Meet the researchers, witnesses, and storytellers of the UFO world.
Explore their work, their accounts, and the sources behind them.
Passport to Magonia · UFOs, folklore, and alternative hypotheses
A computer scientist whose UFO research challenged the idea that every unexplained encounter should be understood as a visit from another planet. His books connect modern reports with a much longer history of extraordinary experiences.
Read the profilePhoto: Christopher Michel, 2024 · CC BY-SA 4.0
The central figure in a 1989 story about reverse-engineering extraterrestrial craft near Area 51. His account transformed the base’s public image, while its extraordinary claims and his claimed academic credentials remain unverified.
Read the profilePhoto: Portrait via Travel Nevada
Project Blue Book · Close encounters · The Center for UFO Studies
The astronomer who advised the Air Force on UFO reports, developed the close-encounter classification system, and eventually argued that a stubborn residue of unexplained cases deserved sustained scientific study.
Read the profilePhoto: U.S. government photograph · Public domain in the U.S.
Roswell investigations · Flying Saucers Are Real · Majestic 12
A nuclear physicist who became one of the UFO field’s most recognizable lecturers and advocates. He helped revive interest in Roswell and argued openly that some UFO reports involved extraterrestrial craft.
Read the profilePhoto: AllenS, Alamogordo, 2010 · Public domain · Photographer’s release
UFOs on the Record · The 2017 Pentagon story · Disclosure reporting
A journalist whose books and reporting brought military witnesses and government UFO investigations to a broad audience. She co-authored the 2017 New York Times story that helped reshape the modern public conversation about UAP.
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The 2004 Nimitz encounter · The Tic Tac account · Congressional testimony
A retired U.S. Navy commander and a central witness to the 2004 Nimitz encounter. His account of a white, capsule-shaped object became one of the best-known military UFO reports of the modern era.
Read the profilePhoto: U.S. House Oversight Committee, 2023 · Fravor at right · Public domain in the U.S.
A former Defense Department official who became a leading public voice for UFO disclosure after the 2017 Pentagon reporting. His account of government investigations, later expanded in Imminent and congressional testimony, remains central to debates about secrecy and evidence.
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Crash-retrieval allegations · The 2023 congressional UAP hearing
A former U.S. intelligence officer who alleged that information about secret UFO retrieval programs had been withheld from Congress. His 2023 disclosures and testimony became a major event in the modern debate over UAP and government oversight.
Read the profilePhoto: U.S. House of Representatives · Hearing still, 2023 · Public domain in the U.S.
Bob Lazar reporting · Skinwalker Ranch · WEAPONIZED
The Las Vegas journalist whose 1989 interviews brought Bob Lazar’s story to television. His work connects local investigative reporting, the accounts surrounding Skinwalker Ranch, and decades of broadcasting about UFOs and government secrecy.
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A former emergency physician who founded CSETI and the Disclosure Project. His witness presentations, films, and proposed methods of initiating extraterrestrial contact have made him one of the most recognizable advocates in UFO culture.
Read the profilePhoto: Emadmoussa · Wikimedia Commons · Public domain · Photographer’s release
The Mothman Prophecies · Operation Trojan Horse · Ultraterrestrials
The author of The Mothman Prophecies and Operation Trojan Horse brought UFO reports into conversation with folklore, strange creatures, and unusual human experiences. His speculative approach challenged the assumption that every UFO mystery concerned visitors arriving in spacecraft.
Read the profilePhoto: Jadoo dust jacket, 1957 · Photographer uncredited · Public domain · United States
A civilian pilot whose report of nine unusual objects near Mount Rainier on June 24, 1947, helped launch the modern flying-saucer era. His sighting became an international news story and a lasting reference point in UFO history.
Read the profilePhoto: Associated Press, 1947 · Public domain · United States
A place in this directory reflects a person’s role in UFO history and culture, not an endorsement of their claims. Firsthand accounts and proposed explanations are identified as such.