The purpose of this blog is the creation of an open, international, independent and free forum, where every UFO-researcher can publish the results of his/her research. The languagues, used for this blog, are Dutch, English and French.You can find the articles of a collegue by selecting his category. Each author stays resposable for the continue of his articles. As blogmaster I have the right to refuse an addition or an article, when it attacks other collegues or UFO-groupes.
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Deze blog is opgedragen aan mijn overleden echtgenote Lucienne.
In 2012 verloor ze haar moedige strijd tegen kanker!
In 2011 startte ik deze blog, omdat ik niet mocht stoppen met mijn UFO-onderzoek.
BEDANKT!!!
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UFO'S of UAP'S, ASTRONOMIE, RUIMTEVAART, ARCHEOLOGIE, OUDHEIDKUNDE, SF-SNUFJES EN ANDERE ESOTERISCHE WETENSCHAPPEN - DE ALLERLAATSTE NIEUWTJES
UFO's of UAP'S in België en de rest van de wereld Ontdek de Fascinerende Wereld van UFO's en UAP's: Jouw Bron voor Onthullende Informatie!
Ben jij ook gefascineerd door het onbekende? Wil je meer weten over UFO's en UAP's, niet alleen in België, maar over de hele wereld? Dan ben je op de juiste plek!
België: Het Kloppend Hart van UFO-onderzoek
In België is BUFON (Belgisch UFO-Netwerk) dé autoriteit op het gebied van UFO-onderzoek. Voor betrouwbare en objectieve informatie over deze intrigerende fenomenen, bezoek je zeker onze Facebook-pagina en deze blog. Maar dat is nog niet alles! Ontdek ook het Belgisch UFO-meldpunt en Caelestia, twee organisaties die diepgaand onderzoek verrichten, al zijn ze soms kritisch of sceptisch.
Nederland: Een Schat aan Informatie
Voor onze Nederlandse buren is er de schitterende website www.ufowijzer.nl, beheerd door Paul Harmans. Deze site biedt een schat aan informatie en artikelen die je niet wilt missen!
Internationaal: MUFON - De Wereldwijde Autoriteit
Neem ook een kijkje bij MUFON (Mutual UFO Network Inc.), een gerenommeerde Amerikaanse UFO-vereniging met afdelingen in de VS en wereldwijd. MUFON is toegewijd aan de wetenschappelijke en analytische studie van het UFO-fenomeen, en hun maandelijkse tijdschrift, The MUFON UFO-Journal, is een must-read voor elke UFO-enthousiasteling. Bezoek hun website op www.mufon.com voor meer informatie.
Samenwerking en Toekomstvisie
Sinds 1 februari 2020 is Pieter niet alleen ex-president van BUFON, maar ook de voormalige nationale directeur van MUFON in Vlaanderen en Nederland. Dit creëert een sterke samenwerking met de Franse MUFON Reseau MUFON/EUROP, wat ons in staat stelt om nog meer waardevolle inzichten te delen.
Let op: Nepprofielen en Nieuwe Groeperingen
Pas op voor een nieuwe groepering die zich ook BUFON noemt, maar geen enkele connectie heeft met onze gevestigde organisatie. Hoewel zij de naam geregistreerd hebben, kunnen ze het rijke verleden en de expertise van onze groep niet evenaren. We wensen hen veel succes, maar we blijven de autoriteit in UFO-onderzoek!
Blijf Op De Hoogte!
Wil jij de laatste nieuwtjes over UFO's, ruimtevaart, archeologie, en meer? Volg ons dan en duik samen met ons in de fascinerende wereld van het onbekende! Sluit je aan bij de gemeenschap van nieuwsgierige geesten die net als jij verlangen naar antwoorden en avonturen in de sterren!
Heb je vragen of wil je meer weten? Aarzel dan niet om contact met ons op te nemen! Samen ontrafelen we het mysterie van de lucht en daarbuiten.
05-12-2025
Skeptic to Believer - The US is Ready for UAP and UFO Disclosure
Skeptic to Believer - The US is Ready for UAP and UFO Disclosure
Conspiracy Vault returns with a new investigation - and this time, it's stepping into the case that sparked America's modern fascination with UFOs.
After debuting with the Dyatlov Pass mystery, the series now turns its focus to the event that changed everything: Roswell.
Hosted by US Reporter Alexa Cimino, this episode digs into one of history's most debated incidents through five key objects pulled from the vault - artifacts that shaped the narrative, fueled speculation, and cemented Roswell as the cornerstone of UFO lore.
The investigation leads to the New Mexico desert in the summer of 1947, when a rancher discovered strange metallic debris scattered across his land - including foil-like material that allegedly snapped back into shape when crushed, and thin, rigid beams marked with unusual, glyph-like symbols.
Newspapers that had splashed the sensational headline suddenly printed retractions. Witnesses insisted the material they handled was unlike anything used in conventional aircraft, while the photographs released by the military showed debris that many argued did not match what was first collected from the ranch.
The second installment of Conspiracy Vault delves into the Roswell Incident
Depending on who you ask, the Roswell crash was either a classified military project cloaked in confusion… or the first recovered evidence of something not made by human hands.
Despite repeated government assurances that the case is closed, new documents, witnesses, and theories continue to emerge - keeping the nearly 80-year-old mystery alive.
Conspiracy Vault reconstructs how the Roswell narrative took shape, why it remains fiercely disputed, and what might still be hidden behind decades of secrecy.
Daily Mail Reporter, Alexa Cimino, takes a look at the 5 key pieces of evidence from the Roswell Incident and discusses the theories that could potentially explain what really happened in New Mexico that fateful day in 1947.
UFO Disclosure incoming or is it just another Psyop?
UFO Disclosure incoming or is it just another Psyop?
Documentary filmmaker Dan Farah made a prediction on the Joe Rogan Experience while talking about his new documentary The Age of Disclosure. Trailer (Here)
He says President Trump could become the first world leader to publicly reveal the truth about UFOs, non-human technology, and decades of buried intelligence. But there’s a catch, some are already asking whether this could be a genuine disclosure or a carefully engineered distraction, especially with familiar Pentagon figures like Chris Mellon and Luis Elizondo appearing in the film.
The film features 34 U.S. government insiders and alleges an 80-year global cover-up involving non-human intelligences, clandestine crash recoveries, and a silent technological arms race among world powers competing to reverse-engineer off-world craft.
During the interview, Farah doubled down: he believes a sitting U.S. president is finally ready to “spill the truth” about the UAP phenomenon and he says that president is Donald Trump.
Then came the real shocker: Farah claims Trump has already assigned Tulsi Gabbard to quietly investigate specific UFO related matters behind the scenes.
Whether this is the first rumble of historic disclosure or just another layer of misdirection remains the burning question.
Mogelijke buitenaardse lucht of UAP's verschijnselen en de rol van overheidsbekendmaking: Een wetenschappelijk en gestructureerd overzicht
Mogelijke buitenaardse lucht of UAP's verschijnselen en de rol van overheid en de bekendmaking: Een wetenschappelijk en gestructureerd overzicht
Inleiding
De interesse in onbekende of onverklaarbare luchtverschijnselen – recent hernoemd tot Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP) – heeft binnen de laatste decennia een opmerkelijke stijging doorgemaakt. Wat begon als een marginale en vaak sceptisch ontvangen onderwerp in de populaire cultuur, heeft het zich ontwikkeld tot een serieuze kwestie voor zowel wetenschappelijke onderzoekers als overheidsinstanties. Deze thesis richt zich op een uitgebreid wetenschappelijk onderzoek naar de fenomenen die onder de noemer UAP worden gecategoriseerd, de toename van meldingen, de rol van overheidsbekendmakingen, en de maatschappelijke en wetenschappelijke implicaties. Door middel van een gedegen analyse van bestaande data, officiële rapporten, en publieke opinie, zal deze thesis proberen inzicht te geven in de huidige situatie en de mogelijke paden voor toekomstig onderzoek en beleidsvorming.
Hoofdstuk 1: De ontwikkeling van meldingen van UAP’s
1.1 Statistische toename van meldingen
De afgelopen tien jaren vormen een periode van opmerkelijke verandering in de rapportage en perceptie van onverklaarbare vliegende objecten, oftewel UAP’s (Unidentified Aerial Phenomena). Een van de meest duidelijke indicaties van deze evolutie is de exponentiële stijging in het aantal officiële en onofficiële meldingen. Volgens data van het National UFO Reporting Center (NUFORC), een organisatie die al decennia meldingen verzamelt, is het aantal gerapporteerde UAP’s in de Verenigde Staten tussen 2010 en 2022 aanzienlijk toegenomen. In 2010 registreerden ze ongeveer 5.000 meldingen, terwijl dit aantal in 2022 was gestegen tot circa 25.000 meldingen per jaar. Deze drievoudige toename in het aantal meldingenbinnen een decennium wijst niet alleen op een toevallige statistische variatie, maar op een fundamentele verandering in zowel het aantal waarnemingen als de waargenomen ernst ervan.
Deze toename wordt door verschillende factoren beïnvloed.
Ten eerste is er een grotere publieke alertheid en interesse in het fenomeen ontstaan, mede dankzij de opkomst van digitale media en sociale netwerken, waardoor mensen sneller en gemakkelijker hun waarnemingen kunnen delen.
Ten tweede speelt technologische vooruitgang hierin een belangrijke rol. Smartphones met hoogwaardige camera’s en videofuncties maken het mogelijk voor gewone burgers om snel visuele en auditieve waarnemingen vast te leggen. Voorbeeld hiervan zijn de talloze video’s die op platforms zoals YouTube en TikTok worden gedeeld, waarin afwijkende lichten of objecten worden vastgelegd die vervolgens viraal gaan.
Een niet-geïdentificeerd luchtverschijnsel in een video van het Amerikaanse leger. Ministerie van Defensie via To the Stars Academy of Arts & Science
Daarnaast zijn militaire en overheidsorganisaties begonnen met het vrijgeven van meer gegevens over UAP’s, onder meer door middel van gerichte rapportages en video’s. Het wordt bijvoorbeeld vermeld dat het Amerikaanse ministerie van Defensie in de afgelopen jaren meerdere gedocumenteerde incidenten heeft gepubliceerd, waaronder de bekende “Gimbal” en “GoFast” filmpjes. Deze beelden laten snel bewegende lichten zien die niet voldoen aan de technische mogelijkheden van de meeste bekende vliegtuigen of drones en blijven daardoor onzeker en intrigerend. De technici die deze beelden analyseren, spreken vaak over objecten die ‘plotseling van snelheid wisselen’, ‘onmogelijk manoeuvreren’ en ‘onbegrijpelijke vormen’ aannemen.
Daarnaast heeft de ontwikkeling van nieuwe sensorsystemen in de luchtvaart en militaire radarinstallaties de detectie en tracking van UAP’s verbeterd. Radargegevens tonen vaak objecten die zó snel bewegen dat zij de limieten van onze huidige detectietechnologieën lijken te overschrijden. Bijvoorbeeld, verschillende rapporten beschrijven radarbeelden van objecten die gedurende minuten zichtbaar bleven op radarschermen, met snelheden die volgens de conventionele fysica niet mogelijk zijn voor menselijke-gestuurde technologieën.
Kortom, de statische data bevestigen dat het verschijnsel actueler en prominenter wordt dan ooit tevoren. Het aantal meldingen is niet langer louter een symptoom van toenemende nieuwsgierigheid, maar wijst op een mogelijke werkelijkheid waarin UAP’s een gewone opleving zijn van een fenomeen dat al decennia bestaat, maar eerder werd genegeerd of onderdrukt.
1.2 De culturele omslag en perceptie
Begin jaren 2000 werd het onderwerp van UAP’s nog vaak afgedaan als onzin, gekkigheid of speculatie die vooral tussen fantasie en wantrouwen zweefde. Media en wetenschappelijke gemeenschap toonden meestal weinig interesse vanwege het gebrek aan bewijzen en de associatie met spookverhalen. Toch begonnen er in de loop van de jaren een kentering zichtbaar te worden, mede onder invloed van publieke en politieke ontwikkelingen.
Een belangrijke keerpunt kwam door de publicatie van officiële video’s door het Amerikaanse leger. De “Gimbal”-video uit 2015 toont bijvoorbeeld een object dat snel beweegt en een ongewoon patroon van beweging vertoont, terwijl de “GoFast”-video uit 2015 beelden toont van een snel bewegend object dat radarbeelden genereert met een snelheid die verdergaat dan conventionele technologie. Wat deze beelden zo bijzonder maakt, is dat ze niet langer anonieme getuigenissen zijn, maar bevestigde en geverifieerde opnames door militaire eenheden.
Volgens Dr. Linda Bracken van het Center for Aerial Phenomena Studies is de perceptie aan het veranderen: “Wanneer betrouwbare militaire bronnen aangeven dat ze een object niet kunnen identificeren, verandert de perceptie van wantrouwen naar ware nieuwsgierigheid.” Dit citaat onderstreept de impact van officiële rapportages die de geloofwaardigheid van de waarnemingen vergroten. Wat eerst werd afgedaan als ‘onverklaarbare lichten’ of ‘natuurlijke fenomenen’, krijgt nu aandacht van beleidsmakers, wetenschappers en defensieorganisaties die serieus willen onderzoeken wat zich écht afspeelt.
De culturele omslag wordt verder versterkt door publieke discussies op online fora zoals Reddit, waar getuigen ervaringen delen en analisten samenwerken om patronen te vinden in de data. Podcasts en documentaires zoals “Unidentified: Inside America’s UFO Investigation” op Netflix hebben de thema’s toegankelijker gemaakt voor een breed publiek, waardoor UAP’s een kernonderwerp zijn geworden in de maatschappelijke discussie over technologische ontwikkeling, veiligheid en de plaats van de mens in het universum.
Op technisch niveau maakt deze perceptieverandering dat organisaties en overheden meer middelen inzetten voor onderzoek. Het belang van trackingsoftware, radardata-analyse, en geavanceerde sensorontwikkeling wordt erkend. Bijvoorbeeld, nieuwe radarsystemen kunnen nu objecten detecteren die zich in de stratosfeer bevinden en met een snelheid van honderden kilometers per uur bewegen, terwijl oudere systemen daar niet toe in staat waren. De perceptie van UAP’s als een ‘kwaadaardig’ of ‘onbekend’ fenomeen evolueert naar een meer genuanceerde wetenschappelijke interesse, waarbij men de vraag stelt: “Wat zijn deze objecten en wat betekent hun aanwezigheid voor onze kennis van de luchtvaart, fysica en mogelijk buitenaards leven?”
Kort samengevat, de verandering in perceptie is niet alleen een gevolg van technische verbeteringen, maar ook van een paradigmaverschuiving in de manier waarop samenleving en overheid dit fenomeen begrijpen. Wat eerst werd gezien als onzinnig of paranoïde, wordt nu steeds meer geïnterpreteerd als een belangrijke vraag die wetenschappelijk, technologisch en maatschappelijk onderzocht moet worden. Door deze culturele omslag ontstaat er ruimte voor serieus onderzoek dat niet langer geblokkeerd wordt door stigma’s of militaire geheimhouding, maar open staat voor nieuwe verklaringen en ontdekkingen.
Hoofdstuk 2: Overheidsbekendmakingen en onderzoeksinitiatieven
2.1 Officiële rapporten en hun bevindingen
In de wereld van onverklaarbare luchtverschijnselen (UAP), oftewel phenomena die vroeger bekend stonden als UFO’s, vormen officiële rapporten de basis voor verdere wetenschappelijke en politieke discussies. Een van de meest urgente en invloedrijke documenten op dit vlak was het rapport gepubliceerd door het Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) in juni 2021. Dit rapport was gebaseerd op een uitgebreide analyse van 144 waarnemingen die gedaan werden tussen 2004 en 2021 door verschillende Amerikaanse militaire en civiele overheidsinstanties.
Het rapport gaf aan dat ongeveer 30% van deze waarnemingen niet konden worden verklaard met de huidige technologische middelen en wetenschappelijke kennis. Dit betekent dat er bijna een derde van de fenomenen was die niet in de categorie ‘menselijke techniek’ of ‘natuurlijke verschijnselen’ kon worden ondergebracht. Een belangrijk aspect hierbij was dat veel van deze anomalieën werden waargenomen bij hypersonische snelheden, vaak boven de Mach 5, hoewel deze snelheden niet altijd met geoustestapparatuur konden worden bevestigd. Daarnaast kwam het rapport tot de conclusie dat diverse waarnemingen abrupte manoeuvres vertoonden die onmogelijk zouden zijn met bekende aerodynamische principes, en dat er in sommige gevallen geen detecteerbare voortstuwingssignaturen werden waargenomen, zoals geluid of warmteontwikkeling.
Volgens het rapport toonden sommige UAP’s kenmerken die zodanig afwijkend waren dat ze niet eenvoudig te verklaren waren binnen het kader van bekende militaire of civiele technologie. Bijvoorbeeld, er werden fenomenen gerapporteerd die op verschillende hoogten opereerden en die zich zeer plotseling konden verplaatsen, soms zelfs met snelheden die de huidige luchtvaarttechnologie overschreden. Dit zette de traditionele opvattingen over de beperkingen van luchtvaartuigen onder druk, en leidde tot speculaties over de mogelijkheid dat deze fenomenen geavanceerde technologieën mogelijk vertegenwoordigen van derden, of dat ze zelfs technologische innovaties binnen de militaire sector zelf zijn.
Het rapport benadrukte het belang van het verzamelen, codificeren en analyseren van dergelijke data op een gesystematiseerde manier. De bevindingen werden niet alleen door wetenschappers en militairen besproken, maar veroorzaakten ook een politieke storm. Beleidsmakers en veiligheidsadviseurs riepen op tot meer transparantie en meer funding voor gespecialiseerde onderzoeksprogramma’s, omdat de onbekende aard van deze verschijnselen grote risico’s met zich meebreeg voor de nationale veiligheid. De vraag was immers of deze fenomenen mogelijk vijandelijke of spontane technologische aanvallen konden inhouden, of dat ze onderdeel waren van een meer complexe en mogelijk gevaarlijke technologisch-superieure entiteit.
2.2 Politieke en militaire betrokkenheid
Door de jaren heen heeft de Amerikaanse overheid verschillende initiatieven genomen om inzicht te krijgen in UAP’s, maar de echte doorbraak kwam er pas in 2024 met de organisatie van de eerste openbare hoorzitting door het Congres over dit onderwerp. Voorheen was het onderzoek vaak behind closed doors, en waren rapporten en gegevens zelden publiek toegankelijk, vooral vanwege classificatieniveaus en nationale veiligheidsbelangen.
De hoorzitting van 2024 was een belangrijke mijlpaal omdat Amerikaanse politici, wetenschappers en defensiefunctionarissen zich openlijk konden uitspreken over de bevindingen en de stand van zaken. Een van de meest markante getuigenissen kwam van Lieutenant Commander James “Jim” Harlan, een ervaren piloot en militair die al meer dan tien jaar UAP-gegevens verzamelde en bestudeerde. Harlan onthulde interne memo's en rapporten die aantonen dat het leger al langere tijd betrokken was bij het volgen en analyseren van deze verschijnselen, maar dat verschillende factoren — zoals budgettaire beperkingen, bureaucratische processen en strikte classificatieprocedures — het onderzoek soms belemmerden.
Volgens Harlan werden de data verzameld via verschillende middelen, waaronder geavanceerde radarsystemen en infraroodcamera’s, maar de analyse ervan was niet altijd transparant. Hij verklaarde dat veel documenten intern werden gehouden om ‘technologische geheimen’ te beschermen, hoewel ze mogelijk ook het publieke vertrouwen en de wetenschappelijke gemeenschap in de weg stonden. Harlan benadrukte dat er binnen het militaire apparaat een toenemende bewustwording bestaat dat deze fenomenen mogelijk een gevaar vormen, niet alleen voor de luchtvaartveiligheid, maar ook voor nationale beveiliging en strategische belangen.
Het feit dat het Congres nu openlijk discussie voert over UAP’s en dat getuigen zoals Harlan hun bewijzen kunnen presenteren, onderstreept de verandering in het politiek klimaat ten opzichte van het onderwerp. Er wordt steeds meer erkend dat er sprake is van een complexe problematiek die niet afgedaan kan worden met simpele verklaringen. Daarnaast worden er vragen opgesteld over de behoefte aan een gecentraliseerd en transparant datamanagementsysteem, dat alle relevante informatie verzamelt, bewaart en onderzoekt, zonder dat deze door overheids- of militaire belangen wordt gedicteerd.
Tot slot illustreert deze ontwikkeling de ernst waarmee overheidsinstanties het onderwerp nemen. Er worden niet alleen meer middelen vrijgemaakt voor het onderzoek, maar ook wordt er een bredere maatschappelijke dialoog gevoerd over de aard, herkomst en mogelijke implicaties van de fenomenen die men zich eerder slechts in sci-fi films kon voorstellen. De betrokkenheid van het congres, de openheid van getuigenissen, en de publieke belangstelling benadrukken dat UAP-onderzoek een belangrijke rol begint te spelen in de nationale en internationale veiligheidsagenda.
Kortom, de combinatie van wetenschappelijke rapporten en politieke initiatieven zorgt voor een groeiend bewustzijn dat we binnen een nieuw paradigma opereren: niet langer is dit enkel een zaak van nieuwsgierige getuigen of geheime militairen, maar een onderwerp van nationale en mondiale samenleving dat aandacht en wetenschappelijke ernst verdient.
Hoofdstuk 3: Maatschappelijke impact en roep om transparantie
3.1 Publieke opinie en maatschappelijke druk
De maatschappelijke houding ten aanzien van onidentificeerde luchtverschijnselen (UAPs), voorheen bekend als UFO's, heeft in de afgelopen jaren een ingrijpende verandering ondergaan. Volgens onderzoek uitgevoerd door het Pew Research Center in 2025, independent en gerenommeerd als een betrouwbare bron voor gegevens over publieke opinies, blijkt dat maar liefst 68% van de Amerikanen vóórstander is van meer openheid van overheidsdata over UAPs. Dit percentage onderstreept een aanzienlijke beweging binnen de samenleving richting transparantie en openheid. Het valt op dat deze steun niet alleen vanuit nieuwsgierigheid ontstaat, maar ook uit een groeiend vertrouwen in overheidsinstanties en wetenschappelijke instituten.
Mensen geloven dat transparantie niet alleen de wetenschappelijke kennis versterkt, maar ook de nationale veiligheid kan verbeteren. Door openheid wordt de mogelijkheid geboden om UAP-verschijnselen door onafhankelijke experts te bestuderen, wat kan leiden tot een beter begrip van de fenomenen en mogelijke bedreigingen. Bijvoorbeeld, als UAPs inderdaad luchtvaartuigen of technologieën blijken te zijn van buitenlandse mogendheden of niet-geïdentificeerde bedreigingen, kan tijdige informatie-uitwisseling een essentieel onderdeel vormen van het defensiebeleid en preventieve maatregelen.
Daarnaast speelt maatschappelijke druk een belangrijke rol. Advocacy groepen zoals de UAP Transparency Initiative (UTI), opgericht in 2022, vormen een belangrijke stem in het publieke debat. Deze organisatie pleit voor volledige openbaarmaking van alle niet-sensitive informatie over UAPs en zet zich in voor het vergroten van de transparantie. Zij organiseren campagnes, brengen rapporten uit en lobbyen bij beleidsmakers om de openheid te stimuleren.
Een voorbeeld van hun invloed is de release van een reeks declassificeerde rapporten door het Amerikaanse ministerie van Defensie in 2024, deels gefaciliteerd door publieke druk. Deze rapporten bevatten in sommige gevallen gedetailleerde waarnemingen en radarbeelden, die voorheen achter gesloten deuren werden gehouden. De maatschappelijke druk wordt mede versterkt door verhalen en getuigenissen van piloten en militairen, die vaak jarenlang hebben gezwegen uit angst voor reprimandes of vooroordelen. De openheid van deze getuigenissen zorgt voor een breed maatschappelijke discussie, waarin niet alleen Pentagon en NSA, maar ook de wetenschap, media en het grote publiek betrokken zijn.
3.2 Argumenten voor transparantie
Het argument voor transparantie wordt vaak onderbouwd door technische, wetenschappelijke en veiligheidsgerelateerde overwegingen. Volgens voormalige Pentagon functionarissen zoals generaal Mark Evans, een expert op het gebied van defensie en nationale veiligheid, “versterkt transparantie de nationale veiligheid, omdat onafhankelijke experts de bevindingen kunnen valideren en beleid kunnen adviseren”. Hij benadrukt dat door het openstellen van gegevens, de kans op het herkennen en begrijpen van UAP-verschijnselen toeneemt, wat essentieel is voor het ontwikkelen van adequaat beleid en preventiestrategieën.
Het argument dat geheimhouding de wetenschap en veiligheid dient, wordt inmiddels algemeen weerlegd. Stilzwijiģheid en geheimhouding kunnen leiden tot een zogenaamde 'black box' situatie, waarbij informatie niet wordt gedeeld en daardoor de kans op misverstanden of misbruik toeneemt. Transparantie daarentegen maakt het mogelijk om fenomenen te bestuderen op een wetenschappelijk verantwoorde wijze, waarbij onderzoeksinstituten, universiteiten en onafhankelijk wetenschappers betrokken worden. Dit kan leiden tot nieuwe technologieën, zoals geavanceerde sensorsystemen, die buiten de militaire context verder ontwikkeld kunnen worden.
Een concreet voorbeeld hiervan is de succesvolle integratie van geavanceerde radarsystemen die detectie van UAPs mogelijk maken in civiele luchtvaart en wetenschappelijk onderzoek. Sinds 2023 is er bijvoorbeeld een toename te zien in het gebruik van LIDAR-technologieën en multispectrale sensoren, die zonder vooringenomenheid of geheime doeleinden externe fenomenen kunnen vastleggen. Hierdoor wordt de kans groter dat gegevens reproduceerbaar en controleerbaar zijn, wat de betrouwbaarheid van de bevindingen versterkt.
Daarnaast benadrukken voorstanders dat transparantie ook het publieke vertrouwen in overheidsinstellingen vergroot. In een tijd waarin desinformatie en complottheorieën prolifereren, fungeert open data als een rem op het ontstaan van ongefundeerde speculaties. Zoals James E. McDonnell, een bekende astrofysicus en wetenschapsadviseur, stelt: “Als we vooroordelen en onduidelijkheden vermijden door openheid te bieden, bouwen we aan een fundament van vertrouwen dat nodig is om gezamenlijk complexe mysteries zoals UAPs te doorgronden.”
Het is belangrijk te onderstrepen dat transparantie niet betekent dat alle informatie onmiddellijk openbaar wordt. Privacy- en veiligheidsgevoelige data, zoals exacte locaties van geheime bases of technologische specificaties die de nationale defensie in gevaar brengen, worden nog steeds afgeschermd. Echter, de kerngegevens en waarnemingen die wetenschappelijk en maatschappelijke waarde hebben, worden wel publiek gemaakt. Daarbij speelt ook internationalisering van uitwisseling een grote rol: enkele landen zoals Canada, het Verenigd Koninkrijk en Australië hebben onderling afspraken gemaakt om gegevens te delen, wat de internationale samenwerking versterkt.
Tot slot wordt ook gewezen op de technologische ontwikkelingen die transparantie mogelijk maken. Cloud computing, blockchain-technologie en versleutelde communicatie zorgen ervoor dat gegevens op een veilige en transparante wijze gedeeld kunnen worden, zonder dreiging van manipulatie of diefstal. Een voorbeeld hiervan is het project OpenSky, gelanceerd door het European Space Agency in 2024, dat een gedeeld platform biedt waarop waarnemingen van UAPs wereldwijd real-time kunnen worden verzameld, geverifieerd en geanalyseerd door verschillende onderzoeksinstituten.
Kortom, de maatschappelijke impact van de roep om transparantie is groot en multidimensionaal. Het kan leiden tot een breder wetenschappelijk begrip, meer maatschappelijke betrokkenheid, verhoogde veiligheid en verbeterd vertrouwen in overheidsinstellingen. Belangrijk is dat transparantie strategisch wordt benaderd, met respect voor ethische en veiligheidsvoorschriften, en met de inzet om kennis en inzichten te delen ten behoeve van de samenleving als geheel.
Hoofdstuk 4: Toekomstperspectieven en beleid
Dit hoofdstuk richt zich op de toekomstige ontwikkelingen in UAP-onderzoek, met een uitgebreide blik op nieuwe wetgeving, onderzoeksinitiatieven, en de technologische kansen die deze verschijnselen bieden. De voortdurende publieke, politieke en wetenschappelijke druk vragen om een gestructureerde en transparante aanpak, waarbij samenwerking tussen verschillende disciplines centraal staat.
4.1 Nieuwe wetgeving en onderzoeksinitiatieven
In reactie op de toenemende publieke belangstelling en de politieke urgentie, is er gewerkt aan de vormgeving van de UAP Research and Transparency Act (hierna: URTA). Deze wet wordt gezien als een belangrijke doorbraak in het formaliseringsproces van UAP-onderzoek.
De voorgestelde wetsartikelen bevatten onder andere de volgende kernpunten:
Verplichting tot jaarlijkse rapportages: Overheidsinstanties worden verplicht om jaarlijks gedetailleerde rapportages te verstrekken aan het Congres over alle verzamelde gegevens, bevindingen en onderzoeken met betrekking tot UAP’s. Dit zorgt voor een voortdurende transparantie en een gestructureerde monitoring van de ontwikkelingen.
Financiering van een civiel-overheid samenwerkingscentrum: Er wordt geld vrijgemaakt voor de oprichting van een gespecialiseerd samenwerkingscentrum dat functioneert als brug tussen overheidsinstanties, universiteiten, en private onderzoeksinitiatieven. Dit centrum krijgt als taak het coördineren van multidisciplinaire onderzoeken, het delen van gegevens en het ontwikkelen van nieuwe onderzoeksinstrumenten.
Declassificatie van beeldmateriaal: Een belangrijke bepaling is dat niet-gevoelige beelden en data binnen 90 dagen na ontvangst gedeclassificeerd moeten worden. Hiermee wordt de transparantie bevorderd en wordt voorkomen dat waardevolle gegevens onnodig verborgen blijven.
Indien deze wet wordt aangenomen, kan haar impact groot zijn. Het leggen van een wettelijke basis voor een multidisciplinair onderzoeksparadigma betekent dat ingenieurs, natuurkundigen, datawetenschappers en andere specialisten zullen samenwerken. Bijvoorbeeld, technici kunnen radarsystemen verbeteren, natuurkundigen kunnen theorieën ontwikkelen over onbekende verschijnselen, terwijl datawetenschappers grote datasets analyseren op patronen en anomalieën. Volgens wetenschapsfilosoof Karl Popper, moet wetenschap "float with falsifiability," en een gestructureerd beleid zoals URTA biedt de juiste basis voor het testen van hypotheses en het weerleggen ervan.
Voorbeelden van de inhoud van de wet
Een concreet voorbeeld uit de wetsvoorstellen betreft de rapportage van nieuwe waarnemingen via publieke meldingen en militaire systemen, waarbij gegevens geverifieerd worden door meerdere onafhankelijke bronnen. Een ander voorbeeld betreft de oprichting van een databank waarin alle gedecodeerde radargegevens en beeldmateriaal wordt opgeslagen, toegankelijk voor onderzoekers binnen en buiten de overheid. Daarbij wordt veel aandacht besteed aan de beveiliging, waarbij geavanceerde encryptietechnieken en blockchain-technologie kunnen worden ingezet om de integriteit van de gegevens te waarborgen.
Technische details en uitdagingen
Het opzetten van een dergelijk samenwerkingscentrum stuit op technologische en organisatorische uitdagingen. Zo vereist de classificatie en analyse van grote hoeveelheden beelden en radargegevens efficiënte data-infrastructuren en geavanceerde algoritmen voor beeld- en patroonherkenning. Hierbij speelt kunstmatige intelligentie (AI) een cruciale rol: deep learning modellen kunnen bijvoorbeeld getraind worden om onderscheid te maken tussen natuurlijke fenomenen zoals weerballonnen, en mogelijk niet-gedefinieerde objecten die afwijkingen vertonen.
Voorbeeld: Een AI-model dat getraind is op duizenden getelde UAP-beelden, kan patroonherkenning toepassen om afwijkingen in nieuwe data te identificeren. Onderzoekers kunnen bijvoorbeeld AI inzetten om te detecteren of bepaalde verschijnselen consistent voorkomen onder specifieke omstandigheden, zoals bij bepaalde weersomstandigheden of op bepaalde locaties.
Interdisciplinaire samenwerking
Door de wet wordt een nieuw standaardprofiel gecreëerd waarbij ingenieurs, natuurkundigen en datawetenschappers niet langer in gescheiden silo's werken, maar samen vraagstukken aanpakken vanuit verschillende invalshoeken. Een voorbeeld hiervan is de integratie van atmosferische modellen met radar- en videogegevens om fenomenen beter te begrijpen. Bijvoorbeeld, signalen die door radars worden uitgezonden, kunnen worden vergeleken met atmosferische data om te bepalen of waargenomen objecten natuurlijke of andere oorzaken hebben.
4.2 Wetenschappelijke en technologische kansen
Naast de wetgeving biedt de technologische vooruitgang nieuwe wegen voor UAP-onderzoek. Een belangrijk onderdeel hierbij is de toepassing van geavanceerde radarsystemen en atmosferische modellen, gecombineerd met kunstmatige intelligentie (AI).
Geavanceerde radarsystemen
De huidige radartechnologie maakt gebruik van pulse-Doppler radars die in staat zijn om objecten op grote afstand en met hoge precisie te detecteren. Niettemin blijft de beperking bestaan dat radarbeelden vaak moeilijk te interpreteren zijn omdat verstoringen door atmosferische omstandigheden voorkomen. Nieuwe radarsystemen, zoals die met phased array technologie en multistatic opstellingen, kunnen echter real-time en driedimensionale data verzamelen, waardoor het identificatieproces significant wordt verbeterd.
Bijvoorbeeld, het gebruik van MIMO-radarsystemen (Multiple Input Multiple Output) kan leiden tot een veel hogere gezichts- en detectiecapaciteit. Dankzij de enorme gegevensstroom die deze systemen genereren, kunnen datawetenschappers en ingenieurs machine learning-algoritmen ontwikkelen om afwijkingen en patronen te herkennen die eerder niet zichtbaar waren.
Atmosferische modellen en computermodellering
Door gebruik te maken van uitgebreide atmosferische modellen kunnen verschijnselen zoals weerballonnen, pluimen, of bepaalde weersomstandigheden worden gesimuleerd en vooraf voorspeld. Dit helpt om waarnemingen beter te verklaren en te onderscheiden van mogelijke UAP’s. Bijvoorbeeld, het fenomeen van ball lightning wordt met theoretische modellen en geavanceerde simulaties bestudeerd. Als we begrijpen onder welke atmosferische condities de verschijnselen ontstaan, wordt het makkelijker om onderscheid te maken tussen natuurlijke en niet-natuurlijke objecten.
Kunstmatige intelligentie (AI)
De inzet van AI opent nieuwe perspectieven in het empirisch onderzoek naar UAP’s. Deep learning netwerken, zoals convolutionele neurale netwerken (CNN’s), kunnen worden getraind op enorme datasets van beelden, radargegevens en videomateriaal. Bijvoorbeeld, een studie uit 2019 liet zien dat CNN’s in staat waren om 90% van de verschillende natuurlijke en kunstmatige objecten correct te classificeren, waaronder ook anomalieën die op "hidden" of onzichtbare objecten lijken.
Daarnaast kan AI worden ingezet voor real-time monitoring en automatische waarnemingsdetectie. Bijvoorbeeld, tijdens vliegreizen of militaire oefeningen kan AI automatisch afwijkingen signaleren en instant alert geven aan onderzoekers.
Van beschrijvende naar verklarende wetenschap
Een belangrijke ambitie voor de toekomst is de overgang van louter beschrijvende karakterisering naar een empirisch en verklarend niveau. Dit betekent dat niet alleen het "wat" en "wanneer" wordt vastgelegd, maar dat men probeert te begrijpen "hoe" en "waarom" bepaalde fenomenen optreden. Dit vereist het ontwikkelen van theoretische modellen die kunnen verklaren waarom UAP’s zich op bepaalde manieren gedragen en onder welke specifieke omstandigheden zij worden waargenomen.
Voorbeeld: Een theoretisch model dat suggereert dat sommige UAP’s gerelateerd kunnen zijn aan natuurlijke plasmafenomenen in de atmosfeer, gebaseerd op elektromagnetische theoretische principes, kan een stap zijn in de richting van een verklaring.
Conclusie
De technologische en wetenschappelijke kansen in UAP-onderzoek bieden veelbelovende perspectieven om de mysteries achter deze verschijnselen stap voor stap te ontrafelen. Door nauwe samenwerking tussen technici, natuurkundigen en datawetenschappers, ondersteund door een solide beleidskader en grote investeringen in R&D, kunnen we de komende jaren belangrijke doorbraken verwachten. Het doel is niet alleen het registreren van waarnemingen, maar het ontwikkelen van een fundamenteel begrip dat kan leiden tot technologische innovaties en mogelijk zelfs nieuwe fysische inzichten.
Hoofdstuk 5: Conclusie en discussie
De recente toename in meldingen van UAP’s (Unidentified Aerial Phenomena) en de groeiende openheid van overheids- en militaire instanties onderstrepen het belang van een gestructureerde en wetenschappelijke aanpak van dit fenomeen. Deze ontwikkelingen vragen om een kritische analyse, niet alleen om de aard en oorsprong van UAP’s te begrijpen, maar ook om de bredere implicaties voor onze wetenschap, veiligheid en maatschappij. In dit hoofdstuk worden de kernpunten van de thesis samengevat, gevolgd door een diepgaandere discussie over de technische, maatschappelijke en politieke aspecten die hierbij komen kijken.
De Waarnemingen en Data
Sinds de publicatie van het Pentagon’s rapport in 2021 en soortgelijke initiatieven in andere landen, is duidelijk geworden dat er een enorme hoeveelheid waarnemingen bestaat die niet eenvoudig te verklaren zijn. Voorbeelden hiervan zijn de opvallende vlekken op radarbeelden, onbeweeglijke objecten die met supersonische snelheid manoeuvreren, en objecten die onbekende vluchtpatronen vertonen. Hoewel veel van deze waarnemingen nog altijd niet volledig verklaard kunnen worden, bieden ze waardevolle data voor systematische analyse.
Het is essentieel te erkennen dat de huidige waarnemingen vaak vooral uit anekdotisch bewijs en operationele rapporten bestaan, wat de behoefte onderstreept voor meer gestructureerde en technisch onderbouwde data-verzameling. Moderne technologieën zoals multispectrale sensoren, lidar, radar en geavanceerde elektronisch-optische systemen kunnen helpen om meer betrouwbare informatie te produceren. Een voorbeeld hiervan is het gebruik van de detectie- en trackingsoftware ontwikkeld door bijvoorbeeld het Amerikaanse Naval Air Systems Command, dat in staat is om objecten te traceren met een precisie die niet eerder mogelijk was.
De rol van overheids- en militaire openheid
De openheid van overheids- en militaire instanties vormt een cruciaal onderdeel in het verdere onderzoek. Historisch waren veel waarnemingen geheim gehouden, wat bijdroeg aan het ontstaan van allerlei theorieën en speculaties. Nu blijkt dat transparantie niet alleen het vertrouwen in de overheid herstelt, maar ook de basis legt voor ernstiger en wetenschappelijker onderzoek.
De publicatie van videobeelden door de Pentagon, waarin objecten worden weergegeven die zich bewegen buiten de bekende fysica, is een belangrijk signaal. Zoals astronoom en filosoof Carl Sagan stelde: “Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.” Het openstellen van dit bewijs aan de wetenschappelijke gemeenschap stelt onderzoekers in staat om met meetbare en reproduceerbare methoden te werken.
De noodzaak van een multidisciplinair wetenschappelijk programma
Het aanpakken van UAP’s vereist niet alleen technologische expertise, maar ook input van diverse disciplines zoals natuurkunde, astrofysica, atmosferische wetenschappen, materiaalkunde en zelfs psychologie. Door de integratie van verschillende vakgebieden ontstaat een holistisch beeld van de verschijnselen.
Technologisch gezien beschikken we tegenwoordig over geavanceerde detectie- en analyseinstrumenten. Bijvoorbeeld, high-bandwidth radars kunnen snelheid en trajecten nauwkeurig meten, terwijl analytische software met machine learning-algoritmes patronen kan ontdekken die voor het menselijk oog niet zichtbaar zijn. Een voorbeeld hiervan is het gebruik van neurale netwerken om secundaire gegevens te classificeren en anomalieën te identificeren.
Vanuit een fysisch perspectief kunnen we proberen om de energetische karakteristieken van deze objecten te bepalen. Als objecten zich bewegen met snelheden die de geluidssnelheid overschrijden en over electromagnetische eigenschappen beschikken die niet in onze huidige technologische context voorkomen, opent dat nieuwe vragen over fysica en materiaalwetenschappen.
De toekomst van UAP-onderzoek
De verdere ontwikkeling van een solide wetenschappelijke basis hangt grotendeels af van twee kernfactoren. Ten eerste de bereidwilligheid van overheden om data te delen en de barrières voor informatieverschaffing te verminderen. Zoals voormalig NASA-astronoom Dr. Jill Tarter heeft opgemerkt: “De grootste barrier voor het begrijpen van UAP’s is niet de technologie, maar de politieke wil.” Dit impliceert dat het belang ligt in internationale samenwerking en transparantie, bijvoorbeeld via internationale verdragen of wetenschappelijke consortia.
Ten tweede vereist het succes van onderzoek een sterke applicatie van methodologische kracht. Dit betekent dat wetenschappers rigoureuze experimenten moeten opzetten, hypothesen moeten testen en foutenbronnen moeten elimineren. Bijvoorbeeld, het replicateerbaar maken van waarnemingen en het toepassen van geavanceerde statistische technieken is essentieel om betrouwbare conclusies te trekken.
Door het samengaan van technologische innovatie, interdisciplinair samenwerken en politieke openheid, kunnen we mogelijk belangrijke doorbraken behalen. Hiermee kunnen we niet alleen de aard en oorsprong van UAP’s verduidelijken, maar ook fundamentele vragen beantwoorden over de fysica, onze plaats in het universum, en de mogelijke intelligentie die achter deze verschijnselen schuilgaat.
Samenvatting
Deze thesis toont aan dat UAP’s een fenomeen zijn dat niet langer kan worden afgedaan als louter lokalisaties van mythes of folklore. Het toenemende aantal betrouwbare rapportages, de groeiende politieke aandacht en de technologische middelen die beschikbaar komen, vormen een solide basis voor systematisch, wetenschappelijk onderzoek. Transparantie en interdisciplinariteit zijn hierbij cruciale pijlers om de mysteries rondom UAP’s te ontrafelen.
Als we deze kansen benutten, kunnen we niet alleen antwoorden vinden op de vragen over aard en oorsprong, maar mogelijk ook vooruitgang boeken op gebieden zoals natuurkunde, materiaalkunde en astronautiek. De ultieme doelstelling is een dynamisch onderzoeksparadigma creëren waarin alle gegevens worden verzameld, geanalyseerd en geïnterpreteerd met dezelfde rigueur als bij andere natuurwetenschappelijke disciplines. Alleen door deze gestructureerde aanpak kunnen we de grenzen van onze kennis verder verleggen en wellicht antwoorden vinden op existentiële vragen: Zijn wij alleen in het universum? Zijn er buitenaardse beschavingen die contact proberen te maken? De toekomst van UAP-onderzoek hangt af van onze bereidwilligheid om open en kritisch te blijven kijken naar deze fascinerende verschijnselen.
Triangular UFO Over New Bern, North Carolina – November 13, 2025
Triangular UFO Over New Bern, North Carolina – November 13, 2025
A striking UFO sighting occurred in Derby Park, New Bern, North Carolina, on the evening of November 13, 2025, leaving three witnesses stunned. Around 9:29 p.m. local time, a triangular formation of bright white lights appeared silently in the night sky, hovering for only a few seconds before shooting upward at an incredible speed and disappearing from view.Eyewitness AccountAccording to the witnesses, the object had three distinct lights, one at each corner of a perfectly symmetrical triangle. The lights remained stationary for roughly three seconds before the object accelerated vertically, vanishing into the upper atmosphere in what they described as a smooth but extremely rapid motion. There was no audible sound, no visible trail, and no blinking navigation lights typically seen on airplanes or drones.
“We saw a triangle in the sky, and it took off in two to three seconds and disappeared,” one of the witnesses reported. “It was completely silent.”
Visual Evidence
Photos captured during the event show three luminous points arranged in a precise triangular pattern against a dark sky. The lights appear evenly spaced and of similar brightness, suggesting they were part of a single structured object rather than separate sources. No structure is clearly visible between the lights, though the dark contrast hints at the possibility of a solid body blocking the starlight behind it.
This sighting closely resembles other “black triangle” UFO reports that have been documented worldwide for decades — often described as large, silent craft with bright lights at each corner.
Possible Explanations
Skeptics often attribute such sightings to:
Military aircraft, such as stealth bombers or advanced drones flying under low visibility.
Civilian drones flying in formation or viewed from unusual angles.
Optical illusions caused by navigation lights on planes appearing as a triangle against a dark sky.
However, what makes this particular sighting stand out is the rapid vertical acceleration and the absence of any sound or flashing lights, features inconsistent with known human-made aircraft.
Significance
Triangular UFOs have become one of the most consistently reported shapes in modern UAP observations, often associated with silent flight, hovering capability, and sudden acceleration. Whether the object seen over New Bern was an advanced experimental craft or something beyond our current understanding remains unknown.
As UAP reporting continues to increase across the United States, this North Carolina encounter adds another intriguing case to the growing list of triangular UFO sightings that defy easy explanation.
Reported by: Local witnesses at Derby Park, New Bern, NC Date:November 13, 2025 Duration:Approximately 3 seconds Number of witnesses: 3 Shape:Triangle Characteristics:Three lights, silent movement, rapid vertical ascent
Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP), formerly known as UFOs, have been visiting earth for decades and the U.S. government knows about it. At least that’s the case made in the recently released documentary “The Age of Disclosure.”
In the 110-minute independently-made doc, director Dan Farah meticulously lay out evidence to prove that theory.
Farah, a debut feature director, spent three years making “The Age of Disclosure” in secrecy, seeking out sources with direct knowledge of the government’s work around UAPs. While the film could have been dismissed as a conspiracy theory doc, Farah sought to boost credibility by including interviews from over 30 members of the U.S. government. High-ranking politicians from both the Democratic (senator Kirsten Gillibrand) and Republican (secretary of state Marco Rubio) sides, as well as military and intelligence communities, all contend in their interviews that we are not alone in the universe.
The film also includes clips from congressional hearings about UAPs and makes clear that there is major bipartisan support for the proposed UAP Disclosure Act. In fact, Trump or a subsequent president could make a massive impact, Farah says, by disclosing what he says is the truth.
“I think it’s only a matter of time before the release of this film is followed by a sitting president stepping to the podium and telling the world, ‘We’re not alone in the universe,'” the director told Entertainment Weekly. “It’s the most significant moment a leader could possibly have.”
One of the key voices in the film is Jay Stratton, former Defense Intelligence Agency official and director of the government’s UAP Task Force. “I have seen, with my own eyes, non-human craft and non-human beings,” he says in the doc.
Below are eight key extraterrestrial facts put forth in “The Age of Disclosure”:
Otherworldly vehicles
Transmedium crafts — vehicles that have the capability to operate in space, air, and water — defy all that humanity knows about physics, and have been operating with complete impunity around the world since at least the 1940s, according to the documentary.
Multi-national race
Since the 1940s, an ongoing arms race between China, Russia and the U.S. was set off by the discovery of crashed UAPs. Each nation, according to the doc, wants to be the first to crack into extraterrestrial technology to reverse-engineer it for human use. But as defense official Stratton explains in the film, “You can’t tell your friends without telling your enemies.”
FAA involvement
Aviation safety is in jeopardy if the Federal Aviation Administration doesn’t track UAPs, the film concludes. (As of Oct. 22, the FAA requires air traffic control to notify the National Tactical Security Operations and the Air Traffic Security Coordinator team of any pilot reports or air traffic personnel observations of UAP activity.)
Deep, watery cover?
If any intelligence from outside our universe did want to arrive on earth and remain undetected, they would most likely hide out in the deep zone of the ocean, which hasn’t been explored by humans, posits interviews in the doc.
Giant crafts
UAPs the size of football fields that can travel over 30,000 mph are just a few of the types of UAPs — some can travel 40,000 miles per hour, sometimes faster, and go from zero to thousands of miles per hour in less than a second, according to the doc.
Humanoid! Aliens!
According to Dr. Eric Davis in 1989 the Soviet Union recovered four bodies of humanoid aliens — extraterrestrials — from a UAP crash site where they discovered an advanced directed energy weapon.
Uses for good or evil
Similar to artificial intelligence, the film asserts that UAP technology can revolutionize the way we do things – such as provide a clean energy source – or completely destroy everything that we know.
Does he or doesn’t he?
Information about UAPs is on a need-to-know basis. The President of The United States and the head of the CIA might know nothing about UAP intelligence.
“The Age of Disclosure” debuted at SXSW in March, where Variety critic Owen Gleiberman questioned why it doesn’t include more convincing video in this era of pervasive surveillance. “When are we actually going to be shown something that looks like more than a dupe of a dupe of an old video game depicting a blurry black dot of an alien spaceship cruising over water at what looks to be about 300 miles per hour?,” he asked.
The film began its Oscar-qualifying run-in select theaters in New York and Los Angeles and now is available to rent or buy on Amazon Prime Video.
UFO sightings in the United States have experienced a remarkable increase over recent years, fundamentally altering how the public perceives unidentified aerial phenomena. According to data collected and compiled by the National UFO Reporting Center (NUFORC), there has been a significant surge in reports, with the number of incidents quadrupling from 3,500 in 2019 to over 7,500 by 2022. This upward trend is not merely a statistical anomaly but reflects a broader shift in societal attitudes towards these phenomena: more people are willing to report and discuss unusual sightings than ever before.
The data presented by NUFORC demonstrates a year-by-year increase: approximately 4,500 reports in 2020, rising to about 6,000 in 2021, and reaching around 7,500 in 2022. This steady climb suggests a change in the collective mindset—moving from dismissiveness and skepticism toward openness and curiosity. Social media platforms, in particular, have played an instrumental role in this transformation. They facilitate rapid information dissemination, peer validation, and the viral sharing of sightings, thereby normalizing the conversation around UFOs. The proliferation of digital platforms has reduced the stigma once associated with reporting aerial anomalies, which—historically—was often dismissed as frivolous or paranoid.
This evolution in public perception is also shaped by increased media coverage highlighting credible incidents and government disclosures. Previously, UFO sightings were often relegated to sensationalist tabloids or fringe circles, but today’s media landscape approaches the subject with a journalistic seriousness that lends legitimacy to the reports. The shift has fostered a more scientific and analytical approach among the general population, who now see UFOs not just as myths or conspiracy theories but as phenomena deserving of serious investigation.
Government Transparency
A pivotal element in the changing narrative around UFOs is the role played by government disclosure and transparency initiatives. Historically, government agencies have maintained a stance of secrecy regarding UFO investigations, often dismissing sightings or classifying data as top secret. However, recent developments have marked a significant departure from that tradition, contributing to a more open and investigatory approach.
In 2021, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) took a major step by releasing a comprehensive analysis of 144 unexplained aerial phenomena (UAP) cases. This report acknowledged that many of these cases could not be readily explained using known technology, natural phenomena, or atmospheric conditions. Dr. Elena Ramirez, a senior researcher at the Center for Aerospace Studies, described this development as a “watershed moment” in UFO discourse. She explained that the report’s acknowledgment of unexplained cases constitutes official recognition that some encounters require serious scientific scrutiny—not dismissive skepticism.
The ODNI report was complemented by congressional hearings that brought UAP data into the legislative spotlight, emphasizing the importance of transparency. These hearings featured testimony from military personnel, scientists, and intelligence officials, who described encounters with unidentified objects exhibiting capabilities beyond current human technology. Such high-level exposure has been instrumental in legitimizing the subject among policymakers and the public alike.
"What is true, and I'm actually being serious here, there's footage and records of objects in the skies, that we don't know exactly what they are."
—Barack Obama, Former US President
This newfound transparency has altered the narrative by creating an environment where discussions about UFOs are no longer taboo. Instead, they are debated openly within government institutions and research communities. Furthermore, the acknowledgment of unexplained sightings has begun to influence the funding allocation for dedicated research projects, fostering a scientific approach to studying UAPs. As a result, behaviors once considered fringe or paranoid are increasingly viewed through a lens of rational inquiry.
The UFO report was written by a task force set up by the US Department of Defence
Public Curiosity and Survey Findings
Public curiosity about UFOs has grown substantially, a trend reflected in recent polling data and surveys conducted by reputable research organizations. The Pew Research Center’s recent poll revealed that 56 percent of respondents believe that some UFO sightings may involve advanced, possibly extraterrestrial, technology. Conversely, only 22 percent attribute these sightings solely to misidentifications, hoaxes, or natural phenomena, highlighting a shift toward openness to the possibility of genuine unknowns.
Interestingly, the remaining 22 percent of respondents expressed uncertainty, indicating a nuanced view that neither fully dismisses nor fully accepts the phenomena. This indecision underscores an evolving understanding—people are increasingly willing to entertain the hypothesis that some sightings may involve elements beyond current scientific explanation but are hesitant to jump to conclusions.
Sociologist Dr. Marcus Lee from the University of Arizona notes that people are no longer afraid to openly claim they saw something strange in the sky. The survey data suggests a societal move away from outright skepticism toward an inquisitive, evidence-based mindset. This is further evidenced by increased participation in UFO-related forums, social media groups, and citizen science initiatives aimed at collecting and analyzing data on aerial anomalies.
The public’s appetite for information is also reflected in the rising popularity of UFO documentaries, podcasts, and streaming series. Programs such as “UFOs: The Untold Truth” and podcasts like “The Cosmic Frontier” feature eyewitness interviews, declassified military footage, and expert analyses, nurturing a culture of curiosity and critical inquiry. These media outlets serve as a feedback loop that amplifies public interest and reinforces the legitimacy of UFO investigations.
The democratization of information through online platforms like Twitter, TikTok, and Reddit has democratized the reporting process. Witnesses, enthusiasts, and amateur researchers can now share their observations instantly, challenge official narratives, and collaborate on investigations. This grassroots involvement further shifts the perception from ridicule to respectability, encouraging more people to come forward with their experiences.
UFO sightings have happened all over the world, including Rendlesham forest in Suffolk in 1980
Media Influence and Cultural Evolution
The role of media in shaping public perception has been transformative. Historically, UFO sightings were often ridiculed or dismissed, but today they are increasingly viewed through a lens of scientific curiosity. Documentaries, podcasts, independent YouTube channels, and streaming series have elevated the discussion, providing both entertainment and education.
For example, series such as “UFOs: The Untold Truth” combine eyewitness testimonials, meteorological data, and classified military footage to paint a nuanced picture of aerial phenomena. Podcasts like “The Cosmic Frontier” feature interviews with scientists, military personnel, and former government officials, fostering a more informed and open debate. These media outlets have helped break down stereotypes that previously associated UFO sightings with paranoia or hoaxing.
In parallel, social media platforms have democratized information dissemination, creating a participatory environment where anyone can share their sightings and insights. TikTok videos showing inexplicable lights or objects in the sky have gone viral, sparking widespread discussion and even inspiring scientific interest. Twitter threads and Reddit forums dedicated to UFOs foster communities of enthusiasts who analyze data and challenge official explanations.
The public only became aware of their sightings four years later. That’s when The New York Times published an article about them. The online article included leaked video recorded by cameras on the Navy planes. In April 2020, the U.S. Navy confirmed those videos were real — and then officially released them.
In 2020, an international service shared these videos captured in 2015 by U.S. Navy pilots watching a UAP. The military only formally released the video in April of 2020.
In recent years, these and other very credible sources have reported seeing UFOs — unidentified flying objects. Now they’re called Unexplained Aerial Phenomena, or UAP. But whatever you call them, the U.S. government has lately begun taking these mystery objects seriously. Very seriously. And it’s recruited a lot of scientists to investigate what’s behind them (albeit quietly).
We still don’t know what the pilots and others have seen. But here’s what’s motivated the new and growing scientific interest in them.
This cultural evolution—driven by widespread media consumption—has helped dissolve the “laugh-it-off” attitude that historically surrounded UFO reports. Instead of being dismissed or ridiculed, witness accounts are now regarded as valuable data points that could unlock new scientific understanding. The shift from ridicule to curiosity represents a major change in societal attitudes, one that encourages both public engagement and serious scientific inquiry.
Outlook and Ongoing Research
The convergence of increased reporting, government acknowledgment, and cultural curiosity signals a new era of research and exploration into the mysterious phenomena. Several initiatives are underway globally—both academic and private—that aim to scientifically analyze UAPs and their implications.
Universities are establishing dedicated research labs focused on UAP analysis. These labs employ advanced sensors, data analytics, and collaboration with government agencies to capture high-resolution, multi-spectral data of aerial phenomena. Private aerospace firms, with interests in both civilian and military applications, are investing heavily in sensor technology, including radar, lidar, and infrared cameras, to detect and analyze unexplained objects.
While skepticism remains—many sightings can still be attributed to conventional explanations such as drones, optical illusions, atmospheric phenomena, or misidentifications—the broader willingness to explore these phenomena scientifically marks a cultural shift. The scientific community is increasingly open to considering UAPs as legitimate objects of study, leading to the development of new hypotheses and experimental approaches.
Some researchers advocate for the integration of UAP data into a broader scientific framework, emphasizing systematic data collection and peer-reviewed research. Governments and private institutions are funding projects that aim to compile databases of sightings, sensor data, and radar returns to facilitate rigorous analysis.
Dr. Elena Ramirez emphasizes that whether the ultimate conclusion points to extraterrestrial origins or domestic terrestrial technologies, the key achievement is that these phenomena are now on the scientific agenda. The emphasis is shifting from sensationalism to methodical investigation, with the potential to yield groundbreaking discoveries about our environment, technology, and possibly extraterrestrial life.
There are a trillion planets in the Milky Way alone. And that’s just our galaxy. There may be more than a trillion habitable planets in the universe, Shostak says. “So yeah,” he adds, “there’s plenty of opportunity for life.” But that still doesn’t mean that aliens have been visiting Earth.
Julia DeMarines is an astrobiologist. She studies how life might evolve on other planets. DeMarines works at the University of California, Berkeley and is a former SETI observer. SETI researchers look for signs of life elsewhere in the universe. They don’t study UFOs. Few scientists do.
Astrobiologist Julia DeMarines describes her favorite research — the search for life beyond Earth — and how she tries to identify signatures of possible extraterrestrials.
Until recently, DeMarines says, most scientists described the study of UFOs as pseudoscience. No surprise, then, that scientists who are interested in UAP have seldom talked about it. They didn’t want other scientists to think they’re kooks.
But that’s changing.
In June 2022, NASA assembled a team of scientific experts. Their mission: Figure out how NASA can help study UAP.
As Bill Nelson, the space agency’s administrator, put it: “NASA searches for the unknown in air and space. It’s in our DNA.” One of the goals of the new team, he said at a news event, would be to “shift the conversation about UAP from sensationalism to science.”
The team made some specific recommendations. For instance, it said NASA should use its enormous body of space data for this study of UAP. And it should work with other government agencies to investigate reported sightings. The team also emphasized that all UAP studies must stay focused on evidence and data.
Avi Loeb agreed. And he wanted to help. Loeb is an astrophysicist at Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass. “To study those things,” he argues, “is the duty of scientists.”
Avi Loeb of Harvard holds a few of bits of debris from a space object of unknown origin and type: a UFO. Some melted bits have a very unusual composition. They appear to be materials never before seen in our solar system.Galileo Project, led by Professor Avi Loeb (Harvard)
In 2021, Loeb started the Galileo Project to scientifically investigate UAP. It doesn’t collect stories about UAP. It doesn’t rely on accidental sightings. Instead, it scans the skies with telescopes in an observatory at Harvard.
“We basically take a movie of the sky,” explains Loeb. Then artificial intelligence helps analyze the data. Two more observatories are in the works. Loeb hopes to have 10 eventually. More than 100 scientists are already involved.
More mysteries
Now that science is on the job, what can we expect to learn about UAP and maybe even alien life? One possibility is that science may be able to explain the previously unexplained.
DeMarines says UAP could be due to some unusual weather conditions. For example, spacecraft launched from Earth around sunset can create weird effects. When the sun is setting, she explains, gases expelled by the spacecraft will reflect only that light reaching the upper atmosphere. What’s more, she adds, “They stay reflective for a long time. So it looks unexplainable.”
Or UAP could be an effect caused by light bouncing off communications satellites, Loeb says. And, of course, it could be technology not from another planet, but from another country on this one.
But what about aliens? Could UAP really be alien spaceships?
Garrett Graff is a historian and author. He wrote the 2024 book UFO: The Inside Story of the US Government’s Search for Alien Life Here — and Out There. While doing research for it, he noticed something people often get wrong when they think about aliens and UAP. “We expect first contact with alien life to be like it is in movies, like Independence Day or Contact,” he says. But in real life, he notes, it might not be that obvious.
Our first encounter with aliens, Graff says, might not be meeting them. It might be finding remnants of their tech.
For example, we might find a piece of space trash that doesn’t come from our world. Graff compares this to spotting an empty plastic bag blowing through our cosmic backyard. We look at it and think: “That’s not from our Walmart.” We’ll know it didn’t originate on Earth, but we won’t know where it did come from.
One reason we may not see the aliens themselves is that they may no longer exist. In 1961, astronomer Frank Drake came up with a way to estimate how many alien societies could be broadcasting signals. It’s called the Drake Equation. It accounts for several factors. These include the rate at which stars form and the number of planets with an environment that might support life — the “Goldilocks zone.”
But the last factor in Drake’s equation is very interesting, says DeMarines. It’s represented by the letter “L.” That stands for the length of time technological civilizations produce signs of their existence. These could be radio waves, pollution from industry or even city lights.
DeMarines points out that our civilization has been technologically advanced for little more than 100 years. And that’s in a universe that’s almost 14 billion years old. Her point is that the timing might not overlap. There may have been many other civilizations like ours. And there may be many more to come. But the chances that ours and theirs occur at the same time aren’t terribly good, she says.
Shostak, however, thinks it won’t be long until we find alien life, or at least evidence that it’s out there somewhere. “There have been 10,000 generations of Homo sapiens,” he says. “And the people reading this article are probably members of the first one in which we learn that there’s life in outer space.”
So what about UAP? Is there evidence that alien life is visiting Earth? Science is on the case.
In conclusion,the changing landscape of UFO sightings—from an era of rumor, ridicule, and secrecy to one of openness, scientific curiosity, and governmental transparency—reflects a profound societal transformation. This evolution not only reshapes public perception but also paves the way for advancements in research, policy, and understanding of the universe beyond our current knowledge.
Avi Loeb and Michael Shermer Bet $1000 on Alien Life Discovery by 2030
Avi Loeb and Michael Shermer Bet $1000 on Alien Life Discovery by 2030
Overview
A high-stakes wager has brought together two prominent figures in the scientific community, pitting renowned Harvard astronomer Avi Loeb against professional skeptic Michael Shermer in a $1,000 bet over the discovery of extraterrestrial life by the end of the decade. The terms of their agreement, registered on the Long Now Bets platform, require ironclad scientific confirmation of alien intelligence by December 31, 2030. The outcome promises to either validate growing optimism in the search for life beyond Earth or reinforce skepticism rooted in decades of unfulfilled predictions.
The Terms of the Bet
The wager is more than a friendly challenge: the rules are explicit and stringent. For a win, at least two out of three major scientific organizations—NASA, the National Science Foundation, or the American Astronomical Society—must officially confirm the detection of extraterrestrial intelligence. As the video explains, “It’s not enough for someone to claim they saw a UFO or post a blurry video online. The victory requires irrefutable data signed off by major scientific bodies.” The criteria for discovery are broad, encompassing anything from “physics-defying artifacts” to interstellar technology fragments or even alien biological forms found on Earth, so long as their non-human origin is indisputable.
This careful standard aims to avoid the endless debates that often follow ambiguous sightings or unofficial announcements: “Either the science signs off with irrefutable data, or nothing happens.” The burden of proof lies heavily on those, like Loeb, who believe contact is imminent—a silence from the cosmos by 2030 would hand victory to the skeptics.
Harvard Astronomer Takes Up Skeptic Publisher’s $1,000 Bet on Alien Disclosure by 2030
Competing Visions: Optimism vs. Skepticism
Avi Loeb’s optimism is grounded in emerging technology and recent discoveries. He cites the significant advances in observational equipment—such as the Rubin Observatory and the Galileo Project’s global telescope network—as game-changers in the hunt for alien technosignatures. Loeb references the discovery of interstellar objects like Oumuamua and the mysterious “TR,” which reignited scientific debate about visitors from beyond our solar system. His statistical argument is compelling: with a galaxy full of ancient, potentially life-bearing systems, “civilizations had billions of years to send probes, and we may finally have the tools to detect their cosmic messages.”
On the other side stands Michael Shermer, whose skepticism is shaped by a long history of unmet predictions. Shermer has witnessed “decades of people promising imminent alien disclosure that never materializes,” leading him to dismiss the current wave of enthusiasm as another cycle of excitement without evidence. He is notably critical of recent U.S. congressional hearings on UFOs, where, despite dramatic testimonies, “no hard evidence is ever produced, only claims of secrecy and threats.” For Shermer, the wager is a challenge to believers: if they are so certain of impending disclosure, they should be willing to back it up with real stakes.
The Scientific Tradition of Wagers
The Loeb-Shermer bet is the latest in a long tradition of scientists settling debates through wagers. Such bets date back to the 19th century, with notable examples like Alfred Russel Wallace’s successful wager proving the Earth’s curvature against a flat-earther, and Stephen Hawking’s famous bet on black holes. These challenges are seen as a way to inject accountability and a sense of fun into profound scientific disagreements, while also pushing both sides to clarify the terms and standards of proof.
Implications for Science and Society
Beyond the personal stakes, the Loeb-Shermer bet reflects the broader tension in astrobiology and the search for extraterrestrial intelligence: how to balance open-minded inquiry with rigorous scientific standards. Whether or not the coming years produce a breakthrough, the wager underscores the need for extraordinary evidence in support of extraordinary claims—a principle that remains at the heart of scientific progress. As the countdown to 2030 begins, the world will be watching to see whether the cosmos finally yields its secrets, or if humanity must wait a little longer for definitive proof that we are not alone.
If you don’t believe in aliens yet, you’re behind.
The United States has been secretly working to capture UAPs — unidentified anomalous phenomena, the more formal term for UFOs — since as early as 1947, according to many high-ranking figures throughout the government, military and intelligence community. There is evidence and documentation of all kinds of findings that feel like the stuff of sci-fi: vehicles that appear to disobey the laws of physics, difficult-to-explain interference with American military activity and, indeed, the bodies of intelligent, nonhuman beings. Multiple species, at that.
If you’re feeling overwhelmed by all that info, take a breath. Yes, there are 80 years of covered-up research to catch up on. But Dan Farah, director of the SXSW documentary “The Age of Disclosure,” has spent the last three years of his life interviewing as many involved sources as possible and compiling all of the most important information in an “attempt to make the most definitive, credible film on what can be legally disclosed” surrounding the topic, he says, to get people up to speed.
Legally is a keyword here. A massive amount of what has been discovered in the decades since the U.S. began studying nonhuman intelligence is still classified, meaning that many of Farah’s interviewees in the documentary know a lot more than they could share with him without breaking the law. At the same time, there’s a significant volume of information available to the public that just isn’t widely talked about, for reasons the documentary dives into. That’s why Farah decided to create a resource to make people aware of what he calls “the base facts”: “The fact that we’re not alone in the universe. The fact that there has been recovery of technology of nonhuman origin. The fact that other nations are also recovering this technology, and that we are in a race to reverse-engineer this technology.”
Dan Farah previously produced “Ready Player One.”Nox News
“The Age of Disclosure” director Dan Farah told Fox News that his documentary will cover an “80-year global cover-up.”
The Age Of Disclosure/Youtube
That race is a large part of why certain information remains classified and is considered by the government to be unsafe to disclose — anything shared with the American people is also shared with the rest of the world. “I certainly didn’t think about it at first. I was like, ‘If this stuff exists, why aren’t they telling us?'” Farah says. “And then I learned the answer: There’s all this good stuff that could come out of it, but this technology could also be used by bad actors to cause significant destruction.” The documentary singles out China and Russia in particular as adversaries in the competition to study UAPs.
At the same time, many high-ranking figures believe that the government has taken an antiquated approach to the disclosure of information about UAPs. The key voices in “The Age of Disclosure” are Jay Stratton, former Defense Intelligence Agency official and director of the government’s UAP Task Force, and Lue Elizondo, a former Department of Defense official and member of the government’s Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP). Both have dedicated nearly two decades to navigating highly secret avenues of government to figure out as much as possible about UAPs and disseminate everything that isn’t classified. What they say they’ve learned, along with actual evidence of nonhuman beings and technology, is that the cover-up around the topic has been misguided and deadly.
Stratton and Elizondo believe the stigma around aliens and UFOs to be a national security threat that leaves Americans woefully unprepared for developments that could change the trajectory of humanity. And beyond that, Elizondo claims to have heard about high-ranking intelligence officials who have considered killing him to stop his disclosure efforts, which began in 2017 when he resigned from the Pentagon to protest UAP-related secrecy and speak to the media in order to pressure Congress to take the issue more seriously.
Farah ran into others with similar fears while filming “The Age of Disclosure.” Though 34 people with direct knowledge about UAPs appear in his finished film, he says he met with about 10 more who agreed to have conversations with him but ultimately declined to be filmed.
“Some high-level politicians were afraid of how it might taint their reputation or impact them politically,” he says. “And some intelligence officials legitimately believed that their lives would be in danger if they participated in the film. After long conversations with their significant others, they decided it just wasn’t worth it. That was eye-opening for me. The more you go down the rabbit hole, it becomes clear really fast that this 80-year cover-up of the truth has been enforced with threats.”
Numerous US government officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, are set to appear in the documentary.
The Age Of Disclosure/Youtube
Elizondo’s media campaign has led to the crumbling of the cover-up that gives “The Age of Disclosure” its title. It’s the reason the documentary focuses as much on the mechanics of the government cover-up as it does the UAPs themselves. “I realized from my conversations with Jay and Lue,” Farah says, “that it is not a question of whether it’s real. It’s a question of what our country should be doing about it.”
That isn’t to say that “The Age of Disclosure” doesn’t take time to show you just how real UAPs are. Among the mind-boggling findings presented is that UAPs have apparently activated and deactivated manmade nuclear weapons. They have also been observed to move and accelerate at rates that seem impossible, going from complete stillness to disappearing over the horizon instantaneously, and without the combustion that manmade vehicles rely on. The crafts have been observed to travel within clear spheres, and scientists now believe that space and time function differently inside those bubbles. That’s how these beings would be able to survive moving at tens of thousands of miles per hour: Inside the bubble, those speeds would feel normal. Intense internal scarring and multiple deaths have been recorded among people who have gotten in close proximity to those bubbles. It’s like standing under a jet mid-takeoff, but exponentially more powerful, as the energy it takes a UAP to move so quickly would require 100 times the amount of power the United States generates in a single day.
Farah claimed that multiple “adversarial” countries are vying for control over alien technology.
The Age Of Disclosure/Youtube
So there’s a lot to fear here. But “The Age of Disclosure” also gives reasons to hope. There’s the fact that humanity has yet to be destroyed when it seems that these lifeforms certainly could have pulled that off by now if they wanted to. And interestingly, UAP research has also been considered a humanitarian and environmental cause. If humans manage to harness the clean, combustion-free energy source that UAPs are using, we could eliminate the need for the fossil fuels that are causing climate change.
“There’s an analogy that several interview subjects said to me: Would we have won the space race if the president hadn’t stepped to the mic and said, ‘We’re gonna go to the moon?’ Probably not,” Farah says. “If people don’t know something’s real, how are they gonna choose to spend their brain power on it? There’s a lot of genius scientists out there who are putting their brain power towards saving the environment, right? What if no one knew global warming was a thing? Would those people be putting their brain power towards it?”
When asked about the impact he wants “The Age of Disclosure” to have, Farah points to something Elizondo says at the end of the documentary. “He says he wishes he could share more, but that he feels tremendous pressure to share what he can now, because he knows there will come a time when people will wish they knew the truth sooner,” Farah says. The fact that people still don’t believe in nonhuman beings is “a barrier to entry for any bright young mind in our country that could be contributing on this front.” In other words, getting the right information in the right hands is a matter of urgency.
And on top of that, as Elizondo emphasizes repeatedly in the film, there’s the idea that fundamental truths about our universe should belong to everyone, not just one organization or government. Humanity has wondered about other worlds for ages — just take a look at the art we create.
“What got me into the topic is what probably got a lot of people my age in the topic: I’m a child of the ’80s and ’90s, and I grew up with movies like ‘E.T.’ and ‘Close Encounters,'” Farah says. “The power of those two movies probably put me on the path to this film more than anything.”
He’s far from the only civilian on that path. The trailer for “The Age of Disclosure” reached tens of millions of views as soon as it was released, and the film nabbed a coveted premiere slot at the Paramount Theater in Austin, Texas — the biggest venue at SXSW. That alone is a landmark for the movement around disclosure: The topic needs eyes.
“The more I talk to leaders in government, the more I realize that they only pay attention to what the public wants them to pay attention to,” Farah says. “You have people in government who want to pay attention to this, but they need the public to be caught up. The film is just the tip of the iceberg. There are currently bipartisan efforts that will bring about more disclosure and declassify certain information, and I think this film will help get those laws passed.”
And what happens after that? For now, that’s classified.
Strange Lights, Abductions, and Close Encounters: The “Forgotten” UFO Waves!
Most people in UFO circles are aware of the UFO wave of 1947 that, essentially, kick-started the Modern UFO Era, as well as the subsequent waves that followed throughout the fifties and sixties. Likewise, many are aware of the waves of airship sightings that swept the United States, the United Kingdom, and New Zealand in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. There are, though, many other UFO waves, sometimes specific to a particular country, that have flared up since the second half of the twentieth century, all of which are as intriguing as they are unique.
Perhaps a good place to start with these all-but-forgotten UFO waves would be with a series of strange aerial encounters that took place just over two decades before the start of the Modern UFO Era in the summer of 1926 over Maitland in Canada. The first of these sightings was documented in an article that appeared in the July 7th, 1926 edition of the Courier and Freeman newspaper. The article detailed several sightings of strange objects that had been made in the previous weeks, with many of the details being remarkably similar to the reports that would be made over the decades that would follow. Reports of strange objects over Maitland had been swirling for several months, with the first of these coming from the communities on the outskirts of the city. The details of these reports were remarkably similar to each other, including the detail of some kind of “searchlight” stretching down to the ground from the underside of these strange crafts. One witness, Peter Cunningham, a local farmer, stated that these lights “moved rapidly” and seemed to be “attached to a flying machine of some description”.
Another farmer, who wished to remain anonymous and who was from the nearby town of Prescott, claimed to have seen a strange light moving over his farm one evening. He stated that “the head one” seemed to have some kind of “powerful searchlight” that was “turned downward”. He also claimed, like many other witnesses during the Maitland UFO wave, that the lights appeared to be looking for someone, or something, on the ground. Moreover, Cunningham further claimed that this searchlight caused his cattle and horses to become extremely anxious and agitated. It is also interesting to note that Cunningham, again, similar to many of the other reports, claimed that this object moved in complete silence.
One of the strangest and most interesting reports of the Maitland UFO wave unfolded in the Brockville region of the city. An anonymous woman claimed that she had seen bizarre lights near her home on two separate occasions. Each time, the lights hovered directly above her house at an altitude of no more than several hundred feet. However, unlike many of the other reports, she claimed to have seen a humanoid figure that appeared to be “enveloped” in the light and who appeared to be holding an object that appeared similar to a rifle. This last detail, incidentally, has caused many people to suggest that this, and perhaps many of the other sightings of the 1926 wave, were, in fact, bootleggers looking to smuggle alcohol across the border to the United States, which was still under the Prohibition laws.
Three decades later in Japan, a surge of sightings was reported throughout 1958, with a hefty concentration unfolding throughout the summer. In mid-July, for example, multiple people witnessed an “object resembling a flying saucer” fly directly over Chitose Air Base near Hokkaido. The encounter began at a little after 9 pm on the evening of July 17th, when a security guard noticed a strange object approaching the base. Not long after, a soldier in the base’s control tower noticed what he later described as a “reddish star-like object” heading in their direction at an altitude of around 300 feet. Moreover, as well as the two visual sightings, radar operators soon declared the anomaly to be on their screens. When news of the sighting leaked out into the wider public arena, the base was asked to comment further by members of the media and UFO investigators. Interestingly or not, a spokesperson simply stated that “no such incident occurred” and refused to comment further.
While the summer certainly saw the UFO wave of Japan reach its peak, there had been a noticeable increase in UFO reports since the start of the year. On the evening of January 31st, for example, several United States Air Force pilots reported seeing “12 yellow-orange lights” flying in formations of three just outside Tokyo.
Several weeks later, on the evening of February 19th, at a United States military base in Asoiwayama near Hokkaido, several military personnel, who themselves were in the middle of a training exercise concerning monitoring Soviet targets, suddenly noticed a “strange return” on the radar systems. Whatever the anomalous object was, it was over the Sea of Japan. Moreover, it seemed to be expanding, eventually covering an area that was 25 miles wide and 65 miles in length. Stranger still, the mammoth object then rose from an altitude of around 3000 feet to one of 46,000 feet. At some point during the incident, the military personnel realized that the five Soviet military jets they had been tasked with watching were also aware of the aerial anomaly, with each jet approaching the object before turning away. It is worth noting that a “mock atomic battle” was in motion in the region at the time of the sighting, leading some investigators to suggest that it was this military exercise that had drawn the interest of the intelligence behind these objects.
It is also worth our time exploring a sighting that took place in early 1959, an incident documented by Timothy Good in his book Above Top Secret. Good came into possession of the account through a source who had been given it by a former colonel in the United States military. Moreover, in what is perhaps a clear indication of the military’s awareness following the wave of sightings the previous year, “four F-106 Delta Dart jets stationed in Okinawa and Misawa had been instrumented to track and fire on unidentified flying objects”. In fact, according to the witness, who was serving as a Weather Officer at a military facility just outside Tokyo, on the day in question, two of these jets stationed at Misawa were scrambled to intercept just such an unidentified object. One of these jets, however, suffered a serious malfunction before even leaving the runway, meaning that only one jet went off in pursuit of the aerial anomaly. The witness listened to the entire episode from the command center as it unfolded.
According to the witness report, the pilot was vectored toward the object by those in the control tower. A short time later, the pilot reported that he “had it in sight”, describing it as a “circular, metallic object” with a “cockpit on (the) top”. He then asked if he should “make a firing pass”. The control requested permission to fire from the Pentagon, which was granted. The pilot acted on his orders and fired his missiles at the strange craft. Moments later, however, his voice came over the radio, and it was a mixture of confusion and fright. He stated that the missiles had connected with their target and detonated, but “did not hit”. He elaborated that they “detonated just at the edge of it - like an invisible shield”. Then, things turned even stranger - and decidedly more ominous.
Over the radio, the pilot stated that the object appeared to be turning and had turned on “some kind of beam”. The next time he spoke, the terror in his voice was evident, as he blurted out, “They’re coming after me!” With that, the pilot put his plane into an immediate dive in an effort to outrun the craft. As soon as he did so, however, the object moved in the same direction, and it was closing in fast. Within moments, the two objects became one on the screen, with radar operators stating that there was “no separation” between the two objects. Then, the blip simply disappeared from the radar screen. Despite searches of the area taking place for several days, the witness stated that “they never did find anything”.
One other point of interest during the 1958 Japanese UFO wave was the emergence of a group that called themselves The Cosmic Brotherhood, and who claimed to have made contact with an extraterrestrial race with a device named the Master Unit Communicator. This device, they claimed, converted “sound waves to light waves and vice-versa”. They further detailed how they conducted these communication experiments on the top of Mount Takeo, just outside of Tokyo. Of course, how genuine and accurate these claims actually were remains open to debate.
A decade later, throughout 1968, Canada not only experienced a UFO wave, but a wave of encounters with humanoid entities. One of the first of these encounters unfolded in Saskatchewan on the evening of January 10th near the Carrot River. According to the report, on the night in question, the two witnesses were sitting in their parked vehicle close to the river when they noticed a strange light moving ahead of them. Moreover, as it moved, the object appeared to flash a bright blue color. They watched it for several moments, noticing that it disappeared and then reappeared in a different location, and did this several times. After 10 minutes, the object began changing colors, while at the same time, they could hear a bizarre “thumping” sound that seemed to come from the nearby forest.
Then, moments later, the two witnesses saw “several objects” pass in front of their line of sight. However, rather than being some kind of mechanical vehicle, the witnesses had the distinct impression that they were, in fact, “some kind of animal”. Eventually, when it was almost 1 am, the couple started the car engine and set out for home. However, it didn’t take them long to realize that the glowing object was following them, moving erratically as it did so. They eventually brought the craft to a stop outside their home, but remained in the vehicle, watching the glowing light for several more moments.
The next thing they realized, the object was heading straight towards them. As it did so, it disappeared for a second or two before reappearing again in a different location. As this was happening, they noticed a bizarre formation of ice appear all over the car. Stranger still, within the ice was the clear outline of what appeared to be a human face. They eventually left the vehicle and went inside the house. Whether the face in the ice was an attempt at some kind of communication remains unclear.
Just under three weeks later, on January 29th at Keats Island in British Columbia, another equally strange encounter unfolded. On the afternoon in question, after having witnessed several objects from her lonely cabin over the previous days, an anonymous female witness looked out once more at a strange but captivating display of lights overhead over a nearby lake. On this day, though, not long after she first noticed the glowing objects, “two men in neat, dark coveralls” suddenly appeared and knocked on her door. The two men claimed they were “from the water company”, but the woman was not convinced, recalling how they appeared nervous and awkward. Stranger still, after the brief conversation, the two men simply turned around and left very suddenly. In fact, the witness recalled it was almost as if they simply disappeared.
Several months later, in early April, an even more remarkable incident unfolded. On the night in question, at a little after 8 pm, in the Chicoutimi region of Quebec, Mrs. Tremblay was walking from her home to a nearby restaurant. As she walked, she dropped her bag and knelt to retrieve it from the path. As she did so, however, she noticed a “hovering UFO” a short distance away, hovering overhead. She rose back to her feet, keeping the object in focus, noticing that a strange beam of light came from the object, as if it was scanning the ground below. Her intrigue turned to concern when the light set out in her direction, and a moment later, more out of instinct than anything else, she closed her eyes. When she opened them a second later, the craft was no longer there.
At this point, Mrs. Tremblay was more than unsettled by the bizarre events and decided to turn around and return home. Moments later, her house was in her sights. However, before she opened the door to the property, she became aware of “something white and human-like” in the shadows a short distance from her. She remained where she was and stared into the darkness. As her eyes adjusted to the shadows, she could make out what appeared to be the outline of a human form, approximately the size of a child. Although she couldn’t make out any of the facial details, she could clearly see that the humanoid had glowing blue eyes. Moreover, it was seemingly staring straight at her. Then, with no warning whatsoever, the figure vanished before her eyes.
These encounters only increased as spring gave way to summer. One of the earliest of these summer incidents (the exact date is not known) occurred in Sarnia, Ontario. The witness, a 10-year-old child, had been asked by their parents to switch off the outside lights at the back door of the property. As they were doing so, however, they noticed a “glowing white humanoid” standing a short distance away from the house. The young girl remained at the window by the back door and watched the strange figure. After several moments, it stood upright, revealing itself to be at least six feet in height. This movement caused fright to take over the witness, and she screamed as she ran to the living room to her parents. Although her father ventured outside and searched the area with his flashlight (he found nothing out of the ordinary), her parents essentially dismissed her claims as nothing but an overactive imagination.
Interestingly, at approximately the same time, at around 9:30 pm in Quebec, Mrs. BL and Mrs. AB were returning home after an afternoon and evening of shopping, the full moon providing extra lighting as they walked past a vacant lot. Then, without warning, the brilliant light of the Moon suddenly went out, plunging them into an environment lit only by the (by comparison) dull streetlamps. Just as the women adjusted to the lack of moonlight, its bright glow returned. Instinctively, the two women looked upwards, and were more than shocked to see “two figures floating several feet above the ground”. Moreover, the two figures appeared to be heading toward them. The figures both wore the same style, tight-fitting one-piece suit, and both had the same disturbing “expressionless” look on their face. Before the figures could get any closer to the two women, they turned and ran in the opposite direction, not stopping until the strange entities were out of sight.
Another curious encounter took place in late July in the Burnaby region of British Columbia. On the night in question, Joan Howard was drifting off to sleep when she suddenly heard the sound of two voices speaking in German. Moreover, from what she could hear, they were speaking about her. Joan later stated that she believed these voices belonged to her spirit guides, both of whom were Germans who had been “killed in World War Two”. With this in mind, she simply returned to sleep. Whether Joan was accurate in this assessment is open to debate. What is certain, however, is that these voices were simply the start of a bizarre and thought-provoking encounter.
She awoke a short time later and immediately realized she was no longer in her bedroom. Instead, she was in an environment that looked “a cross between the Moon and Mars”. Multiple figures dressed in clothing that looked like “space suits” moved around her, while in the background, she could see several tall, futuristic-looking buildings. Then, one of the figures approached her and immediately began asking her questions. To her amazement, she could understand the questions and began answering them. As this was happening, and perhaps suggesting she was in some kind of trance or state, several other figures carried out experiments and procedures on her body. It was at this point that she realized she was “looking down” on her body, as if she were in the middle of an out-of-body experience. Incidentally or not, almost as soon as this realization came to her, she felt herself rush back into her physical body. One last point of interest is that Joan claimed to receive further visions and downloads of information each night for several weeks following the incident, elaborating that the entities behind these visions and downloads were “instructors of the universe”.
At around 9 pm on the evening of July 2nd, three encounters unfolded with very similar details, with two of the encounters taking place in the same location. The first of these occurred in Ontario when several residents reported seeing a “bright object” land in a field. Even stranger, “several shadowy beings” emerged from this object and entered several of the nearby homes. Unfortunately, there are other details about these events. At around the same time, though, in Quebec, a local woman saw a green, hat-shaped object pass by her home. She immediately went to the window and was shocked to see around “20 small men, all of green color” through a window on the side of the strange object. Once more, there are no further details of the incident, so it is unclear if the object physically landed or simply carried on into the distance.
Half an hour later, also in Quebec, Constable Michaud and his colleague were on routine patrol when they witnessed “two naked little men”, each around three feet in height, running through the drainage system. Moreover, when the two officers set out in pursuit of the strange figures, several members of the public witnessed it, with several of them stating that the two figures simply disappeared into thin air.
Quebec would have several more similar encounters during the summer. On the evening of July 22nd, for example, in St. Bruno, six young girls claimed to have witnessed a bizarre figure appear in front of them, as if it were a ghostly apparition. Two of the witnesses even claimed to have heard a strange “soft and slow” voice appear in their heads at the same time. On the same night, this time in St. Basile, a young boy reported seeing a strange man who appeared to be “walking in the sky”.
Four days later, at around 3 pm on July 26th, two young boys were close to a local airport hangar when they witnessed a “three-foot grey-skinned humanoid” a short distance away. After several moments, the strange entity seemed to realize the two boys were looking at it and immediately turned and ran toward another, almost identical creature. Moments later, both of the creatures turned and ran into the distance, the two boys noticing that their movements were “stiff”.
Two days later, at around 9 pm on July 28th, in the St. Stanislas De Kostka region, five residents witnessed “two circular objects with brilliant red halos” overhead. Several moments later, one of the objects descended and appeared to land close by. With a single flashlight between them, the group decided to investigate further. Upon arriving where they believed the object had landed, they were confronted with the sight of a bizarre humanoid, around four feet tall, with a large head and no visible neck. The group immediately turned and ran back in the direction they had come and back to the house they were staying in. Not long after they arrived back at the property, however, the creature suddenly appeared at one of the windows, knocking on it several times. It remained there for several minutes before retreating from the house and returning into the darkness of the night. A short time later, the witnesses saw the object rise into the air and disappear into the night sky.
Around a week later, at around 5 am in the early hours of August 4th in Quebec, three friends, Guy Gagne, Jean-Guy Girouard, and Carol Marquiseach, were returning home after spending the night at an all-night fair when they noticed a “strange creature” walking by the roadside that appeared to be injured, with the witnesses later stating that it “used its hands to balance itself like a monkey”. The three friends watched the creature for several moments as it steadied itself against a lamppost. Then, without any warning whatsoever, it leaped high into the air and disappeared. A moment later, it reappeared, this time on the other side of the road. The three friends later calculated that the creature had jumped over 30 feet from its original standing position (a detail, incidentally, reminiscent of accounts of Spring-Heeled Jack, who terrorized many residents of Victorian England throughout the nineteenth century).
Interestingly, at the same time as the wave of humanoid encounters in Canada, on the other side of the Atlantic in Spain, a similar wave was experienced, with the key difference being that many of these humanoids were described as Reptilian. One of the most intriguing of these unfolded on August 31st in the La Yesa mountain range near Valencia. At around 4 pm on the afternoon in question, three friends and adventure seekers were in the area and decided to stop to rest and have something to eat. Moments after they stopped, they witnessed a strange and sudden “flash” overhead. However, as none of the three had any interest in UFOs, they all paid little attention to this aerial anomaly, at least to begin with. Several moments later, though, when one of the group – Mateo Chover – walked to the edge of where they were resting to relieve himself, he saw a strange, grey-skinned, muscular humanoid entity near a tree a short distance away. Moreover, the face of this bizarre creature was reptilian in nature, with eyes that seemed to glow red. Even more alarming, where its hands should have been were razor-sharp claws, a white helmet with a visor in one claw. The creature wore some kind of coverall, white boots, and some kind of “metallic box” on its back. He was certain the creature was not aware of his presence; instead, it appeared to be waiting for someone or something.
His two friends were now aware of his prolonged absence and so set out in his direction. He quietly motioned for them to remain quiet as they approached. They joined him, and for several moments, all three of them watched the strange creature. In fact, they were so focused on the reptilian entity that they hardly noticed the “black, metallic, cylindrical object” appeared overhead at an altitude of around 20 feet. Despite the close proximity of the object, none of the group could hear a single sound come from it.
At this point, a wave of fear swept over the three friends, and all three of them threw themselves to the ground to keep out of sight. As they were contemplating how they could move away from the edge of the clearing without being seen, a loud metallic sound broke the silence, quickly followed by a bright flash of light overhead. Still fearing what was unfolding, the trio remained where they were for several more minutes before finally raising their heads to view the scene in front of them. Much to their relief, the menacing creature and the hovering UFO were no longer there. They took several moments to compose themselves and then ventured to the area where the strange creature had been standing. They immediately noticed the damage to the tree, as well as a strong smell of sulfur. Perhaps most remarkable of all, though, were the large footprints that were still visible on the ground. They later estimated that the footprints were the approximate equivalent of a size 16 (50) shoe. They further estimated that the creature was at least seven feet tall and likely weighed between 20 and 25 stone.
The three witnesses then investigated the immediate area around the scene, eventually finding the entrance to a cave. They initially contemplated if the creature might have taken cover in the cave. However, after exploring the entrance for several minutes, they concluded that the vegetation was too thick for them to gain access to the cave, although we might consider if this overgrown vegetation was part of a cover for the entrance. Ultimately, the three friends decided to report what they had seen to the local police. To their shock, the officer they spoke with simply offered that “many other people had seen them” and that these strange creatures were “normal” for this part of Spain.
Whether there is a connection or not, only three nights previously, at around 7:30 pm on August 28th, retired police officer, Pedro Galvez, had his own interesting encounter. He was walking through fields close to his home when his entire vision was filled with a bright light. He looked upwards and saw a bizarre object descending out of the early evening sky. He later described this object as looking similar to a tire with a large beam of light shining upwards from the middle of it. Then, as the object moved across the field, the beam of light swung downward and struck Galvez in the face, temporarily blinding him. By the time his sight returned, he could see the craft had almost reached the ground. From this proximity, he could see several windows in the side of the object, from which a bright glow emanated. Suddenly, three small objects were hurled to the ground from the craft, but were then gathered back up several moments later (we might suspect these “objects” were taking some kind of ground sample). After several more moments, the object rose into the air before heading off into the distance with great speed.
Four years later, in 1972, a wave of UFO encounters spread throughout South Africa, with one of the most intriguing occurring on the evening of June 26th at Fort Beaufort in Cape Province. On the evening in question, farmer Bernardus Smith was working in one of his fields, checking on the irrigation system, when he noticed one of his workers rushing in his direction. The worker blurted out that he had noticed smoke rising into the air in the distance. When he had gone to investigate, he had discovered a “shiny object with a star on top” that shot suddenly upwards out of the trees before coming to a sudden stop and hovering overhead. The farmer followed his worker and was more than shocked to see the hovering craft exactly where his worker had said it would be. He later reported that it glowed several different colors, from red to green and then to yellow. The farmer rushed home to call the local police before returning to the location with his rifle and firing several shots. When the police arrived, they too opened fire on the craft. However, the object simply rose into the air and disappeared from the location, seemingly sustaining no damage whatsoever.
Several months earlier, at around 7 pm on the evening of February 12th, in Durban, several residents reported seeing a disc-shaped object hovering directly over the town before disappearing into the distance. The following night, at around 8:30 pm, this time in the Forest Hills region, several residents reported seeing a strange formation of egg-shaped objects passing overhead at considerable speed. In Inanda on the same evening and at the same time, several witnesses claimed to have seen an “ovoid-shaped” object appear, disappear, and then reappear several times in a 15-minute period before heading off into the distance.
Several weeks later, on the evening of April 1st in the district of East London, several “unusual objects” were reported by multiple residents who claimed they performed maneuvers unlike any conventional aircraft. Around six weeks later, on May 18th, a bizarre object was seen making equally bizarre moves in the skies overhead, with another almost identical sighting was reported over Vryburg Molopo Road unfolding at around 10 pm on the evening of June 5th.
At around 8 pm on the evening of July, as a commercial airliner made its way over Durban, a strange light approached it and remained alongside it for several moments. Then, without warning, the glowing object suddenly shot off into the distance. On the same evening over Johannesburg, approximately an hour later, an almost identical object passed by a Boeing 727 just after it had begun its descent to land.
The following evening, beginning at 7 pm over Port Elizabeth, multiple residents of the city reported seeing strange objects overhead, with many of the reports stating these objects were of different shapes and sizes. Only 15 minutes later, over Braeside, several residents claimed to have seen a disc-shaped object performing almost impossible turns in the early evening sky. In the early hours of July 5th, in King William’s Town, several residents witnessed a “sailor cap-shaped” object descend and land in a nearby field before suddenly rising into the air and taking off again. In fact, throughout most of July, sightings across South Africa were reported every night, and while the sightings began to slow down as August unfolded, there were still some intriguing encounters.
On the evening of August 16th, for example, in Roosboom, a truly strange “creature with a square head” and flames around his feet was seen taking off from the ground before speeding through the air. Around a week later, in the same location, a sighting of a humanoid figure that wore a shiny white suit and was around 11 feet tall was witnessed moving through the sky, a strange, white fog seeming to envelope it as it did so.
In mid-November, several reports of strange aerial anomalies were reported over Rosmead, while the following day, an almost identical object was reported passing over Rosmead School. Just short of a week later, on the evening of November 17th in Middelburg, Gert Pretorius and his wife were driving on the outskirts of the city when they suddenly noticed a round, glowing object descend out of the night sky. It eventually came to a stop a short distance above the ground several feet in front of them, forcing them to bring their vehicle to a stop. Moments later, they saw two strange figures emerge from the craft, each standing around two to three feet tall and shining a strange red color. They seemed to have something akin to a flashlight in their hands, as well as a backpack on their backs. The flashlight was extremely bright, making wherever the figures shone appear like day. Then, without warning, the flashlight went out, and a moment later, the strange craft rose into the air and disappeared into the night sky with a great sky.
Just over two decades later, throughout 1993, a wave of UFO sightings unfolded over Israel, many of which received considerable news coverage. One of the most intriguing of these occurred at around 3 am in the early hours of March 30th and comes to us from the research files of humanoid researcher Albert Rosales. According to the report, Aviva Carmel awoke in her bed with a sudden and unexplainable urge to go outside, something she immediately gave in to. Once outside, she could see a huge “silver metallic craft” that was hovering almost directly overhead. Aviva continued to watch as the strange object landed close by. She remained where she was for several moments before deciding it was safe enough for her to approach the strange craft and take a closer look.
Before she could reach the object, though, she noticed a bizarre seven-foot-tall humanoid standing in front of it. The figure was wearing a skin-tight garment that appeared to be made of a material that was similar to foil, as well as wearing a helmet on its head with a dark visor covering its face. She remained where she was for several moments before eventually deciding to discreetly return to the house. The following day, however, she returned to the scene and discovered definite markings on the ground where the strange object had been. Moreover, within the parameters of these markings, all of the grass and vegetation was dead.
Just over two months later, also in Kadima, in the early hours of May 13th, Danny Rotem awoke suddenly. Similar to Aviva Carmel, he had a sudden urge to get out of bed, get dressed, enter his car, and start driving. He did so, and as he was driving along a quiet road with a forest running alongside it, he noticed a strange egg-shaped craft on the ground ahead of him. Although he didn’t understand why, he brought the car to a stop, turned off the engine, and got out of the vehicle before he set out walking towards the strange object. Before he reached it, however, a strange figure suddenly appeared in front of him. This figure was around two to three feet in height and told Danny, directly into his mind, that “we were waiting for you”. Once more, without fully understanding why he was doing so, Danny followed this figure towards the landed craft.
The next thing he realized, he was standing inside the craft (it is interesting to note that he had no memory of physically entering the object, something that shows up in many other alien abduction cases). Moreover, the room appeared to be much larger than the dimensions of the craft from the outside would suggest. He also recalled seeing a large pillar that stretched from the ceiling to the floor in the middle of the room, another detail that also shows up in many other alien abduction reports.
He looked around the room and claimed he counted no less than 13 figures in the room. Two of these figures approached him and led him to some kind of side-chamber. Once more, a voice appeared inside his head, telling him that he was “on a mission” and that he would “know what it is in time”. One of the creatures stepped forward and made a small incision in his wrist. The next thing he knew, he was waking up sitting in the driver’s seat of his car.
Just over two weeks later, in the early hours of May 30th in Bourgata, Hannah Somech awoke at a little after 3 am to the sound of her dog barking outside. She got out of bed, made her way downstairs, and over to the kitchen window. As she looked out, and much to her horror, she saw the dog “fly through the air” and slam into the garden wall. Determined to go to the dog’s aid, she immediately went to the door and pulled it open. However, when she tried to step outside, she was prevented from doing so by some kind of “invisible wall” in front of her. On the other side of this invisible divide, she suddenly became aware of a humanoid figure wearing bright orange overalls and standing at least eight feet tall. She recalled that, in her mind, she contemplated if the man was a prisoner who was attempting to rob the house. Almost as soon as she thought this, a voice appeared in her mind that was seemingly a resentful question that asked her, “You think I am a thief?” A moment later, the strange incident turned even stranger.
The next thing she realized, Hannah was screaming out loud at the menacing figure, asking what it had done to her dog. The response once more came directly into her mind, with the figure seemingly stating that the dog had “disturbed” him, just as “she was doing now”. Then, as an afterthought, the figure stated that it could “crush her but didn’t want to”. At this point, Hannah turned and ran back to her bedroom to wake her husband. By the time they returned to the door, however, the creature was no longer there. The couple did search their yard and discovered footprints that were equivalent to a size 16 shoe in the garden, very similar, incidentally, to the footprint the three adventurers discovered in Spain. With this in mind, then, might we contemplate if this creature was, in fact, a reptilian entity? Ultimately, the incident remains a complete mystery.
Around the same time as the above sighting, this time in Rishon Le Zion, a local resident reported seeing an eight-foot-tall humanoid wearing “silver coveralls” suddenly materialize in their bedroom. It remained there for several moments before it floated out of the apartment, even going through the wall as if it were a ghost. The witness then looked outside and saw the strange figure float towards a mushroom or disc-shaped object. As it reached it, a “hatch” opened in the side of the craft, and two other strange beings emerged. It isn’t clear what happened next, although we might assume the humanoid entered the craft before it disappeared.
In more recent times, during the summer of 2008, a bizarre UFO wave struck Bucks County, a town around 30 miles north of Philadelphia. One of the most mind-blowing of these UFO encounters unfolded on the night of June 3rd, when retired contractor and businessman, Cliff Taylor, was walking his dog, Rusty, around the quiet urban neighborhoods. Although the walk was uneventful, though pleasant. Several hours later, when Cliff and the rest of the family were asleep, the night would take a remarkable turn. Cliff and his wife slept in separate bedrooms due to Cliff’s chronic snoring. Rusty slept at the bottom of Cliff’s bed, as he was this particular night. At around 4 am, however, Cliff awoke to the sound of Rusty’s agitated barks. He immediately noticed some kind of flashing outside the property, as well as the presence of a strange mist. He leaped from his bed and went straight to the window.
He stared through the thick fog-like mist outside and was able to make out what appeared to be a solid hexagon-shaped craft. Moments later, the aerial anomaly emerged from the mist. Interestingly, Cliff later described the movement of the object as being stop-start, as if he were watching an old cinefilm that had every other frame removed. He stated that the object was approximately the size of a modern sports stadium and appeared to move in absolute silence. Realizing he was watching something truly out of the ordinary unfold, he called out to his wife. She did eventually arrive at the window, but the object had disappeared. Needless to say, she dismissed his claims and returned to bed. Cliff felt a huge sense of frustration, certain that he had seen something very real. Despite making several calls to the police and the newspaper, Cliff could find no other reports. Several weeks later, though, the craft returned.
At around 4 am in the early hours of July 27th, Cliff once more awoke to the agitated barks of Rusty. This time, an intense electrical storm raged outside, sending random flashes of light across his bedroom. Sensing something strange was afoot once more, he immediately made his way to the window and looked outside. There in front of him was the huge mothership-type craft he had seen several weeks earlier. It was as he watched the mammoth craft that he realized what he thought had been lightning was actually intense flashing lights on the underside of the object.
At this point, Cliff rushed to the front door of the house and ran outside. As he stared up at the craft, he realized for the first time that the mothership was, in fact, five or six individual vehicles that were somehow linked together. He later stated that each of these individual crafts was at least the size of a commercial airliner. The object eventually disappeared into the distance once more. Cliff Taylor, however, was now certain that what he had seen, on both occasions, was a vehicle that appeared to be of otherworldly origin.
It is interesting to contemplate why such a craft – or combination of crafts – should appear in the exact spot twice in several weeks. Is there some kind of portal or gateway close to the Taylor property, one that allows access from one realm of existence to another? Or could there be some kind of extraterrestrial, or even top-secret military base close by? Or could it be that there is something, unknown to us, of intense interest to the intelligence behind this strange craft? Of course, there were many more sightings of strange objects in Bucks County in 2008, so we might consider where the sightings of Cliff Taylor sit within this wave of sightings.
One of the first significant sightings of the 2008 Bucks County wave unfolded several months earlier, at around 10 pm on March 28th in the Montgomery County region. On the night in question, a resident was walking his dog when he noticed a strange object moving at a particularly fast pace. He watched the object for several moments before continuing on his walk. Several minutes later, however, he became aware of “four unusual looking shapes” that appeared to be heading towards him. Moreover, these four objects were moving at a significantly lower altitude than the object he had seen several minutes earlier. He noted that these objects were seemingly moving in complete silence, and each had a flashing red light at the top. The objects got closer and closer. At the last moment, however, they suddenly changed their direction and headed away from them.
At this point, the witness was more than unsettled and quickly made his way home, immediately informing his wife of what he had just witnessed. As he did so, he made his way to the window and looked outside. He was more than shocked to see the four objects, seemingly circling overhead above his house. He called out to his wife, telling her to look outside the window. She did so and saw the bizarre display for herself. Their son joined them moments later and also saw the four strange objects. All three of them agreed that the object appeared to be “looking for something” on the ground. They remained visible for almost 15 minutes before finally heading off into the distance. When they did, the family came away from the window, thinking the night’s events were over. However, moments later, the roaring sound of several military jets passed overhead. Of course, whether the jets’ presence was pure coincidence or not remains open to debate.
Another significant sighting occurred on the evening of April 20th in the Falls Township area, when a local woman woke in her apartment to hear her dog growling intensely. She noticed that the dog’s attention was on the sliding doors at the back of the room. Moments later, she heard an ominous “ripping” sound, “like someone was ripping someone’s (window) screen”. At this point, she got out of bed and looked out of the window, noticing “an object hovering around the sky”. She immediately backed away from the window, stating later that she “thought I would be sucked up, that’s how believable it was”. She decided to wake her husband, and they both watched the object from the apartment window. It remained visible for almost half an hour before it simply vanished.
Only three nights later, during a baseball game in Newtown, multiple people saw an “orange fireball” scream out of the sky. The night after that, on April 24th, near the Lincoln Highway, a resident was smoking a cigar on the deck of his property when he noticed an “egg-shaped UFO” flying in a straight line directly above the road. Then, as the man looked on in awe, the object suddenly dropped “straight down like an elevator” before it hovered for several moments just below the clouds. After several moments, it shot off into the distance, disappearing within seconds. Multiple other sightings of a very similar nature were reported over the following weeks, with one witness stating they saw a “disc-shaped object fly out of the clouds” from the downtown Bucks County apartment. Even stranger, a Bucks County police officer reported seeing an object shaped like a “sideways comma” moving silently across the sky before it morphed into a shape he simply couldn’t describe.
At around 4:20 am on the morning of June 3rd, a local man was sleeping when, for reasons he couldn’t fully explain, he suddenly awoke and felt a compulsion to walk over to his bedroom window. When he looked outside, he could see what looked like a “small cloud” that appeared to be heading in his direction. As this cloud got closer, he realized it was a solid object that looked like an “elongated hexagon”. He later stated that the object was approximately 100 feet by 100 feet and was flying at an altitude of around 500 feet. The object circled his house, remaining completely silent as it did so. Then, without warning, the object ascended into the sky with great speed.
A similar encounter unfolded several weeks later on the evening of June 23rd, when a Bucks County resident was taking pictures of “weird cloud formations”. When she viewed the pictures later that evening, however, she noticed that the cloud formations looked more akin to some kind of “vortexes”, perhaps the remains of a portal that an anomalous craft had just passed through. Of further interest, the witness reported seeing several black helicopters in the sky as she was taking the pictures. Only two days later, at around 1 am on June 25th, a “boomerang-shaped object” with blue, white, and green lights was reported by a resident who happened to be standing on his front porch. The witness claimed that a strange sound alerted them to something strange taking place, a sound that was “similar to a passenger jet but not as low and at a higher pitch”. The sound caused them to look upwards, which is when they noticed the strange craft moving across the sky “fairly low to the ground” and at a “fairly slow pace”. They noticed that the object had white lights on its underside that were evenly spaced out and contained a “football-shaped body”. On the evening of July 2nd, multiple people witnessed strange lights hovering directly over the Oxford Valley Mall, while on the same evening, multiple people also reported an orange light that was “falling from the sky” over I-95 between Bucks County and Philadelphia.
In the early hours of July 8th, several reports came from Bucks County residents of two orange lights, both different sizes, hovering overhead. On the same evening, multiple reports of a “pink light with blue fog” as well as “three other bright lights” were received. Two nights later, on July 10th, multiple residents witnessed a bizarre craft that appeared to be sending “fairy dust” down to the ground. At just before noon on July 16th in Philadelphia County, a resident noticed a bizarre “H-shaped object” hovering overhead. She watched the object for several minutes before it disappeared behind the trees at the roadside. When she reported the sighting later, she stated that the object was completely silent and moved much more slowly than one might expect. Moreover, she claimed that the craft reminded her of an X-Wing fighter from the Star Wars movies.
Undoubtedly, one of the most intriguing sightings occurred at around 10 pm on August 3rd, close to Philadelphia International Airport. The witness was on their apartment balcony when they noticed a strange “humming sound” coming from above them. Moments later, he could see a “bright ball of light” moving across the sky at a significant pace. He noticed immediately that the glowing object was moving much slowly than an airplane would, making him realize that he was seeing something completely out of the ordinary.
As the fall of 2008 turned into winter, sightings of these strange objects began to slow dramatically. During a MUFON conference in January 2009, it was noted that sightings in Bucks County had tripled during the calendar year of 2008. It is important to note, however, that sightings of strange aerial objects continue in Bucks County, as well as the entire state of Pennsylvania, today. It is also interesting to note, although we won’t detail them here, that during the Bucks County UFO wave of 2008, reports of Bigfoot encounters also increased, most often in the same (relative) locations as the UFO reports.
It is important to note that the waves we have highlighted here are but some of the many lesser-known and almost forgotten UFO waves from history. The fact is, there are more flare-ups and surges of sightings of strange aerial objects around the planet than many people might think. Indeed, there are most likely many more that have yet to be recognized, hidden in plain sight as random encounters that are not connected. In fact, it is very likely that if every single UFO report were recorded, correlated, and placed in some kind of global database, we might find that these UFO waves are not waves at all, but a constant barrage of strange objects traversing our skies.
The Origins of Disclosure: Crashes, Archives, and Secrets with Leslie Kean
The Origins of Disclosure: Crashes, Archives, and Secrets with Leslie Kean
Overview
Investigative journalist Leslie Kean sat down with host Peter Skafish on the Sol Forum to trace the “disclosure era” that has emerged around unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP). Kean argues that today’s surge of official acknowledgment rests on a decades‑long, largely hidden effort by government officials, journalists, and researchers. She points to a series of high‑profile incidents, persistent Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) pushes, and internal memos that together form a “paper trail” of acknowledgment, even as many details remain classified or deliberately omitted.
Historic Crashes and Legal Battles
One of the earliest keystones in Kean’s narrative is the 1979 Kecksburg incident in Pennsylvania, where witnesses reported a fireball and a metallic object that allegedly crashed in a wooded area. Witnesses described seeing a fiery streak in the sky followed by the discovery of a mysterious metallic object. Local residents and witnesses indicated that the object resembled a spacecraft or a piece of advanced technology. Kean notes that a lawsuit filed against NASA in the early 1980s sought access to the agency’s investigative files, claiming that the government had retrieved the craft and concealed evidence. Although the suit was ultimately dismissed due to legal technicalities, the case revealed “multiple eyewitnesses, an unidentified object, and missing files” that continue to be cited by researchers as proof of a genuine crash retrieval. Kean emphasizes that the Kecksburg case set a precedent for later legal and investigative actions aimed at uncovering hidden material. It demonstrated the importance of grassroots advocacy and legal persistence in challenging government opacity regarding aerial phenomena.
Further back in history, the Roswell incident of 1947 remains a touchstone in UAP lore. Although officially dismissed as a weather balloon, whistleblowers and researchers have long argued otherwise. Kean describes how declassified documents, when scrutinized, hinted at a cover-up involving the recovery of unusual debris and possibly alien bodies. These revelations prompted ongoing efforts to push for transparency and led to a cultural and political climate increasingly receptive to investigating extraordinary claims. Decades later, the Roswell incident became a symbol of government secrecy and the need for scrutiny of official narratives.
Government Archives and FOIA
Efforts Kean highlights several internal government initiatives that have gradually opened the archives, serving as milestones in the ongoing disclosure process. In 2022, John Podesta’s FOIA push resulted in the release of a handful of declassified documents, including the Bolender memo, which acknowledges that the Department of Defense was still receiving civilian UFO reports in the 1990s. These documents, although limited in scope, provide glimpses into a long history of official interest and concern regarding aerial anomalies. Additionally, the efforts by Congressional figures like Harry Reid—former Senate Majority Leader—have been instrumental. Reid’s advocacy for the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP) and its successor AASWAP led to the eventual public release of video footage showing unidentified objects performing maneuvers beyond known human technology, as well as a limited inventory of recovered materials. Kean points out that these releases often contain “quiet references to ‘classic’ UFO cases”—a term used internally to denote incidents predating the modern UAP terminology—suggesting that the government has long been aware of a broader phenomenon. The process of declassification, she explains, is often incremental and partial, reflecting the sensitive nature of certain knowledge and a cautious approach to public disclosure.
Deep Secrecy and Recent Revelations
The conversation also turned to the depth of secrecy surrounding UAP investigations. Kean cites the Wilson memo, a classified internal document that outlines a covert program tasked with “monitoring and analyzing anomalous aerial events” while restricting dissemination to a narrow circle of authorized personnel. She explains that her decision to publish former intelligence officer David Grusch’s allegations was not taken lightly; the story was cross‑checked against findings from an Office of the Inspector General (IG) investigation and corroborated by multiple independent sources. Kean stresses that the U.S. approach has been characterized by “systemic denial,” contrasting sharply with the openness displayed by other nations such as Canada, the United Kingdom, and, as previously mentioned, Chile. These countries have adopted more transparent policies and actively invite the public and scientific community to participate in investigations and data collection efforts. Kean suggests that the American government’s secrecy is rooted in a combination of national security concerns, fear of public panic, and a desire to maintain technological superiority.
The Wilson memo and other classified documents reveal that U.S. agencies have been aware of phenomena that challenge conventional understanding for decades. However, efforts to study or disclose this information have often been thwarted by bureaucratic inertia and classified compartmentalization. This systemic secrecy complicates efforts by outside researchers and journalists, who must piece together fragmented evidence from leaks, witness testimonies, and declassified unintentionally revealing documents. Kean underscores that new declassification initiatives could potentially accelerate the timeline toward full transparency, but political and institutional barriers remain formidable.
International Contrast and Outlook
Kean underscores that not all governments follow the United States’ pattern of secrecy. Chile, for example, operates an official UAP office within its civil aviation authority, regularly publishing reports and inviting public participation. This approach reflects a more transparent, collaborative attitude and demonstrates that openness can coexist with national security protocols. Kean views Chile’s model as a template for future U.S. policies—highlighting the importance of establishing institutional frameworks where scientific, governmental, and civilian entities work together openly. She also mentions emerging transparency efforts in countries like France and the United Kingdom, which have initiated more open dialogue and data-sharing strategies.
This international contrast underscores a fundamental question: why is the U.S. lagging behind in transparency? Kean suggests that internal cultural factors, political pressures, and differing perceptions of national security influence policy decisions. She advocates for a shift towards greater openness, emphasizing that public trust and scientific progress depend on honest, comprehensive disclosure of UAP encounters.
Looking ahead, Kean asserts that the current “disclosure era” is the product of “quiet, sustained work” over decades—an accumulated effort involving whistleblowers, investigative journalism, FOIA activism, and evolving governmental attitudes. As new technologies such as advanced sensors, radar, and AI-driven analysis become more widespread, the potential for breakthroughs increases. Kean remains cautiously optimistic that a future where UAPs are openly studied, and their origins understood, is possible. However, she stresses that this future hinges on continued pressure from journalists, legislators, and the public to move from modest releases to full accountability. The ongoing push for transparency may ultimately lead to paradigm shifts in science, defense, and our understanding of our place in the cosmos.
In conclusion, Leslie Kean’s insights illustrate that the path to UAP disclosure has been long, arduous, and intertwined with national security considerations, institutional reluctance, and societal interest. While recent years have seen remarkable strides—including declassified videos and congressional hearings—the full story remains elusive. Kean’s work advocates for persistence and transparency, arguing that openness about aerial anomalies is essential for scientific integrity, public trust, and future technological and cultural evolution. The history, current developments, and international perspectives she presents collectively emphasize that disclosure is not a single moment but a sustained journey—one that continues to unfold with every new revelation, research effort, and public demand for truth.
The subject of “unidentified aerial phenomena” or “UAP,” more commonly known as UFOs, has surprisingly become a topic of serious discussion in the United States.
The Pentagon and Congressional leadership have both taken formal steps not only to acknowledge that encounters with unknown aerial objects are real but that these events deserve legitimate scrutiny by America’s vast national security apparatus. NASA and Harvard University have likewise joined in the fray. Two different prestigious defense and aerospace associations hosted discussions about UAP during their annual conferences recently.
Now, an international consortium wants to try and take the discussion even further by making UAP a topic of global discourse.
Dubbed “Project Titan,” if all goes according to plan, the European enclave of San Marino could become the “Geneva” of UFOs and host nation for a United Nations-backed World Conference dedicated to the study of unidentified aerial phenomena.
“In its contemporary form, the UAP/UFO phenomenon manifests itself for at least 70 years with pretty much the same characteristics all over the world and continues to remain a mystery,” Project Titan manager, Paolo Guizzardi, told The Debrief. “If we really want to advance in the knowledge of the phenomena, an open and collaborative international cooperation is indispensable.”
Last week, representatives from CUN and ICER gave a presentation to officials from the Republic of San Marino, formally requesting as a U.N. member state, San Marino to present the Office of the U.N. Secretary-General with a proposal for the creation of a permanent structure within the United Nations tasked with the organization of a periodic World Conference on UAP.
In presentation documents provided to The Debrief, organizers highlighted four primary reasons it is significantly necessary to have a United Nations-backed initiative on unidentified aerial phenomena.
Need for research: although more than seventy years have passed since the first UAP sighting of the contemporary era, the phenomenon persists, and its origins and nature remain shrouded in mystery.
The scale of the phenomenon: the manifestations of the UAP phenomenon are borderless, and there is a need to move beyond the phase of nationally based studies to a truly global dimension if such research is to be successful.
Very high potential at the scientific level.
Very high potential for technological spin-off.
Likewise, San Marino officials were provided with a rundown of UAP activity by the U.S. government, which has steadily increased since December 2017, when the New York Times revealed elements within the Department of Defense had been secretly studying UAP for nearly a decade.
In fact, as organizers were in San Marino staking their case, The Debrief broke the news that the House Armed Services Committee had submitted legislation to create a permanent UAP Office within the Pentagon. If passed, the UAP Office would replace the DoD’s current temporary UAP Task Force.
Proposers also noted that other nations, such as France and Chile, have been investigating UFO sightings for decades through officially backed government bodies.
Leading the current U.N. initiative, Paolo Guizzardi tells The Debrief that creating a formal way for the international community to take stock of recent UAP research is necessary if there is any hope of ever answering the UFO question.
“The Conference will create a favorable environment for the collegial discussion of items that until now have remained confined within national boundaries, for the sharing and spreading of knowledge until now restricted to national apparatus, and for the presentation and discussion of new ideas in the field,” Guizzardi explained.
From left: Col. Gordon Cooper, Jacques Vallee, Claude Poher, J. Allen Hynek, Grenada Prime Minister Sir Eric Gairy, Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim, Morton Gleisner, Lee Spiegel, Leonard Stringfield, and David Saunders.
(Image Source: Lee Speigel/ Huffington Post)
Project Titan would not be the first time the subject of UFOs has officially come up at the United Nations.
In the spring of 1978, Prime Minister of the newly independent nation of Grenada, Eric Gairy, proposed creating a U.N.-backed global task force to study the nature and origin of UFOs.
Gairy and a panel of experts – including astronaut Col. Gordon Cooper, computer scientist Jacques Vallee, astronomer/astrophysicist Claude Poher, astronomer J. Allen Hynek, University of Colorado psychologist David Saunders and researchers Lee Spiegel and Leonard Stringfield -even met personally with U.N. Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim in July of 1978 to discuss the idea.
The same panel would later formally submit the proposal before the entire United Nations on November 28, 1978.
Contrary to popular belief, the idea of starting a global UFO investigative group was actually well received by the U.N. General Assembly. So well, in fact, thanks to leaked cables published by Wikileaks, we now know that following the presentation, the U.N. encouraged member states to “take appropriate steps to coordinate on a national level scientific research and investigation into extraterrestrial life, including unidentified flying objects, and to inform the Secretary-General of the observations, research, and evaluation of such activities.”
Discussion on creating an international UFO investigative group was slated to continue when the U.N. General Assembly reconvened in 1979. However, in March 1979, Gairy was ousted from power in a military coup by the communist New Jewel Movement leader, Maurice Bishop. Ironically, Gairy was at the U.N. when his government was overthrown.
Ultimately, the reason the 1978 proposal for a United Nations UFO committee never came to fruition wasn’t that the U.N. failed to take the topic seriously. Instead, no other member nation decided to push the initiative forward following Gairy’s ousting from power and subsequent exile to the United States.
Guizzardi and Project Titan supporters see San Marino as a perfect fit to pick up the torch where Grenada left off 43 years ago by leading the charge to make UAP a topic of international discourse.
“The Republic of San Marino is indeed the most natural choice for this, given that the Republic is not at all unfamiliar with the UAP issue, as for thirty editions it has been hosting the World Symposium on UFOs and related phenomena, organized by the Centro Ufologico Nazionale of Italy,” said Guizzardi. “Its proposal to the U.N. would therefore represent a natural extension of this activity.”
United Nations (UN) General Assembly hall at the UN Headquarters. (Image Source: Wikicommons)
The stigma surrounding the topic of UFOs or UAP has lessened in recent years, thanks mainly to testimony by credible eye-witnesses like former U.S. Navy F/A-18 fighter pilot Ryan Graves and actions taken by the DoD and politicians.
However, thanks to extraordinary claims that lack concrete evidence or sensationalized affirmations by carnival barkers, public ridicule and caricatures of little green men still often plague efforts to establish any credible examinations of UAP.
That said, aside from one’s preexisting beliefs on the topic, there is precedent suggesting there is merit to Project Titan’s proposal of an international World Conference on UAP. In particular, the potential for scientific and technological breakthroughs.
In a previous interview, Dr. William Culbreth, an engineering professor at the University of Nevada Las Vegas, discussed how his unwitting involvement in one of the Defense Intelligence Agency’s (DIA) UFO-centric carve-outs led to tangible scientific advances.
Unaware of the program’s UFO focus when he was asked to author two papers on tracking hypersonic vehicles and “aneutronic fusion propulsion” for the DIA’s 2009 Advanced Aerospace Weapons Systems Applications Program (AAWSAP), Dr. Culbreth said the work ultimately led to him examining new forms of nuclear propulsion technology.
“We’re looking into these propulsion technologies today, and this area alone led to several of my students pursuing PhDs who I don’t think otherwise would have,” said Dr. Culbreth.
Guaita Tower in San Marino
(Image Source: Wikicommons)
With Project Titan organizers having presented their case, San Marino officials will now internally discuss whether to go forward with a proposal to the United Nations.
Should San Marino choose to move forward, the proposal for a World Conference on UAP will undergo a preliminary examination and discussion at the United Nations before being submitted to a vote by the General Assembly. If passed, the U.N. would then proceed with establishing the structure for the international UAP World Conference.
Guizzardi explained that it may be a month before San Marino officials reach a decision on the proposal. “At present, just a few days have passed since the submission of the proposal. It is difficult to make any forecast but I estimate that a period ranging from a couple of weeks to one full month is the more probable wait,” said Guizzardi.
In the meantime, Project Titan supporters are hopeful that San Marino will decide to move forward, and UAP will become a topic of collaborative, international discussion.
“The neutrality of San Marino makes it an excellent choice for an international forum of this kind,” said Guizzardi. “San Marino City could really become ‘the Geneva of the UFOs’.”
Amid the Pentagon’s years-long probes into the unexplained and unidentified, the FBI has been quietly running its own secret office investigating so-called “unidentified anomalous phenomena.”
Yes, let’s get this out of the way: that’s basically the plot of the 90s television show “The X-Files.” But buried in a new Politico story about concerns that UFO-hunting agents may soon be caught up in a purge is a jarring revelation: that such an office exists within the bureau —the “existence” of which had “not been disclosed publicly before,” per the outlet’s reporting.
It was previously known that the Pentagon had a similar group. Known as the All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO), that office deals with UAP sightings from military officials. There doesn’t appear to be any other known counterpart in civilian branches of government.
In a statement to Politico, the FBI confirmed the existence of the office but refused to comment further, including to say how many members it has or how long it has been investigating UAPs in an organized manner.
“The FBI investigates Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena when there is potential for a violation of federal law — particularly unlawful acts that could adversely affect our national interests — and to gather, share, and analyze intelligence to combat security threats facing the US,” the bureau told Politico.
Former Naval pilot and Congressional UFO whistleblower Ryan Graves spoke at length to the magazine about the importance of the group’s work and how deleterious it would be for the office to be gutted due to partisanship.
“I am concerned that the FBI’s UAP Working Group could be affected by transition changes,” Graves said, “and these leaders might not be aware of the incredible work these agents are doing and how their investigation could be empowered as part of a formalized intergovernmental effort.”
Caison Best, a former Army special forces intelligence officer, told Politico that he’d spoken to members of the FBI’s UAP office after witnessing an alleged UFO in Colorado. Though it’s unclear exactly how many of those agents could be implicated in the alleged purge, Best said it would be “obviously detrimental” if that happened.
“The FBI is one component of the government that is starting to realize what other functions in the government have already known for a long time and have been participating in,” the ex-Army intelligence officer said.
In English, he seems to be suggesting that the FBI’s previously undisclosed UAP office has been working with the Pentagon’s AARO — and, perhaps, with other agencies as well.
With Trump’s swiftly-unfolding plans to purge the government of anyone who doesn’t fall in line, it’s impossible to say whether the FBI’s “X-Files” office will continue to exist.
Though given the president’s promise to reveal the truth about unidentified objects in the skies, killing the group completely would seemingly go against his “commitment to take the U out of UAP,” as Graves put it to Politico.
The New UFO Documentary the Government Does Want You to See - Vulture
The New UFO Documentary the Government Does Want You to See - Vulture
Overview
On November 21, 2025, a noteworthy documentary titled “The Age of Disclosure” was premiered on Capitol Hill, bringing significant attention to a series of recently declassified Pentagon recordings related to unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP), commonly known as UFOs. Produced by Vulture, the online entertainment arm of New York Magazine, this 84-minute film aims to shed light on official government data that has largely been kept concealed from the public. The documentary combines authentic footage, firsthand witness testimonies, and archival materials to argue that the U.S. government is gradually becoming more transparent regarding its knowledge of unexplained aerial sightings. The organizers framed this screening as a “call for greater transparency,” emphasizing the importance of allowing citizens and policymakers alike access to credible evidence of UAP encounters.
The goal is to foster a shift in public perception and to motivate lawmakers to push for systematic reporting and scientific investigation of these phenomena. This event marks a pivotal moment in the ongoing push for openness and accountability related to UFO mysteries, highlighting how the government’s stance is evolving from secrecy to limited disclosure. As the documentary gains attention, it stokes a broader debate about national security, scientific curiosity, and governmental transparency surrounding aerial phenomena that defy current technological understanding.
"The Age of Disclosure" intricately weaves three core elements to build its narrative. First, it showcases a series of declassified videos released by the Department of Defense between 2020 and 2024. These include high-profile clips like the “Gimbal” and “GoFast” videos, which depict unidentified objects performing extraordinary maneuvers that challenge known principles of aerospace physics. Second, the film features interviews with credible witnesses such as military pilots, radar operators, and intelligence analysts, all sharing personal accounts of observing unexplained objects during combat and reconnaissance missions.
Their detailed descriptions lend credibility to the argument that these sightings are real and not fabricated or misreported. Third, aerospace technology scholars contribute contextual analysis, emphasizing that the observed phenomena surpass current human engineering capabilities, thus raising questions about their origin—whether advanced foreign technology or something entirely different. Director Megan Alvarez explained that the documentary’s goal isn’t to prove extraterrestrial life but to stress that government-verified footage exists and warrants serious public discussion. By showcasing this compelling evidence, the film seeks to shift the narrative from skepticism to curiosity and acknowledgment of unexplainable phenomena that demand further scientific exploration.
Pentagon Releases and Official Context
The documentary’s core materials are rooted in the Pentagon’s ongoing transparency efforts, which have gradually declassified and released UAP-related footage since 2020. The initial releases of three Navy-recorded videos marked a turning point, confirming the existence of unexplained aerial objects captured by military sensors and pilots. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) followed up in 2022 with a preliminary assessment acknowledging that that most sightings remain unexplained, emphasizing the need for continued data collection and analysis. This document suggested that some phenomena could pose national security risks, thereby elevating their significance in government priorities. More recently, in August 2025, the Department of Defense released a set of high-resolution infrared recordings obtained through the Advanced Aerial Reconnaissance System (AARS).
These videos display objects that execute maneuvers at speeds and accelerations well beyond known human engineering capabilities, strengthening the case for serious scientific inquiry. While these releases are partial—often heavily redacted—they symbolize an increasing willingness within the government to acknowledge and share evidence. These steps have been praised by some members of Congress for providing potential avenues for research, though critics argue that the redactions hinder full understanding and transparency. Overall, these official disclosures reflect an incremental but pivotal move toward open discussion of UAP phenomena at the highest levels of government.
Political Reaction
The premier of “The Age of Disclosure” on Capitol Hill triggered diverse political responses. Republican Representative James Whitfield of Ohio expressed optimistic support, calling the documentary “a catalyst for accountability” and urging the House Armed Services Committee to convene hearings to scrutinize the ODNI’s findings more thoroughly. His stance underscores a proactive approach to addressing national security implications of UAP reports. On the other side, Democratic Senator Lisa Cheng from California cautioned against jumping to conclusions based solely on visual evidence. She emphasized the importance of proper context and scientific validation, advocating for a bipartisan task force to evaluate the data more comprehensively before any policy shifts occur.
Several of the highly placed officials who appear in the film.
Farah Films/photo by Vincent Wrenn
The event attracted a wide array of attendees, including lawmakers from both parties, defense officials, and scientific experts, reflecting a bipartisan curiosity and concern regarding UAP issues. The timing coincided with debate over the FY2026 defense appropriations bill, in which funding for an expanded UAP research office is expected to be a significant point of discussion. This bipartisan interest indicates a growing recognition of the importance of systematically investigating unidentified aerial phenomena, potentially leading to formal governmental oversight and more sustained inquiry.
Implications for Transparency
While “The Age of Disclosure” does not uncover new classified information, its compilation of existing declassified material and expert testimonials highlights an important shift in U.S. government transparency regarding UAPs. Analysts from the Congressional Research Service note that sustained public pressure and political interest could lead to the establishment of a permanent oversight body—similar to those overseeing emerging technologies like hypersonic weapons—that ensures consistent, transparent monitoring of unexplained phenomena. The film’s emphasis on visual evidence aims to bridge the often vast gap between highly classified briefings and the democratic accountability that citizens and their representatives require.
Advocates hope that increased public access to credible footage and expert analysis will push policymakers to allocate more resources and support for systematic scientific investigation of UAPs. However, questions remain about the scope of future disclosures and whether top officials will fully embrace transparency or continue to withhold sensitive information. Nevertheless, this moment signifies a cultural and political shift—an acknowledgment that mysteries lingering in the sky warrant open discussion, scientific rigor, and potentially, policy action to address the implications of these unexplained phenomena for both national security and human understanding.
Fox News chief national security correspondent Jennifer Griffin reports on the Pentagon's warning about a drone risk on 'Special Report.'
Newly released police logs and video footage contradict official explanations of a near-collision between a U.K. police helicopter and unidentified aerial objects over a U.S. air base last year, an encounter authorities had previously dismissed as a routine fighter jet sighting.
According to documents the Daily Mail obtained through Britain’s Freedom of Information Act, the Nov. 22, 2024, flight forced a National Police Air Service (NPAS) EC135 helicopter to take emergency evasive action after reporting that two fast-moving craft "targeted" and pursued the aircraft over RAF Lakenheath, a major U.S. military installation in Suffolk.
The pilots described a steep dive to avoid a crash as the objects matched their speed, roughly 165 knots (190 mph), for several minutes before disappearing from view.
Nick Pope, who formerly investigated UFOs for the U.K. Ministry of Defence, told Fox News Digital the episode shows how unidentified aerial phenomena, or UAP, have evolved from a fringe curiosity into a legitimate defense and aviation issue.
The U.S. government is compelled to investigate reports of UFOs to identify any issues regarding threats to national security.
(iStock)
"This disturbing incident perfectly illustrates why the UAP issue has gone from fringe to mainstream," Pope said. "Whatever people’s beliefs, this is a serious safety-of-flight matter that demands urgent attention and action."
Pope stressed that simply labeling such encounters "drones" can obscure what might be much more complex.
"‘Drone’ has become a convenient shorthand for anything unexplained that people see in the skies," he said. "So, we really don’t know what we’re dealing with here."
He added that the lack of data sharing between agencies and the tendency to downplay sightings could make the danger worse.
"I hope it doesn’t take a tragedy before something more is done," Pope said. "There’s chronic underreporting of these sorts of incidents, so the true extent of the problem is likely far more serious."
Logs cited by the Daily Mail say the NPAS crew called the encounter an "unprovoked pursuit" shortly after 10 p.m. while patrolling near the base.
"They had to perform an emergency dive and described that they were pursued in the dive by two drones who matched their speed … and then pursued them for several minutes out of the area," one police entry states.
Another notes the pilots "felt that drones had targeted them and chased them off at approximately 140 knots [161 mph]."
Additional police reports between Nov. 20-22 recorded roughly 20 drone sightings across RAF Lakenheath, RAF Mildenhall and RAF Feltwell. Logs described "10-15 drones … potentially into base airspace" and said aircraft were temporarily grounded after crossing flight paths.
A witness using night-vision goggles reported "five to six drones" near the A1065 highway, while another described "large stationary things — tic-tacs — they are not birds."
A U.K. military source who viewed the helicopter’s full 30-minute infrared video told the Daily Mail the footage shows "drones mirroring the helicopter’s movements" and performing a "corkscrew" maneuver impossible for an F-15.
"In the 30-minute video with pilot audio, nobody mentions F-15s," the source said. "They only talk about the drones … basically forcing them out of the area."
Enigma has received more than 9,000 witness sightings of mysterious objects within 10 miles of United States shorelines since August 2025, according to the company’s website.
(iStock)
Despite the multiple sightings, Britain’s Airprox Board, which investigates near misses, concluded in its final report that the crew had mistaken the lights of a U.S. Air Force F-15 operating nearby. Radar data showed the helicopter and jet came within 1,700 feet, and the board reported no other returns.
Retired senior police Det. Mike Morgan told the Daily Mail he was frustrated by official silence.
"There is a whole series of question marks about what went on in November 2024," he said. "I have run into repeated efforts by the authorities to avoid answering even the most basic questions. … What is so secret about this investigation?"
Defense sector meteorologist Stuart Onyeche said he believes both the F-15 and the police helicopter were reacting to unmanned systems in the area.
"I’m inclined to trust the initial detail and assessment of the experienced helicopter pilots," Onyeche told the Daily Mail. "It’s unarguable that an F-15 was also in the vicinity … but the unanswered question is what that fighter was being tasked to do or look for."
The Daily Mail notes the Lakenheath case unfolded amid weeks of similar reports of drone incursions near U.S. military bases in New Jersey, the wider Northeast and overseas.
The outlet also cites a joint FBI/DOD/NASA report warning that detection and jamming systems have "failed" to stop advanced drones, including a major swarm over Langley Air Force Base in Virginia in December 2023 that was kept quiet until revealed by The War Zone in March 2024.
Pope said recurring incidents like the Lakenheath encounter, combined with limited transparency from officials, point to a growing gap in how governments handle unidentified aerial activity and that without better reporting and coordination, the risk to air safety will only continue to increase.
Stepheny Price covers crime, including missing persons, homicides and migrant crime. Send story tips to stepheny.price@fox.com.
The US military and other nations around the world allegedly used nuclear weapons to shoot down UFOs and harvest their technology from the crashed remains.
The shocking claims were made by filmmaker and director Dan Farah, who spent four years secretly interviewing high-level members of the US government and military regarding the existence of extraterrestrials.
While speaking on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast on Friday, Farah said he had learned from unnamed sources responsible for the retrieval of these UFOs that nuclear testing carried out in the 1950s was often done to secretly disable alien craft.
'One of the realizations early on was that atomic weapon testing, nuclear weapon testing, has a ripple effect that can down these things,' Farah explained.
He added that the US military started setting off high altitude nuclear tests to essentially 'shoot fish in a barrel,' a practice that the Russians quickly followed to disable UFOs for their own experiments.
'Which is crazy on multiple levels. A, you could accidentally provoke a nuclear conflict with another party that doesn't know what you're doing. B, you're picking a fight with a more intelligent, superior species,' Farah warned.
The revelations come from his documentary, called The Age of Disclosure, released this month, that allegedly detailed the 80-year global cover-up of alien life and the technology humans have created using pieces of UFOs.
Despite the claims from a plethora of high-ranking government officials, the US government has said proof of alien life has never been found, and the military has added there's 'no verifiable evidence' they've ever recovered an alien spacecraft.
Nuclear testing in the Nevada desert in 1957. Filmmaker Dan Farah said these tests were secretly aimed at disabling UFOs
Dan Farah (Pictured) appeared on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast to promote his new documentary 'The Age of Disclosure'
Farah said the nuclear explosions were deliberately carried out by elements of the US military intelligence community and their peers in foreign military intelligence communities, including the Soviet Union, to capture advanced technology.
However, the film's director and those who were interviewed for the documentary did not provide any physical evidence of extraterrestrial life or a government cover-up to back up their testimonies.
The US Department of Energy (DOE) said in an official report that America carried out 1,054 nuclear bomb tests between 1945 and 1992. Those included several high-altitude detonations, meaning they exploded over 31 miles above Earth.
The potentially catastrophic atomic detonations, many of which took place in the Nevada desert nearly 80 years ago, came after the US military spotted these strange craft appearing over nuclear weapons sites and bomber bases.
'Our defense capabilities and our nuclear progress essentially are being monitored,' Farah told Rogan during the podcast.
In addition to high-altitude atomic tests, the US and other nations detonated hundreds of nuclear weapons underwater during the Cold War, and Farah said this was directly linked to even more sightings of UFOs entering and exiting Earth's oceans.
According to the 2015 report from DOE, at least five of these atomic tests took place in the Pacific Ocean between 1946 and 1962.
'It's like throwing dynamite into the river. Fishing with dynamite. Oh my God, that's so crazy,' Rogan declared.
An atomic bomb explosion above Bikini Atoll in 1946. Nuclear detonations taking place in the ocean were allegedly done to target UFOs seen entering Earth's oceans
Government whistleblowers and members of Congress alleged that information about the recovery of alien spacecraft has been (Stock Image)
Both Farah and Rogan referenced recent claims made by Tennessee congressman Tim Burchett, who said US Navy personnel were aware of 'five or six' underwater UFO bases right off the US coast.
Burchett, a member of the House Oversight Committee overseeing UFO reports, has not produced any verifiable physical evidence, such as artifacts or clear footage of these underwater craft, to confirm the existence of alien bases.
Farah said that several US officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and former Director of National Intelligence (DNI) James Clapper, revealed the world was now locked in a Cold War to reengineer the alien technology recovered from these ships.
During his interviews, government officials admitted this new, secret Cold War would be far more consequential than the original nuclear arms race.
Members of Congress and the White House revealed in the documentary that the US, Russia, and China were all racing to be the first to fully weaponize non-human tech.
The director of 'The Age of Disclosure' added that certain UFO sightings in space and over sensitive areas are believed to be reverse-engineered human craft that have already been constructed and are still in the testing phase.
Joe Rogan (Pictured) was visibly stunned after Farah said the US military had alleedly used nuclear weapons to attack UFOs in the 1950s
According to Farah, Rubio was especially worried that China would beat the US in the race to unlock the secrets of alien technology recovered from all around the world.
'He literally says in the film, is If we don't get our act together and take this more seriously as a country, we're going to wake up one day, we're going to find out the hard way that China got there,' Farah recounted from his interview with Rubio.
'We won't know when or how, but to quote him, we will be screwed... His chin buckled when he said it. He was dead serious, and he was super concerned and you could feel it.'
Farah revealed that he had spoken to members of the Trump Administration, and the president has already ordered to current DNI Tulsi Gabbard to investigate the claims presented in the new documentary and find out what's being kept secret from him and former presidents.
Skeptical of UAPs and aliens? This new documentary is trying to change your mind
Skeptical of UAPs and aliens? This new documentary is trying to change your mind
“The Age of Disclosure,” which features interviews with top officials and video from military cameras, was named eligible for Oscar consideration on Friday.
Luis Elizondo, the former director of the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program, right, in "The Age of Disclosure."
The Age Of Disclosure / via YouTube
By Austin Mullen
What does the U.S. government know about “unidentified aerial phenomena” (UAPs), aliens and an alleged global alien technology arms race?
A brand-new documentary claims to have an answer: more than it’s telling the public.
On Tuesday, filmmaker Dan Farah and a group of the film’s subjects screened “The Age of Disclosure” at New York City’s Intrepid Museum aboard the decommissioned USS Intrepid aircraft carrier.
The documentary is described by its filmmakers as a look at “an 80-year global cover-up of non-human intelligent life and a secret war among major nations to reverse engineer advanced technology of non-human origin.” It features interviews with more than 30 “U.S. government, military and intelligence community insiders.”
“This is one of the most important documentaries ever made,” Jay Stratton, a former director of the covert Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force, said at the screening, where a number of stars, including “Karate Kid” and “Cobra Kai” star Ralph Macchio and actor Adrian Martinez, were in attendance.
“It will make a huge impact on humanity,” added Stratton, who is featured in the film.
A screening of “The Age of Disclosure” at New York City’s Intrepid Museum on Tuesday.Austin Mullen / NBC News
The film, which first premiered at the SXSW Film Festival in March, makes its case through a combination of video evidence taken from various military cameras and firsthand accounts from members of the intelligence community who detail declassified events they claim to have witnessed during their time in military service while either on the ground or flying aircraft.
“These are otherworldly things that are performing maneuvers that haven’t been seen,” U.S. Rep. André Carson, D-Ind., says in the documentary.
Large shapes the size of football fields floating in midair above U.S. nuclear missile sites and aircraft able to travel over 30,000 mph are just a few of the UAPs — a term that the government now favors over the older term “UFOs” — described in their accounts.
From left, David Fravor, Dan Farah and Ryan Graves attend "The Age of Disclosure" New York premiere on Tuesday.Dia Dipasupil / Getty Images
While the UAPs they describe often differed in size, shape and movement, they all had one thing in common: The U.S. government had no explanation for what they were or where they were from — or at least not publicly.
The film also alleges the existence of an ongoing arms race between the U.S., Russia and China, set off by the discovery of supposed crashed UAPs, with each nation hoping to be the first to crack into alien technology to reverse-engineer it for human use.
In the documentary, Secretary of State Marco Rubio says there is a bipartisan effort to push for the declassification of government intelligence related to UAPs.
“It’s just not an issue, at least as of yet, in this country, that lends itself to some sort of partisan or ideological divide,” he says in the film.
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., and Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., have also called for learning more about the government’s investigation into UAPs.
Earlier this year, Burchett introduced the UAP Transparency Act, which aims to require “the President to direct each federal agency to declassify all agency records related to UAP and make such records available on a public website of the agency.”
“We’ve been fighting this battle, some of y’all, for 30 years, and maybe longer,” Burchett said during a House Oversight Committee hearing in September. “The government has something, and they need to turn it over to us.”
At the screening, where some attendees wore alien-themed outfits, Stratton stressed the importance of the documentary’s serious tone, noting the decades of skepticism and public stigma faced by people who speak out about their experiences with UAPs.
Retired Navy Cmdr. David Fravor, whose military aircraft captured video, featured in the film, of his own purported UAP encounter, told the crowd that it takes “a lot of guts” for people to come forward on the record about their experiences.
“Some people claim it would cost them their lives if they spoke out about these things,” Rubio says in the film.
Due to these safety concerns, Burchett said he also introduced the UAP Whistleblower Protection Act “to provide whistleblower protections to Federal personnel for disclosing the use of Federal taxpayer funds to evaluate or research unidentified anomalous phenomenon material.”
Farah, who spent three years making “The Age of Disclosure,” said he hopes the film leads to a national conversation that “puts pressure on the executive branch to reveal the truth” about UAPs and aliens.
“Reach out to your elected representatives,” Stratton also said.
On Friday, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences named “The Age of Disclosure” among the 201 documentaries eligible for Oscar consideration.
It’s now available to rent or buy on Amazon’s Prime Video and is showing in select theaters.
[VIDEO] NASA Cuts ISS Livestream After Mysterious UFO Flyby – Latest in a Series of Unexplained Sightings
[VIDEO] NASA Cuts ISS Livestream After Mysterious UFO Flyby – Latest in a Series of Unexplained Sightings
On November 18th, at around 11:04 a.m. U.S. Central Time, NASA’s official International Space Station (ISS) livestream suddenly went offline – right after viewers spotted what appeared to be a bright unidentified flying object gliding past Earth’s horizon.
The short clip, now widely shared online, shows a glowing object moving steadily across the frame, far below the station’s orbit. Just moments later, the ISS feed abruptly cuts to a “technical difficulties” screen, a move that has fueled speculation among UFO enthusiasts and space watchers alike.
While some believe the object could be a reflection, a piece of orbital debris, or even a classified satellite, others are convinced it represents one of the most compelling recent UFO sightings caught by NASA cameras.
This isn’t the first time the ISS livestream has been interrupted after something unusual appeared in view. Over the years, several alleged UFO sightings have been documented by sharp-eyed viewers monitoring the station’s continuous broadcast of Earth from space.
Whether this is a simple technical glitch or another piece of evidence that something mysterious is sharing our skies, one thing is certain: interest in UFO sightings continues to grow, especially when they come from official space sources.
Age of Disclosure and truth about UFOs? Watch trailer here
Age of Disclosure and truth about UFOs? Watch trailer here
Posted by Claudia Crowley and Deborah Byrd
Watch Age of Disclosure’s trailer in the player above, or on YouTube. Check out the movie on Prime, and let’s talk about it in the comments on this page! But do us a favor first. Read the first section, below.
A new movie directed and produced by Dan Farah – known for his work on Ready Player One – asks whether the U.S. government is aware of, and concealing, evidence for aliens visiting Earth. The film has just been released in New York, Washington, and Los Angeles, and is available worldwide now on Amazon’s Prime Video. The release date in the U.S. was November 21, 2025. The documentary features “34 government insiders,” ranging from defense department experts to members of Congress and secretary of state Marco Rubio, telling what they know about UAP, otherwise known as UFOs.
As you watch the film and listen to these experts speaking, be sure to distinguish between the claim that UAP (unidentified aerial phenomena) are alien technology from the claim that UAP are “not ours.” Whenever a U.S. official says in the film that UAP are “not ours,” they might be referring to technology developed by a nation beyond the U.S. Or they might not.
… Only interview people who have direthey:ct knowledge [of these U.S. government programs].
He personally seems to believe that UAP represent aliens from another world, stating:
… At a base level, the public deserves to know the truth about fundamental facts, like we’re not alone in the universe.
Brian Fedderson, a former director of aviation security at the National Security Council, says:
This [UAP] technology does stuff that we can’t do.
Lots of people who watch the film will have their belief confirmed that the U.S. government is hiding the existence of UFOs. The writers at IMDb, for example, said:
Featuring 34 U.S. government insiders, this explosive documentary reveals an 80-year global coverup of non-human intelligent life and a secret war among major nations to reverse engineer advanced technology of non-human origin.
But remember … although reveals is a strong word, it’s not the same word as proves.
Poster for movie “Age of Disclosure” via Wikipedia.
Skepticism about Age of Disclosure
Writers at Wikipedia refer to the premise of the movie as a conspiracy theory. We at EarthSky probably wouldn’t go that far; we think of it more as “confused, but possible.” The movie’s Wikipedia page says on November 23, 2025:
The Age of Disclosure is a 2025 American documentary film by Dan Farah which proposes the conspiracy theory that information regarding the existence of extraterrestrial intelligence has been subject to a decades-long government coverup, and advocates for its declassification and disclosure. The film received mixed reviews from critics and its premise has been rejected by scientists.
Joshua Semeter, a professor of electrical engineering at Boston University who served on a NASA panel charged with studying classified evidence for the existence of UFOs, stated that:
I have seen no evidence that the government has been hiding anything … testimonies are simply not enough. They need to be backed up with evidence.
Charley Lineweaver, an astronomer and planetologist at Australian National University, said,
The whole film is full of these guys who are not scientists, talking about an issue that I think is very scientific, very very interesting, but it’s just baloney. And I said, gaww …, give me a scientist, please.
However, Avi Loeb of Harvard was more positive, stating:
There are definitely a lot of interesting claims from military personnel, from intelligence agencies. These are serious people, people that are responsible for national security, and they are not easily swayed to claim things that are incorrect or not real, and they say that there are objects we don’t understand … I don’t respond to stories that people tell me, but these stories are very intriguing and if the government does have access to such information, I think they should share it with scientists like myself because my day job is what lies outside the solar system.
Bottom line: A new documentary film, featuring 34 present and former U.S. government officials, claims that the government has long known about “alien” technology and concealed the results from the public.
In het geheim gedraaide documentaire onthult vermeende doofpotoperatie rond buitenaards leven
In het geheim gedraaide documentaire onthult vermeende doofpotoperatie rond buitenaards leven
Los AngelesEen nieuwe documentaire, The Age of Disclosure, brengt een reeks opmerkelijke getuigenissen samen van voormalige hoge Amerikaanse functionarissen en politici. Regisseur Dan Farah werkte drie jaar lang in het geheim aan de productie, waarbij hij enkel mensen interviewde die volgens hem directe kennis hebben van geheime programma’s rond UAP’s (unidentified anomalous phenomena). Het resultaat is een film die stelt dat de Amerikaanse overheid al decennia cruciale informatie over buitenaards leven en technologie achterhoudt.
Critici zijn verdeeld over de vraag of dit iets nieuws biedt – hoewel het zeker boeiend is
(Foto: Farah Films)
Farah, bekend als producent van onder meer Ready Player One, vertelt dat zijn fascinatie voor buitenaards leven begon in zijn jeugd, gevoed door films als E.T. en series als The X-Files. Voor zijn documentaire koos hij bewust voor een onafhankelijke aanpak, zonder grote studio’s of streamingdiensten, om te vermijden dat het project zou worden afgezwakt of sensationeel gemaakt. Hij hield de namen van deelnemers geheim tot de film voltooid was, zodat zij zich veilig genoeg voelden om hun verhaal te doen.
Er zijn 34 functionarissen die interviews hebben gegeven over het topgeheime project
(Foto: Farah Films)
Ook Marco Rubio, de huidige minister van Buitenlandse Zaken, nam deel.
De eerste grote doorbraak kwam toen Jay Stratton, een defensiefunctionaris die jarenlang onderzoek deed naar UAP’s, besloot zijn stilte te doorbreken. Hij verklaarde dat hij met eigen ogen niet-menselijke voertuigen en wezens had gezien. Kort daarna volgden andere prominente stemmen, waaronder Luis Elizondo, voormalig Pentagon-official en leider van het Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program. Ook Marco Rubio, de huidige minister van Buitenlandse Zaken, en Jim Clapper, voormalig directeur van nationale inlichtingen onder Barack Obama, namen deel. Hun deelname gaf de documentaire een aanzienlijke geloofwaardigheid.
Regisseur Dan Farah hoopt dat deze documentaire druk kan uitoefenen op degenen die op de hoogte zijn om de waarheid te vertellen
(Foto: Getty).
Geopolitiek als drijfveer
In totaal leverden 34 personen hun getuigenis, variërend van leden van het Congres tot experts in nationale veiligheid. Zij stellen dat er een systematische desinformatiecampagne bestaat om het publiek te misleiden en dat de VS al decennia bezig is met het analyseren en mogelijk reverse-engineeren van buitenaardse technologie.
In een interview met The Guardian vertelde Farah dat de geopolitieke wapenwedloop om UAP-technolgie te reverse-engineeren één van de belangrijkste redenen achter de vermeende doofpotaffaire. “Je kunt het niet aan je vrienden vertellen zonder het aan je vijanden te vertellen”, klinkt het tijdens het interview. Hij zegt dat deze wedloop escaleerde toen de VS ontdekte dat andere landen, zoals Rusland, UAP-technologie in beslag namen. “Nu zijn we op een punt gekomen waarop de mensen die ons land besturen niet op de hoogte zijn van de feiten. Die mensen zouden op de hoogte moeten zijn van belangrijke informatie zoals deze, die voor ons van groot belang is. En op basisniveau verdient het publiek het om de waarheid te weten over fundamentele feiten, zoals dat we niet alleen zijn in het universum.”
De film opent met een montage van voormalige militairen en inlichtingenfunctionarissen die hun indrukwekkende cv’s opsommen, waarna zij zonder omwegen verklaren dat de mensheid niet alleen is. Sommigen wijzen op de mogelijke voordelen van het begrijpen van UAP-technologie, zoals nieuwe vormen van schone energie. Rubio benadrukt dat het gebrek aan transparantie gevaarlijk kan zijn, omdat vijandige staten mogelijk sneller vooruitgang boeken door de technologie te bestuderen.
“Deze (UAP, nvdr.) technologie doet dingen die wij niet kunnen”, zegt een voormalig directeur luchtvaartbeveiliging bij de Nationale Veiligheidsraad ook in de documentaire. De voormalige hoofdwetenschapper van de Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP) beweert ook in de film dat degenen die ervoor moeten zorgen dat er geen informatie over UAP’s uitlekt, “alle middelen zullen gebruiken om mensen ervan te overtuigen dat ze zich niet moeten melden”. Een voormalig defensieambtenaar merkte dan weer op dat als we de technologie die we observeren kunnen begrijpen, dit de deur opent naar tal van “potentieel gunstige effecten, waaronder schone energie”.
Farah ziet zijn documentaire als een poging om het stigma rond UFO’s en UAP’s te doorbreken. Hij stelt dat de sterkste bewijzen niet in beelden of video’s liggen, maar in de bereidheid van geloofwaardige mensen om hun reputatie op het spel te zetten. “Voor veel te lang is het publiek misleid en in het duister gehouden,” zegt hij. “Het is slechts een kwestie van tijd voordat een Amerikaanse president openlijk erkent dat we niet de enige intelligente levensvorm in het universum zijn.”
Het Tijdperk van Openbaring Met Dank aan Het Tijdperk van Openbaring
Getuigenissen als bewijs
In The Age of Disclosure is het duidelijk dat er weinig ruimte is voor tegenstand of scepsis, vooral omdat er in de film geen enkele tegenstander te zien is die als tegenhanger kan dienen voor de vele vastberaden geïnterviewden. En Farah ziet zelf ook geen noodzaak om die stemmen de rode draad van de documentaire te laten vertroebelen. “Ik denk dat wanneer mensen deze film bekijken, ze zullen beseffen dat het stigma rond dit onderwerp volkomen onlogisch en onzinnig is en niet goed is voor de mensheid. We hebben de wetenschappelijke gemeenschap nodig, niet alleen in de Verenigde Staten, maar in elk land, om te accepteren dat dit een reële situatie is. Dat dit een geldig onderzoeksgebied is en dat ze hun denkkracht moeten inzetten om hier meer over te leren en een antwoord te vinden op veel van de grote vragen die nog openstaan”, vertelt Farah nog aan The Guardian.
Getuigenissen zijn uiteindelijk waar de film om draait en het is het enige ‘bewijs’ dat Farah kan bieden. Maar voor hem is dit net overtuigender: Farah gelooft dat het sterkste bewijs bestaat uit “geloofwaardige mensen die hun naam en reputatie op het spel zetten om je te vertellen wat ze weten, met groot risico. Wat video’s en foto’s betreft, merkt de regisseur op dat deze weinig zouden bijdragen aan het ontkrachten van beweringen dat het allemaal een hoax is. “Je zou een foto of een video van het meest buitengewone ding op de cover van een grote nieuwsuitgave of op grote tv-zenders kunnen plaatsen en de helft van de mensheid zou je vertellen dat ze denken dat het AI is of dat het visuele effecten zijn.”
Andere ufo-documentaires die je nu kunt bekijken
Showtime's docuserie "UFO."
Verzorgd door Paramount+
Terwijl je wacht op updates over The Age of Disclosure, zijn hier enkele boeiende UFO-documentaires en docuseries om te bekijken.
The Phenomenon (2020):Van dezelfde regisseur als The Age of Disclosure, bevat The Phenomenon interviews met regeringsfunctionarissen en NASA-astronauten, samen met archiefbeelden, om geloofwaardig bewijs en inzichten in UFO-verschijnselen te presenteren. Bekijk op Prime Video.
Investigation Alien (2024):Deze Netflix-docuserie volgt verslaggever George Knapp terwijl hij onderzoek doet naar UFO-waarnemingen en buitenaardse ontmoetingen over de hele wereld. Kijk op Netflix.
Moment of Contact (2022):Deze documentaire onderzoekt een incident uit 1996 in Varginha, Brazilië, waar inwoners meldden een UFO-neerstorting te hebben gezien en mysterieuze wezens te hebben ontmoet. Bekijk op Apple TV+.
UFOs: Investigating the Unknown (2023):De vijfdelige serie van National Geographic onderzoekt het geheime Pentagon-programma over Ongeïdentificeerde Luchtfenomenen (UAP's). Bekijk op Hulu.
UFO (2021):Uitgevoerd door J.J. Abrams, onderzoekt Showtime’s docuserie UFO de fascinatie van mensen voor UFO’s en hoe de overheid, particuliere bedrijven en het leger de waarheid mogelijk verborgen hebben. De serie werd gemaakt nadat het nieuws naar buiten kwam dat het Pentagon al jaren UFO’s volgde. Kijk op Paramount+.
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Over mijzelf
Ik ben Pieter, en gebruik soms ook wel de schuilnaam Peter2011.
Ik ben een man en woon in Linter (België) en mijn beroep is Ik ben op rust..
Ik ben geboren op 18/10/1950 en ben nu dus 75 jaar jong.
Mijn hobby's zijn: Ufologie en andere esoterische onderwerpen.
Op deze blog vind je onder artikels, werk van mezelf. Mijn dank gaat ook naar André, Ingrid, Oliver, Paul, Vincent, Georges Filer en MUFON voor de bijdragen voor de verschillende categorieën...
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