Former U.S. Intelligence Officials to Investigate UFOs In New History Channel Series

The History channel recently announced a limited non-fiction UFO investigation series featuring officials who have held positions at the highest level of government, including a man who before recently retiring ran an ongoing secretive UFO project at the Pentagon. The show is called Unidentified: Inside America’s UFO Investigation, and is set to premiere in May.

According to Luis Elizondo, the former military intelligence agent in charge of the UFO program, the show will give us much sought after insight into some incredible cases his project investigated while at the Pentagon.

In October of 2017, former Blink-182 frontman Tom DeLonge announced the creation of To the Stars Academy of Arts and Sciences (TTSA), an organization set up to research, share information and create entertainment projects regarding paranormal topics, including UFOs. The media has been reporting DeLonge’s interest in UFOs for years, so the fact he would create a company focused on these interests was not surprising. What was jaw-dropping was the list of TTSA team members. Several have experience working with or for the CIA, including a physicist. The other members of note are a former program director of Lockheed’s “Skunk Works” advanced development program, a Department of Defense (DoD) intelligence officer, and a former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Intelligence in the Clinton and Bush Administrations.

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According to the TTSA announcement, Elizondo “ran a sensitive aerospace threat identification program focusing on unidentified aerial technologies.” For those in the know, this means UFOs. The media took note and in December of 2017, The New York Times shocked the world with details of the program Elizondo was talking about with independent confirmation, including from the DoD, that the program did indeed exist. It was called the Advanced Aerospace Identification Program (AATIP).

However, the article revealed very little about what AATIP discovered. According to the History, all of the TTSA members listed above are involved with the new series, and according to Elizondo, we are finally going to get to know more about what AATIP found in this program.

“With this show, the real conversation can finally begin,” DeLonge said in a statement. “I’m thankful to HISTORY for giving the To The Stars Academy team of world-class scientists, engineers and intelligence experts the opportunity to tell the story in a comprehensive and compelling way. I think everyone that watches the show will walk away with questions answered and a feeling of, “wow, I get it now.”’

UFO enthusiasts have been clamoring for information about what AATIP and TTSA have discovered. However, as Elizondo has put it, they want to share information when the time is right, not just to satisfy “idle curiosity.” Fortunately, according to comments made recently, the time is right, and much of what people have been waiting for is included in the show.

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We do know a little bit about what AATIP discovered. At the recent Anomalous Aerospace Phenomena Conference (AAPC), an event focused on the scientific investigation of the UFO phenomenon, Elizondo shared more.

One case AATIP looked into is an incident that took place in November 2004 off the coast of San Diego near Catalina Island. According to a leaked report, the USS Nimitz aircraft carrier strike group had tracked several unidentified objects on radar during training exercises for several days. During one of these incidents, jets were scrambled, and several pilots witnessed an object comparable in size to the F-18 jets they were piloting. The object was long with rounded edges and had a smooth white exterior. They described the object as looking like a giant tic tac. After a few minutes of engaging the aircraft, the object took off. 

At the AAPC, a couple of researchers shared their report on the incident. Robert Powell, a founding member of the Scientific Coalition for Ufology (SCU), who spent a career in engineering management in the semiconductor industry, was one of those researchers.

“In three independent instances we have calculated acceleration rates based on testimonies of military witnesses with years of experience and knowledge related to military aircraft characteristics and capabilities,” Powell told Den of Geek. “These witnesses include two United States Naval Academy graduates, one with the rank of commander and the other a lieutenant commander.”

The commander Powell is referring to is David Fravor, who the New York Times quoted in their article in December 2017. He has since done several interviews, including with CNN and Fox News.

“The characteristics demonstrated by the AAVs (Navy term for Anomalous Aerial Vehicles [aka UFOs]) are beyond the capabilities of any aircraft,” Powell continued. “Using conservative assumptions we estimate the AAV reached speeds of 28,462 mph, accelerations of 256 g forces, and power consumption in excess of 29 gigawatts assuming a weight of one ton. We do not know the origin of the AAVs nor do we have any information on their means of propulsion.”

Powell says he attempted to obtain radar data from the military on the case, but they have been reticent to share anything which is why he has relied on witness testimony. However, Elizondo hinted that AATIP might have that radar data and the History series will share more.

As extraordinary as the 2014 Nimitz encounter was, Elizondo says there are cases AATIP investigated that are even better, some of which will they will feature in the series along with more expert witnesses.

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The New York Times article also claimed that anomalous material was retrieved from UFOs. Last summer, TTSA announced they have a special project dedicated to examining the alleged unusual material. Elizondo says we will learn more about some of this material as well. He admits some of the materials they examined are “not so special,” but he is excited to present more information on some of the materials they examined which he believes are “very special.”

The UFO community talks a lot about “UFO disclosure.” This is the moment when the government comes clean on what they know. Many of them believe this is when the government will confess to having the alien bodies found at Roswell, or underground facilities where they work with aliens to build spaceships for a secret space fleet. However, to Elizondo, this History channel series will offer the closest thing to disclosure we have yet to see; insight into a real-life secret UFO project that Elizondo says continues to this day.

“This is not a UFO hunting show, but a series that will hopefully provoke a cultural conversation about unexplained phenomena and allow our viewers to ultimately draw their own conclusions,” says Eli Lehrer, History’s Executive Vice President and Head of Programming. “Tom’s curiosity and passion for this subject matter, combined with his team, are the perfect partners to deliver this breakthrough series.”

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Alejandro Rojas writes and blogs about science, entertainment, and the paranormal. Alejandro has spent many hours in the field investigating anomalous phenomena up close and personal. You can find him on Twitter here.