunity. Apart from a partial listing of medical cases, what I've seen rehashes Bob Pratt's data, unaware of the details Bill Calvert and had been shown in 1988. Bureaucracy at work? Or  something more nefarious that will demand that we forget what we'd uncovered about the beings? "