Tom DeLonge
Tom DeLonge is an American musician, a co-founder of Blink-182 and the frontman of Angels & Airwaves. As the founder of the To The Stars Academy of Arts and Science, and through his role in the public release of the Navy UAP videos, he became one of the well-known advocates of the UAP topic.
Tom DeLonge (born 1975) is an American musician, one of the founders of the pop-punk band Blink-182 and the frontman of Angels & Airwaves. He left Blink-182 in 2015, then rejoined the band in 2022. Alongside his music career, in the 2010s he became known for his interest in the UFO/UAP topic. In 2015 he founded a company called To The Stars, which was introduced to the public in 2017 under the name To The Stars Academy of Arts and Science (TTSA).
His role in the UAP topic
In its own words, TTSA aimed to combine scientific research, space technology development and entertainment content. The venture also involved professionals with prior government and defense backgrounds, such as Luis Elizondo, who is associated with the Pentagon program called AATIP, and Christopher Mellon, a former Department of Defense official. In December 2017, the New York Times published two Navy videos (FLIR1 and Gimbal) with TTSA's involvement, and in 2018 TTSA also released the third (GoFast). This contributed significantly to the UAP issue receiving more serious media attention. In 2019, the History channel series Unidentified: Inside America’s UFO Investigation also focused on the team's work.
DeLonge is also the author of a book series titled Sekret Machines, which mixes fictional elements with elements intended as factual. Among the emails published by WikiLeaks in 2016, which came from a hacking attack against John Podesta, Hillary Clinton's campaign chairman, were messages from DeLonge in which he referred to high-ranking government and military contacts in connection with the UFO topic.
Opinions and criticism
The activities of DeLonge and TTSA divided public opinion. According to supporters, the venture contributed to the topic gaining acceptance and to the growth of official interest. According to skeptics and critics, TTSA was primarily a business venture that raised capital from small investors while remaining unprofitable, and its promises regarding technological breakthroughs were not fulfilled. Both the official and the skeptical positions on the interpretation of the videos differ from the view put forward by TTSA.