The Sol Foundation for Advanced Scientific and Policy Research

Dr. Jensine Andresen

In her October 2023 book "Hyperconvergence" Dr. Jensine Andresen wrote, inter alia, about the establishment of The Sol Foundation, a relatively new U.S. entity involved with UAP studies. 

Image courtesy Amazon Books

Sol Foundation Alabama

Dr. Andresen noted that there is an entity named The Sol Foundation listed in the register of business names records of the Secretary of State for Alabama, in the U.S.A. This Sol Foundation, one of many entities with the name Sol Foundation, is file number 001-041-463 with a registration filing date of 23 September 2022. Its "registered agent" is shown as Ignite Fueling Innovation Inc. with an address of 530c Discovery Drive NW Huntsville, Alabama. Ignite was founded in 2001 and is an aero-defense service firm with military customers.  

According to Andresen, "Directors of The Sol Foundation include Saul Mercado and Garry P. Nolan. The Incorporator is listed as Garry P. Nolan." Andresen's research indicated that Saul Mercado has been a Foreign Service Officer at the U.S. Department of State since 2011. His LinkedIn profile includes that he is a former academic with background in anthropology and linguistics.

Fact checking

In fact-checking the above I utilized a number of Internet websites including "opencorporates." These confirmed the existence of a corporate non-profit corporation with the name The Sol Foundation, registered in Alabama, formed on 23 September 2022, company number 001-041-463. Its business classification text reads "The Sol Foundation supports research into and the understanding of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena." Its agent name is indeed listed as Ignite Fueling Innovation Inc. of 530C Discovery Drive, NW Huntsville, Alabama. Saul Mercado Ph.D. is shown as a director of The Sol Foundation, as is Christopher Mellon.  A check with LinkedIn locates an account showing that one Saul Mercado was indeed a US diplomat between May 2011 and January 2023 with a background in anthropology. A check on what an " Agent name" means found that it refers to "...a person or business designated to receive service of process and other official documents by mail or in-person on behalf of a company." 

The Sol Foundation California

However, my own further research located details of another The Sol Foundation, this time in California. According to the business names records of the Californian Secretary of State, The Sol Foundation for Advanced Scientific and Policy Research reserved that name on 28 June 2023, then registered that name on 7 July 2023. Entity number 5810665. Its agent' name was Incorporating Services Ltd. Its officers are listed as Garry P. Nolan, CEO; Peter Skafish Secretary; and Jonathan Berte, Chief Finacial Officer. Article II of its articles of incorporation, includes the text "The specific and primary purpose ...including but not limited to supporting research into and the understanding of Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena." 

An attachment to the Articles of Association states:

"The specific purpose of this corporation includes but is not limited to supporting research into and the understanding of Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena. Any amendment to these Articles of Incorporation shall require the written approval of each of Garry Nolan, Peter Skafish and Dave Grusch, if they are still living, have not become incapacitated, and have not been declare dead by a court of law."

Note the name "Dave Grusch" which is the David Grusch who made news by becoming a whistleblower on UAP in general and specifically with claims relating to knowledge of crash retrieval and reverse engineering activities by the U.S. government.  Grusch's cv includes the following:

"May 2023-Present, Chief Operating Officer (COO), The Sol Foundation • Managing day-to-day operations for a 501c3 federally recognized non-profit. The premier center for research in the natural and social sciences, engineering, and the humanities, but also extends activities to advisory and policy work for the U.S. government/public outreach."

The May 2023 date is interesting in that of the two known iterations of The Sol Foundation, only the Alabama registered one was active in May 2023. The Californian iteration wasn't active until 7 July 2023. 

Update: 6 January 2024

Steve Te.🔭👀🌎🇺🇦🇮🇱 (@Steve_uap2020) / X (twitter.com) advised me in a tweet dated 6 January 2024 that "the first iteration of the Sol Foundation (incorporated in Alabama) was ultimately dissolved on Sept 15,2023." 

The upcoming SOL Foundation Symposium

Academia

We seem to have reached a 'tipping point' as regards the involvement of academia in UAP studies. Over recent years, we have seen an increasing number of academics from various disciplines taking an active interest in the topic, e.g. Jeffrey Kripal (Religious Studies); Kimberley Engels (Philosophy); Kevin Knuth (Physics); Avi Loeb (Physics); Beatriz Villarroel (Astronomy); Garry Nolan (Immunology); and Diana Walsh Pasulka (Religious Studies.) 

Amazon.com.au : pasulka diana

In addition, learned bodies such as the Society for UFO Studies have emerged, as well as Foundations dedicated to researching UAP, e.g. The European Echo Foundation, and now the U.S. based The Sol Foundation. 

What is the SOL Foundation?

From the Foundation's website we learn that:

"The SOL Foundation brings together experts from academia and government to address the philosophical, policy and scientific problems caused by the likely presence on the Earth of UAP."

The Executive Director of the Foundation is Dr. Garry Nolan. 

"Dr. Nolan is the Rachford and Carlota A. Harris Professor in the Department of Pathology at Stanford University School of Medicine."

The Foundation's Director of Research is Dr. Peter Skafish, who is:

"...a sociocultural anthropologist who has held faculty and research positions in France, Canada, Germany and the United States."

Research

 "Where the science of UAP is concerned, we will support...studies of potential material components of UAP, the possible physics and engineering of their 'propulsion' and energy technology and the biological effects of human exposure to them."

"As for the humanities and social sciences we are seeking researchers in fields such as anthropology, history, philosophy, religious studies and sociology to help us understand the impacts that confirmation of the reality of UAP would have for human society, cosmologies, and political systems the world over."

Symposium

On 17 and 18 November 2023, the Foundation will hold a symposium on the grounds of Stanford University, 35 miles south of San Francisco, California, USA. It is sponsored by the Nolan Laboratory and the Stanford School of Medicine. In person attendance is by invitation only. 

Speakers

 The schedule of speakers, and the titles of their presentations are listed below:

17 November

Avi Loeb. "The New Frontier of Interstellar Objects."

Beatriz Villarroel. "Multiple Transients and the Search for ET Probes."

Kevin Knuth. "The Physics of UAP, with Some Clues about Their Detection, Monitoring and Engineering."

Garry Nolan. "The Material Science of UAP."

Jacques Vallee. "The UFO Phenomenon: A Genuine Scientific Problem."

Diana Walsh Pasulka. "Rewriting the Myth of Prometheus: Innovation Through Off-Planet Research, Data and Environments."

Peter Skafish. "Conceptualizing Nonhuman Intelligence Anthropomorphism and Ontology."

18 November

Timothy Gallaudet. "The U.S. Government's UAP Apathy is Another Case of Massively Misplaced Priorities."

Jairus Victor Grove. "Crowded Skies: Atmospheric and Orbital Threat Reduction in an Age of Uncertainty."

Karl Nell. "The Schumer Amendment and Controlled Disclosure."

Jonathan Berte. "The European Union and Disclosure: Government, Industry and UAP Research."

Christopher Mellon. No title available.

Charles McCullough III. A fireside chat.

Iya Whitley. "Observation in Data: Trusting and Learning from Pilots."

Paul Thigpen. "They Are All God's Children; Insights from Catholic Theology on UAP and Nonhuman Intelligence."

Jeff Kripal. "To Shoot Down Souls: Some Paradoxical Thoughts on the UFO Phenomenon from an Historian of Religions."

In conclusion

As will be seen from the above speakers' schedule, the Symposium promises to be an excellent mix of academics from diverse disciplines. I look forward to the availability of videos of the sessions, in order to digest the impressive range of topics being discussed.