Two Journals are to publish special issues on UAP

Diversity

Once upon a time, the only people talking about the subject of UAP were those individuals engaged in "UFO research." In recent times this has broadened to include academics, politicians, defence personnel, members of the intelligence community, private corporations, and learned professional associations. This trend continues with two more items of interest. Special issues of two learned Journals are shortly to be published, on the topic of UAP.

Progress in Aerospace Sciences

The Journal "Progress in Aerospace Sciences" website advises that there are a number of papers on UAP, scheduled for publication in a special issue of this Journal. The expected date of publication of this special issue has yet to be advised. As to contents, so far, I am aware of:

"Estimates of radiative energy values in ground-level observations of an unidentified aerial phenomena," by Jacques, F. Vallee, Luc Dini and Geoffrey Mestchersky. The abstract reads:

"An exceptional observation of an anomalous object, recorded as ‘unidentified’ by the US Air Force and in the1969 final report of the University of Colorado (“Condon”) study of UAPs, has been re-examined by a Franco-American scientific team.

The observation took place on the evening of December 30, 1966, on an isolated highway traversing a forest near Haynesville, Louisiana. Early in 1967 the main witness, a professor of atomic physics named Louie A. Galloway, reported the case to Project Blue Book of the USAF. Pro-active investigation by one of the authors (JV) brought it to the attention of Professor Edward Condon, himself a noted atomist who had worked under Project Manhattan. Dr. Condon and his team had just begun an official re-examination of UFO (UAP) phenomena under funding of the US Air Force.

The case, which centered on a well-defined luminous object at ground level, led to energy estimates from 500 to 1400 MW, in the range of a small modern nuclear power plant. Significantly, it was one of a number of cases carried as ‘Unidentified’ in Dr. Condon's final report to the National Academy of Sciences in 1969.

Subsequent to that Academy report, significant work was continued at the site by civilian investigators who confirmed the data, augmented by night photography flights. The team returned to the area with the primary witness, located the exact place of observation and gathered new data, notably about the nature of burns evidenced on the trees, which had not been available to Dr. Condon and his assistants.

Samples of the burned and intact bark were obtained by our own team, and they were preserved until it became possible to properly analyze the material.

The burn analysis data presented here was obtained at the laboratories of the French Atomic Energy Commission in Saclay, France. We present our results with the understanding that the study will benefit from further discussion within the larger scientific community."

"Initial results from the first field expedition of UAPx to study unidentified anomalous phenomena," by Matthew Szydagis, Kevin H. Knuth, Benjamin Kuglelsky and Cecilia Levy. The abstract is as follows:

"In July 2021, faculty from the UAlbany Department of Physics participated in a week-long field expedition with the organization UAPx to collect data on UAPs in Avalon, California, located on Catalina Island, and nearby. This paper reviews both the hardware and software techniques which this collaboration employed, and contains a frank discussion of the successes and failures, with a section about how to apply lessons learned to future expeditions. Both observable-light and infrared cameras were deployed, as well as sensors for other (non-EM) emissions. A pixel-subtraction method was augmented with other similarly simple methods to provide initial identification of objects in the sky and/or the sea crossing the cameras’ fields of view. The first results will be presented based upon approximately one hour in total of triggered visible/night-vision-mode video and over 600 h of untriggered (far) IR video recorded, as well as 55 h of (background) radiation measurements. Following multiple explanatory resolutions of several ambiguities that were potentially anomalous at first, we focus on the primary remaining ambiguity captured at approximately 4am Pacific Time on Friday, July 16: a dark spot in the visible/near-IR camera possibly coincident with ionizing radiation that has so far resisted prosaic explanation. We conclude with quantitative suggestions (3–5$𝜎$ rules) for serious researchers in the still-maligned field of hard-science-based UAP studies, with an ultimate goal of identifying UAPs without confirmation bias toward mundane/speculative conclusions."

"Unidentified aerospace-undersea phenomena (UAP) status and outlook," by Max F. Platzer.

"On the need for rigorous scientific research on unidentified aerial phenomena," by Max F. Platzer.

Combatting Threats Exchange

The Journal "Combating Threats Exchange" is published by the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School's Global Education Community Collaboration Online Program. The expected publication date of the Journal's special issue on UAP, is sometime post September 2025. Interestingly, the website states that:

"The Combating Threats Exchange (CTX) is a biannual peer-reviewed online journal whose contributors are the men and women at the frontiers of counterterrorism. We publish firsthand accounts and analysis written by special operations personnel, as well as discussions of policy, trends, and operations, written by government officials, researchers, CT professionals, and investigative journalists on five continents."

So, one wonders, why such a Journal would be publishing a special issue on UAP? The answer lies in a recent call for papers for this special issue, which in the section labelled "Background."

"Our upcoming publication is dedicated to the efforts led by the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) to improve data collection, standardize reporting requirements, and mitigate the potential threats to safety and security posed by unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP).

The Department of Defense considers UAP as sources of anomalous detections in one or more domain (i.e. airborne, seaborne, spaceborne, and/or transmedium) that are not yet attributable to known actors and that demonstrate behaviors that are not readily understood by sensors or observers.

"Anomalous detections" include but are not limited to phenomena that demonstrate apparent capabilities or material that exceed known performance envelopes. A UAP may consist of one or more unidentified anomalous objects and may persist over an extended period of time.

This call for papers is your opportunity to contribute to the growing body of knowledge surrounding UAP, advance the science of UAP, and to engage in interdisciplinary discussions that explore their scientific and technological implications." 

Update: 3 June 2025

Details of a fifth paper in Progress in Aerospace Sciences has emerged. "The new science of Unidentified Aerospace-Undersea Phenomena (UAP)," by Knuth, Ailleris et al.  

Dr. Anna Brady-Estevez: Her interest in UAP

Who is Dr. Anna Brady-Estevez?

It is great to see new, and very qualified, individuals taking an interest in the topic of UAP. One of the latest is Dr. Anna Brady-Estevez. She was one of the presenters on the 1 May 2025 UAP Congressional roundtable and she said some very interesting things, listed below. 

* She served as a program director at the U.S. National Science Foundation. There she led the Small Business Innovation Research portfolio, focused on such things as space technology and energy

* She is the founding partner of American DeepTech, an investment firm in Deep technology. What is Deep Tech?  Deep Tech is a term used to refer to  advanced, innovative, or breakthrough technology e.g. robotics, nanotechnology, clean energy, or artificial intelligence

* She co-hosts the NASA ecosystemic futures podcast which includes material on UAP

* She has a PhD in Chemistry and Environmental Engineering from Yale University

* She has a BS in Chemical Engineering and Spanish from John Hopkins University.

Click here for a fuller resume, on LinkedIn.

(48) Anna Brady-Estevez | LinkedIn

National Science Foundation

The U.S. National Science Foundation organized a UAP workshop titled "Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP): A Dialogue on Science, Public Engagement and Communication," which was held in Virginia, USA, between 15-17 May 2024.

The workshop was organized by the Global Network for Accelerating Synergies Through Research on Astronomy, Culture, Communication, Education and Learning Project (ASTRO ACCEL.) For a summary of the event click here. 

Shoshin Works Webinar

On 17 January 2025 Shoshin Works held a virtual conference titled "US Disruptive Deeptech, Energy and Space." Attendees were individuals from various universities, private companies and a variety of government agencies.

Anna Brady-Estevez gave opening regards, which included reference to "Exploring all areas: pursuing all solutions - Anomalous Phenomena. Presentations on UAP were given by Mike Gold, Charles Chase, Ryan Graves, Richard Bandoric, Hal Puthoff and Sarah Gamm.

Congressional roundtable discussion

On 1 May 2025 the U.S. Congress' The Task Force on the Declassification of Federal Secrets held a roundtable of UAP experts, officials and members of Congress. There were three panels of guests, one of which was Anna Brady-Estevez. Among the things she discussed were:

* Access to microgravity is invaluable to such entities as pharmaceutical companies

* We work with partners in the UAP space - Hal Puthoff is one of our advisors - we work also with Ryan Graves, and Dyan Finkhousen

* In a former role with the U.S. government I worked with exceptional, innovation forward, UAP forward and open leaders. U.S. Space Disruptors Day

* Innovation - while at the NSF I funded people working on what entrepreneurs described as UAP adjacent or UAP inspired, technology

* Entrepreneurs are eager to engage with UAP science and technology

* "People are seeing ultra advanced craft that are higher performing and for people who are building the higher performing craft and the higher performing energy they are not trying to unsee what they have seen and what they have caught on a wide range of sensors..."

*  What is the right amount of money to be investing in these ultra high performing technologies? - Manhattan style - hundreds of billions of dollars

* Legacy programs - how do we get the information/technology out?

* Many of us have seen these, this wide range of phenomena, be they craft, be they orbs. The reason it matters, the first time you see this phenomena its a point of interest and you say, well I thought there was life off planet, or advanced technologies

* A number of us with roles in advanced biology or energy. People are seeing there is a path forward through the advanced UAP adjacent technology

* People around the world are seeing this phenomena and those who build things are saying why not build them together?

* We've brought scientists to areas where they turn up more frequently and there are a number of groups who are pulling in or attracting craft and other phenomena. Over the past year or two I've talked to innovators 30-50% share that they have seen UAP

* It is not credible or viable to pretend its not going on

* Expect more scientists to engage with the phenomena

* Even less talked about than the phenomena is "the source of the message." There are a number of teams calling in the phenomena. One of the groups went to visit with some scientists - the protocol used is through meditation, calling in craft.

UAP Disclosure Fund

On 7 May 2025, the UAPDF announced a number of personnel changes, one of which was that Anna Brady-Estevez was joining the UAPDF Advisory Board. 

Additional information

The SOL Foundation issued a White Paper, dated Winter 2025, titled "Investment in UAP Technology and Ventures: Opportunities, Challenges, and a Way Forward" by Rizwan Virk which explores in detail some of the things which Dr. Anna Brady-Estevez referred to in her 1 May 2025 Congressional talk. The paper's executive summary reads:

"This white paper is about the challenges and opportunities in establishing an innovation ecosystem related to unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP). It provides both an analysis of why investment in UAP-related ventures has been difficult and a possible roadmap for expanding research and entrepreneurial activity around the scientific and technological advances that UAP could represent.

UAP, previously known as UFOs (unidentified flying objects), have been the subject of increasing media coverage over the past few years, frequently in mainstream news outlets such as CNN and Fox News. This increasing exposure is the result of efforts of military and intelligence whistleblowers, members of Congress, prominent academics, journalists, and organizations like NASA. Recent media attention has led government officials to tacitly and sometimes directly acknowledge the presence of unidentified craft in US airspace and territorial waters. (For more details on recent events, see the section “A Brief History of Recent UAP Developments.”)

Breakthroughs in UAP-related science and technology could revolutionize many of our existing industries, including aviation, space, defense, energy, medicine, communication, maritime operations, and materials engineering. Because of the wide potential of this technology, UAP represent an opportunity that could reshape the future of humankind as much as the development of the telephone, the automobile, the airplane, the rocket, or the personal computer. (For more on applications and industries, see the section “UAP Investment: Potential Opportunities.”)

While innovation was historically funded initially by government and wealthy patrons, this has evolved in modern innovation ecosystems, the most visible of which is in Silicon Valley. Many of the largest companies in the world by market capitalization have been funded this way. This ecosystem includes institutional investors such as venture capitalists, research institutions like Stanford University, and established companies that provide both talent and exits for new startups. However, a mature innovation ecosystem is not only about capital, but also about providing roadmaps to entrepreneurs and investors who wish to participate in the process of founding new companies. (For more on modern venture capital and startups, see the section “Background on Innovation Ecosystems.”)

This white paper explores whether private investment in new startups, in conjunction with government and large corporations, could play a significant role in expanding research into and launching ventures and products based on UAP-related technology. I argue that rather than establish one type of funding or just one organization, a new innovation ecosystem needs to be established with multiple types of funding, multiple players, and multiple avenues for entrepreneurs and investors to support UAP-related research and product development.

However, UAP also present unique investment challenges that other emerging industries may not have faced. Despite strong interest in this subject within both the federal government and the general public, many in our scientific institutions and existing innovation ecosystems like Silicon Valley remain skeptical about the topic in general. This is because of a stigma long associated with UFOs. Furthermore, UAP-related technology may require not only investment in engineering of new products and technology, but also breakthroughs in our under- standing of the physical world. This may require larger investments and more patient capital than typical venture capitalists—or even existing deep tech investors—have the appetite for. For this reason, I introduce the term frontier tech for technology ventures that simultaneously carry science, engineering, product, and market risks. Finally, the national security implications of UAP make this a sensitive area subject to over classification and geopolitical concerns. (For more on these challenges, see the section “The Unique Challenges and Opportunities of UAP.”)

To date, efforts to understand UAP-related technology and science has primarily been limited to two extremes: (1) the government relying on aerospace contractors in classified settings, or (2) isolated garage inventors and independent scientists with limited or nonexistent financial or institutional backing. To unleash the true power of entrepreneurship and market forces, this paper proposes unique investment models aimed not just at funding companies but at bringing the “best and brightest” minds to bear on the scientific, technical, and business challenges.

While the origin of UAP is an ongoing source of speculation, many UAP experts have determined that at least some of the reports cannot be attributed to prosaic sources such as balloons, seagulls, or hallucinations. In official congressional hearings, witnesses have stated under oath that some UAP appear to be actual technology, which may not be from human sources or adversaries such as China or Russia. (For more on government programs such as AARO, UAPTF, AAWSAP, AATIP, and congressional testimony, see the section “Brief History of Recent UAP Developments”). The observables—summaries of the unusual performance characteristics of some UAP (such as instant acceleration, antigravity, etc.) compiled by Department of Defense (DOD) and intelligence officials in these programs—seem to imply that they represent technologies leaps and bounds over our current technology. While this has led to more exotic theories for UAP (namely those that involve a nonhuman intelligence, or NHI, presence on Earth), this paper doesn’t attempt to choose from different theories of the origin of UAP. Rather, we take the position that if the reported observables are valid, even for some small fraction of UAP, then they represent significant technoscientific innovations. (For more on these two topics, see the section “Origin and Observables.”)

Such innovations, which are not part of the public discussion of mainstream scientists or aerospace engineers, could revolutionize several industries and usher in a new type of industrial revolution. However, this will require not just funding but an innovation ecosystem around UAP-related research and ventures. More specifically, this white paper explores the challenges and opportunities of building such an ecosystem by attempting to answer the following questions:

1. What are the general areas of potential private and public investment in research and development related to UAP technology?

2. What industries could be affected or revolutionized by these investments?

3. What makes investment in UAP research and new ventures difficult?

4. Who are the stakeholders that could influence and participate in such an ecosystem?

5. What structure could work best for encouraging both research and entrepreneurial activity?

6. What actions could be taken in the short term, medium term, and long term to build such an innovation ecosystem?

To answer these questions, this white paper proposes several interlocking segments of investment to build a well-rounded UAP innovation ecosystem. This structure seeks to provide opportunities for existing stakeholders, such as departments of the government and large aerospace companies, to participate. More importantly, we seek to build a UAP ecosystem that includes and encourages individual entrepreneurs, professional scientists, private and public research institutions, garage inventors, citizen scientists, and private investors.

The four proposed segments of investment (detailed further in the section “Structuring Investment and Building an Innovation Ecosystem for UAP”) are as follows:

1. Research Funding. Initially, this would be via a clearinghouse to connect UAP research funds from public and private sources to researchers. Then, long term, this would expand available research funding through the creation of one or more UAP research funds and/or UAP research institutes.

2. Innovation Prizes. A new UPRIZE, modeled after the innovation prizes of the early nine- teenth and twentieth centuries, combined with aspects of the more recent XPRIZEs such as the Google Lunar X Prize and the Ansari X Prize, would allow for expansion of investment in private ventures through a multiplier effect.

3. Frontier Tech Incubator. I refer to this model as a halfway house that provides both resources (science labs) and patient capital to encourage technoscientific innovation, positioned between pure research and normal industry commercialization funds.

4. Venture Capital and Private Equity. With the establishment of the previous three segments, this should allow existing venture capital and private equity funds to participate in UAP technology ventures without the stigma or risks that currently exist.

In more practical terms, the goal of these segments, beyond establishing a UAP innovation ecosystem, is to provide roadmaps for key stakeholders, such as investors and entrepreneurs, who may not have clear guidance on how to engage with the UAP topic.

While the challenges to innovating and commercializing UAP-related technology are significant (and may even seem insurmountable in the short term), by taking a longer-term view, we can discern that they may be no greater than the leaps achieved in modern times. For example, a human of 1860, offered a glimpse of today’s everyday technologies—such as self-driving automobiles, powered flight via jet engines, reusable rockets, genetic engineering, and computers—might also conclude that the challenges to achieve such a future are insurmountable.

For this reason, in this white paper, I take the position that the opportunity represented by in- vesting in UAP research and development is not a short-term prospect. By taking a long-term view, investment in this topic in the coming years and decades could not only revolutionize life on Earth but also represent humanity’s best hope of eventually becoming a multiplanetary species. This vision relies on going beyond existing methods of propulsion and lift, such as rocket engines."

Task Force on the Declassification of Federal secrets - UAP

The Task Force

On 11 February 2025, The Task Force on the Declassification of Federal Secrets was stood up, within the U.S. Congress' House Committe on Oversight and Government Reform. Its focus was on a number of areas, including the assassinations of John F. Kennedy, Dr. Martin Luther King, and Senator Robert F. Kennedy, plus UAPs. The Chairwoman is Representative Luna. Members are Robert Garcia, Nancy Mace, Tim Burchett, Lauren Boebert, Eric Burlison, Eli Crane, Brandon Gill, Raja Krishnamoorthi, Summer Lee, Dave Min and Jasmine Crockett. Several of these individuals have been vocal on the topic of UAP. 

Representative Luna

UAP discussion Timeline

In a tweet dated 19 April 2025, U.S. Congressional House of Representatives representative Anna Paulina Luna posted a tentative timeline for continuing the discussion on UAP. Dates and actions shown were:

1. 29 April. "SCIF brief with UAP experts."

2. 30 April/1 May. "Roundtable with experts; officials and members of Congress."

3. Week beginning 12 May. "Full Committee hearing on UAPs."

UAP Disclosure Fund

On item 2 above, U.K. journalist Christopher Sharp in an article dated 18 April 2025 wrote that:

"Liberation Times can confirm that the roundtable will be hosted by the UAP Disclosure Fund, an organisation advocating for transparency on UAP."

The Fund's Board of Directors includes Luis Elizondo, Christopher K. Mellon and Garry Nolan, while its Advisory Board includes Tim Gallaudet and Kirk McConnell.

Further details of the 1 May event are to be found on the Fund's own website. Titled "Understanding UAP: Science, National Security & Innovation" The brief:

"In an era of accelerating aerospace and AI innovations, understanding Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP) is no longer fringe - it is foundational. Join members of Congress, staff, and the media for a high-level, science first discussion moderated by Luis Elizondo (former head of the Pentagon's UAP program) featuring prominent voices in science, defense, and technology. 

This nonpartisan briefing, hosted by UAPDF and sponsored by the bipartisan Task Force on the Declassification of Federal Secrets, will provide members with valuable insights into the scientific significance, nationals security relevance, and innovation potential of UAP-related data. A limited number of seats will be available to members of the public and the event will be live streamed and/or recorded."

The video recording of the briefing may be viewed here.  

Update: 1 May 2025

The 29 April 2025 SCIF session was deferred to a later date. 

Recent Japanese government interest in UAP

Japanese government interest in UAP

In an article dated 1 June 2024, I reported on the formation of a nonpartisan group, concerning UAP, within the Japanese government. The group is formally known as "The Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Clarification League for Security-Oriented National Security." On 28 March 2025, this group held their second general meeting. Thanks to a tweet on "X" by French researcher Baptiste Friscourt, I accessed a video of the proceedings of this session. 

Presentations

Included in the session were online video presentations by Christopher Mellon, Tim Gallaudet, Peter Skafish, and Representative Burlison. Below are my notes from the video presentations.

Chris Mellon

Chris Mellon (13mins 40 secs to 27m 50 secs)

* Since last year's presentation to the group, the most notable events in the US are the presence of mysterious lights over US military bases

* Many cases were explained as drones, however the situation is more complex and concerning

* If they were drones why didn't signal jammers work? Why did none crash? Why long-range flights? 

* There were drones, and there were things that we don't understand

* Is it possible that some of these craft were NHI? Yes

* Estimates of the odds that we are alone in the universe are 1 chance in 10 billion million

* Historically there are hundreds of thousands of UFO reports including those involving multiple witnesses and radar sensors

* The current Director of AARO has said that some of the cases are unexplained

* The intelligence controlling these craft may not be biological

* Case - A nocturnal observation of unknown objects which made over 70 aggressive, high speed, non firing runs a few hundred feet from a US spy craft. Over one hour. Aircraft sensors detected moving airborne radar beams from the UFOs that were not from stationary ground radar. The event happened on 14 April 1953 in the Sea of Japan

* This activity continues in many areas of the world.

Tim Gallaudet

(29:00 to 34:35)

* NHI is real. Know this from firsthand observations of US military sensor data and speaking to defense staff, scientists and those who have access to the UAP legacy program

* I have focused my research on the maritime aspects of UAP including trans-medium objects

* UAP present national security issues, air safety issues and safe ocean passage issues

* We need greater transparency from the US government

* I have called on the US Congress to establish oversight of US government information and materials on UAP

* Also we need international collaboration. 

Peter Skafish

(35:44-37:15)

* I am an Anthropologist and co-founder of the SOL Foundation

* I approach you as an academic and nongovernment actor

* I wish to persuade you that UAP is an occasion for international cooperation in government and civil society

* Japan can make a unique and vital contribution, to humanity's response to the UAP presence.

Q and A

Then followed a question-and-answer session. Examples of the sort of questions asked were:

* What is being done in the US to study the phenomena?

Answer by Chris Mellon- AARO the official US government UAP agency is undertaking a lot of research including obtaining and analyzing FAA data on UAP; inventing and deploying sensors, and the US military recognizes the drone situation is important

* Will the AARO budget be cut given the situation with the Trump administration?

Answer by Chris Mellon - in talking to AARO I see no suggestion of a cut. The US Administration has been very supportive.

Later in the session Representative Eric Burlison joined in, saying that the UAP topic was bigger than any one country. Also, that he had invited David Grusch to join his staff to assist with a targeted investigation into UAP over the next four months.

In summary, it is great to see another country taking a keen interest in the topic of UAP at a parliamentary level.

Update: 26 May 2025

A 16 May 2025 article on the "Defense Blog" by Daisuke Sato, advised that "Japanese lawmakers have called on the Ministry of Defense to establish a dedicated department to investigate unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP), including UFOs and unidentified drones."

Who is talking about UAP these days?

Diversity

Once upon a time, the only people talking about the subject of UAP were those individuals engaged in "UFO research." In recent times this has broadened to include academics, politicians, defence personnel, members of the intelligence community, private corporations, and learned professional associations. This trend continues with two more items of interest.

National Defense Industry Association

According to their website, the U.S. National Defense Industry Association, which has 1,720 corporate and 67,000 individual members:

"...drives strategic dialogue in national security by identifying key issues and leveraging the knowledge and experience of its military, government, industry, and academic members to overmatch capabilities to threats."

 It was therefore of interest to note that one of the NDIA's Emerging Technology Institute's monthly webinar series, to be held 27 March 2025 is titled "Tech 101: Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon." 

The description given for the one-hour session is:

"Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon (UAP) research involves distinguishing between hoaxes, misidentifications, and truly anomalous sightings. While most UAP reports can be attributed to conventional explanations - such as natural atmospheric or man-made objects - some cases remain unresolved, requiring better data for a deeper investigation.

This webinar will explore the challenges of UAP identification, providing an overview of analytical methodologies used to assess sightings. The presentation will include examples of confirmed misidentifications, cases with prosaic explanations, and more complex UAP reports that defy easy resolution. 

In addition, the session will highlight emerging technologies and legislative efforts that could help the public distinguish between prosaic objects and the truly anomalous ones, enabling researchers to focus on the most compelling cases. These advancements could also play a role in addressing the increasing threat by adversarial drone, offering dual-use applications for national security and aerospace monitoring.

By examining both the scientific and technological frontiers of UAP research, this webinar will provide insight into the evolving landscape of aerial phenomenon investigations and the tools shaping its future."

Dr. Douglas Buettner

The speaker is Dr. Douglas Buettner, Deputy Chief Scientist, Acquisition Innovation Research Center, Stevens University. He holds B.S. and M.S. degrees in physics and a PhD in aeronautical engineering with over 30 years of industry experience.  On the UAP side, he is a member of the board of directors for the Scientific Coalition for UAP Studies, and co-founder and chief technologist for SIGHTER.io, a recent iphone app for gathering data about UAP sightings. For a more detailed bio please click here. 

2025 Paris Defence and Strategy Forum

According to its website, the Paris Defence and Strategy Forum is a major international conference "...devoted to defence and security issues."

An inspection of the Forum's programme reveals that on 13 March 2025, there was a ninety-minute session titled "Unidentified Aerial Phenomena." 

In a 14 March 2025 post on "X" French researcher Baptiste Friscourt advised that:

"It was my honor to represent The Debrief and Sentinel News at the 2025 Paris Defense and Strategy Forum, in a UAP Defense issues panel organized by Francois Mattens, in the halls of the Defense Academy of the Military School, in front of the Eiffel Tower.

Apologies for those that couldn't attend, the conference room was full...Recording and article in The Debrief available soon."

English university to hold UAP symposium

 Academic articles

In a recent article on this blog, I explored the work of a number of academics who have, over the years, published articles on the topic of Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP).

Recently, there has been a flurry of academic articles on the topic of UAP. In January 2025, Harvard Law School's "National Security Journal" published an article by Dillon Guthrie titled "Flying saucers and the Ivory Dome: Congressional oversight concerning Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena." This article explores the recent and sustained interest in the topic of UAP, shown by the U.S. Congress 

Also, in January 2025 there appeared an article by William C. Lane in the "European Journal for Philosophy in Science" tilted "The Extraterrestrial Hypothesis: an epistemological case for removing the taboo."  The article argues that the extraterrestrial hypothesis as an explanation for UAP needs to be evaluated together with other hypotheses. 

In February 2025 appeared a multi-authored paper, by Kevin H. Knuth et al, titled "The New Science of Unidentified Aerospace - Undersea Phenomena (UAP)." The article reviewed about:

"...20 historical government studies dating from 1933 to the present (in Scandinavia, WWII, US, Canada, France, Rusia, China), several historical private research studies (France, UK, US) and both recent and current scientific research efforts (Ireland, Germany, Norway, Sweden, US.)"

Durham University

Now, an English tertiary education institution, Durham University' Law Department, has announced a one-day symposium on UAP titled "Grounding the SETI and UAP debate: Law, evidence and anticipated futures" to be held on 24 April 2025, both in person and via the Internet. 

Speakers and the title of their talks are as shown below:

Philippe Ailleris "Towards a Systematic Framework for UAP Evidence Evaluation: Introducing the Rainier Scale."

Mike Cifone "Down to Earth: Characterizing the landscape of (scientific) UAP studies."

Beatriz Villaroel "Searches for Near-Earth Extraterrestrial Artifacts with Hypothesis-Driven Science."

Chris Senn "Structuring archiving and search parameters for the 'Archives of the Impossible' as an example of facilitating coordinated access to historical encounter evidence."

Andreas Anton (with Michael Bohlander and John Elliott) "The global survey 'Contact with Extraterrestrial Intelligence - A study of projected perceptions and reactions among the world's societies' - First results.

Christian Peters " Alien Minds and the Problems of a political Epistemology of the UAP - Phenomenon."

Eric Hilgendorf "Conemplating the alien - The impact of SETI on human self-image."

Michael Bohlander "Alien encounter narratives in the courts - Part 2: Findings"

Jia Wang "Monopolizing high-tech in the hands of powerful humans after contact with extraterrestrial civilizations."

Abstracts and biographies of the above speakers can be found in the Symposium leaflet available online here. 

More things I learned from Jacques Vallee's "Forbidden Science 6."

 Introduction

In my last blog article, I compiled pieces of information, new to me, after reading Jacques Vallee's latest book "Forbidden Science 6: Scattered Castles." Since then, I have been slowly re-reading the volume and have found further interesting pieces of data. Here, then are some additional items, plus my commentary.

MRIs at Skinwalker Ranch

In a diary entry dated 5 February 211 (page 67) Valle writes about Skinwalker Ranch and the fact that a number of ranch security guards had asked to be reassigned due to their concerns about events at the ranch. 

"Bob suggested it would be a good idea to do MRIs, and several guards who hadn't reported any phenomena were later added in double-blind fashion. Results were considered consistent with a new syndrome. At the moment there are sixteen cases. As a precaution, three Senators, including Reid, who'd asked to visit the Ranch were turned down because their safety couldn't be guaranteed."

Comment: Bob is Robert Bigelow. This information re MRIs being organized for BAASS Ranch security staff fits in with previous information which I discussed in a 21 January 2021 blog article. On 20 September 2019, US researcher Erica Lukes had interviewed two BAASS Skinwalker Ranch security guards, namely Chris Bartel and Chris Marx. Both had undergone brain MRI scans at a clinic in Reno, Nevada, at the request of BAASS. Bartel stated:

"I remember asking Lauren Hoffman why we were having MRIs done and he said to see if there were something in our brains which allowed us to have an experience."

BAASS orb video

At some point in the last few years, a video circulated purporting to show an "orb" inside a room at Bigelow Aerospace. The video surfaced without any context. Interestingly, therefore, in a diary entry dated 17 March 2012 (pages 121-122) when Vallee was in Las Vegas for a meeting of the LoneStars:

"We began with an infra-red video of an orb floating in a locked room dedicated to radiation studies. There was a cobalt source on the table. One could see the light source circling above, as if inspecting the room."

LoneStars

Between 8 November 2011 and 7 May 2018, there were a total of eleven meetings of a core group of individuals who had been associated with the BAASS AAWSAP, at locations as diverse as Toronto, Canada, Austin, Texas, Las Vegas, Nevada and Vienna, Austria. The core group started off with such individuals as Jacques Vallee, Hal Puthoff, Eric Davis, George Hathaway, Bob Bigelow, Kit Green, and later expanded to include Garry Nolan and others. One unnamed person, only referred to as the European sponsor, attended meetings in Vienna. 

As related by Vallee, topics discussed at these meetings ranged from abductions, the SERPO hoax, various US and European cases; blue orbs, implantation of sounds and thoughts from a distance, skin markings, the Collins elite; crash retrievals and reverse engineering.

The European sponsor

In an entry on page 241 dated 15 July 2017, after a meeting of the LoneStars held in Vienna, Austria, 

"As we assembled our suitcases for the return trip on Friday, we learned that our sponsor had decided his funding would come to an end in one year, as his age made it necessary to change his role."

Later, on page 409, 14 July 2017: "George Hathaway, the advisor to our sponsor."

Then on page 447, 7 May 2018 at a Toronto meeting of the LoneStars, we read:

"As for Earthtech, it has been funded since 1989 but the support may terminate as their European supporter retires."

Comment: There has always been a question as to the identity of this European sponsor. In blog articles dated 24 July 2017 and 16 July 2023, I deduced that the sponsor was in fact Prince Hans-Adam II of Liechtenstein. The entries in "Forbidden Science 6" only go to support this deduction. 

New York Times article

In an entry dated 17 December 2017 about the famous New York Times UAP article by Leslie Kean et al, Vallee notes the revelations of a USM$22 Defense Intelligence Agency UAP study which Vallee participated in. Curiously there is a paragraph in the book:

"Associated projects were Project Abel Gray, Project Sierra Doors-KIM, Project Orion and Project Flight Mock. It's all public now, I'm told."

Comment: Four AAWSAP associated projects? I don't recall ever hearing of this before.

Department of Defense UAP videos

Page 415 dated 10 September 2017. 

"Chris Mellon has called me on the web. He's obtained three official videos from friends in the DOD, showing UFOs, including recordings from the Nimitz encounter."

Page 434 dated 30 January 2018:

"Chris Mellon has wisely sequestered the tapes from AATIP. Only three of them will be broadcast; the Nimitz tape and two others."

Comment: The 2018 Vallee note, suggests that as early as January 2018 Mellon had secured more than three DOD UAP videos. As we are all aware three, and only three videos, acknowledged by the DOD to be genuine DOD material were released. 

Understanding the phenomena

During the decade 2010-2019 what was Vallee's assessment of the nature of the phenomena? This is revealed in a diary entry dated 13 May 2015 page 301:

"I now think it represents a global conscious system outside humanity, sharing the planet. It needs us for its function and works by imitating or anticipating us."