A former Pentagon adviser says America is asking the wrong question about UAPs
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A few days ago, while I was living in Teton Village, Wyoming, a man came to me because he had heard about my book, “Out of This World.” Over coffee, he described years spent investigating more than 100 reports of unidentified aerial phenomena related to rocket launches near Florida’s Space Coast. Most of it seemed understandable. A few did not.
He then recounted a remarkable story involving a retired US Army Corpsman who served as a military mortician and said he had examined what he believed to be non-human corpses. Rather than accept or dismiss the account, I asked the questions any experienced analyst should ask: Where are the pictures? Report to the laboratory? Who kept the chain of custody? Is there any independent support?
I asked him to contact the retired officer again and get some answers. Until then, the account remains as it is: an interesting but unproven claim.
That conversation reminded me of something I learned in 24 years as an Army officer and another 22 years as a Pentagon strategist. The biggest risk in today’s UAP debate is not government secrecy. It is a social guarantee.
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Some have already decided that unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP) are proof of extraterrestrial visitation. Others insist that all the reports are nonsense or just plain wrong. There is no place to show a specific analysis. Good intellectual work does not begin with belief or disbelief. It starts with evidence.
Isolation is not proof
During my years at the Pentagon, I sat in on countless discussions involving classified intelligence and intelligence testing. Governments share information to protect resources, preserve technological advantages and protect operations. Isolation is not proof. There is no evidence, but it is sincere. Evidence, not confidence, should always be our standard. Good analysts distinguish between what remains secret and what remains unexplained.
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That distinction is important because Washington has changed its approach to this topic. The Pentagon’s All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office released three sets of unspecified case files this year, on May 8, 22, and June 12. One report, dated June 5 and signed by AARO Director Jon Kosloski, documents an incident in October 2023 where law enforcement saw a “small or red mother” orange. The Pentagon’s own analysis of the case says the case remains unsolved, with unknown technology among the possible explanations.
Documentary “The Age of Disclosure,” featuring Secretary of State Marco Rubio and several sitting members of Congress, became Amazon Prime’s best-selling documentary within 48 hours of its release in November. Yet even Rubio, who appears in the film, has publicly stated that he “has no independent way of verifying the things they said,” and cautioned against this argument.
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Washington no longer treats UAPs as an occasional curiosity. He considers them an ongoing intelligence challenge. Military experts must investigate unexplained events. Scientists must test competing hypotheses. Congress should insist on transparency whenever national security warrants it.
An investigation is not an explanation
But there is a difference America seems to be missing. An investigation is not an explanation. Governments can collect radar tracks, infrared images, inspection evidence and sensor data. None of them, themselves, explain what these conditions really are.
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This is why America is asking the wrong question. Much public discussion has focused on what the government may be hiding. Those are legitimate questions in a constitutional republic. Yet even if all the classified documents were to be released tomorrow, another very important question would remain unanswered: What are these events?
Isolation is not proof. There is no evidence, but it is sincere. Evidence, not confidence, should always be our standard. Good analysts distinguish between what remains secret and what remains unexplained.
That question led me to spend more than a year researching government archives, military evidence, scientific literature, ancient history, comparative religion, and biblical teaching.Out of This World.” My goal was not to prove life in other countries, or to dismiss the phenomenon altogether, but to ask what intelligence analysts ask themselves every day: Which explanation best fits the available evidence?
People have grappled with reports of unexplained aerial phenomena for centuries, and today’s military pilots continue to report encounters that defy conventional explanation. Many incidents prove to be typical. A persistent minority does not. That continuity should produce humility, not confidence. Today’s world society increasingly thinks that such events point to an alien civilization or technology that has not yet been discovered. That conclusion is not self-evident. It starts with a thought, like any other.
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It’s a bigger question than science
This is why today’s debate is not fundamentally about UFOs. It is about how we decide what is true. Science explains observable phenomena remarkably well, but cannot answer questions of fundamental meaning. Those questions lead us to philosophy, and ultimately, theology.
As an evangelical Christian, I believe that Scripture provides an interpretive framework that is often overlooked in today’s debate. Christians should be the last people to scoff at mysteries they cannot explain, because the Bible clearly teaches that truth extends beyond the physical world. Scripture confirms the existence of angels, demons and spiritual deception.
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Yet Christians should also be the last people to accept outlandish claims without concrete evidence. The apostle Paul warned believers to “test everything, hold fast to what is good.” – 1 Thessalonians 5:21, NW. That principle applies as much to extraordinary claims about UAPs as it does to any other claim about fact.
The government’s growing commitment to investigating UAPs should be supported. Serious questions require serious investigation. But investigation is not explanation.
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As I wait to learn if the retired Navy SEAL can answer the questions I asked, I am reminded that direct investigation is always more important than confident speculation. Either way, my responsibility remains the same: ask better questions, seek better evidence and interpret both with humility. If the answers are there, the evidence will eventually reveal itself. If they don’t, guess what.
That discipline helped me throughout my life in national security. It may be America’s best hope to separate fact from fiction as we face one of the most fascinating mysteries of our time.
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