Former Pentagon UFO hunter says he has seen non-human beings and craft
On October 13, a memoir by Jay Stratton, the first director of the Pentagon's UAP Task Force, was published. In the book and in related interviews, he makes serious claims about secret crash-retrieval programs, an observation carried out with a submarine, and Roswell. He has not yet presented any evidence, and the Pentagon has previously denied a cover-up.
Jay Stratton spent roughly 32 years in military and intelligence service. He headed the air and space warfare division of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) and spent 16 years investigating unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP). In 2020 he was appointed the first director of the Pentagon's UAP Task Force, and he retired in 2022. This makes him the highest-ranking former government official to date to speak publicly about the subject.
The 293-page book, published by HarperCollins, is titled Out of the Shadows: Revealing the Truth About Non-Human Intelligent Life. According to a publisher's representative, the manuscript was reviewed by 21 government agencies and departments before its publication was approved. Stratton said he shared as much as he was legally allowed to.
What does Stratton claim?
In an interview with Bret Baier on Fox News's Special Report, Stratton said that both the government and defense contractors possess craft of non-human origin. According to him, a program is underway aimed at acquiring and reverse-engineering such technology, which he called a secret Cold War race. He also claimed to have seen non-human beings and craft with his own eyes. He did not name any contractors or locations.
One of the most widely cited stories involves a submarine. According to Stratton, a nuclear submarine and a sensor-equipped P-3 Navy reconnaissance aircraft were deployed off the U.S. East Coast. A UAP appeared on the very first deployment, and the aircraft recorded data on it. The officers who witnessed it were then called to the Pentagon so that the incident could be officially documented. In the interview, he did not say that anything was captured or recovered during the operation. IBTimes notes that the materials it reviewed also do not make clear whether Stratton himself directed the submarine deployment.
The book also discusses Roswell, but this is a secondhand claim. Stratton cites an unnamed source according to whom the 1947 crash really did happen, and the craft was recovered together with the bodies found on board. According to the source, some of the beings survived the impact, stayed alive for a while, and then died because they would not accept food.
Stratton says his interest began in 2005. That year a colleague showed him classified footage of a triangular object recorded near a nuclear missile silo. He also claims that as he dug deeper, the phenomena began to watch him and his family, and that this stopped only after his retirement.
What do we know, and what don't we?
What is certain is that Stratton did hold senior positions in U.S. UAP investigations, his book has been published, and it went through the mandatory government review. That review, however, examines whether the text reveals classified information. It says nothing about whether the claims are true.
The book's most serious claims (non-human craft, a reverse-engineering program, Roswell) are not supported by any publicly presented document, photograph, sensor data or independent witness. Moreover, the Roswell story is not Stratton's own experience but the account of an anonymous source. No official body has confirmed the details of the submarine operation either.
The sober take
The official findings contradict Stratton. In its historical report published in March 2024, the Pentagon's office for UAP matters (AARO) found no verifiable evidence that the U.S. government or any company had reverse-engineered alien technology. In 2024 the Pentagon publicly denied that a decades-long cover-up was taking place.
Stratton's claims are not without precedent. In 2023, former intelligence officer David Grusch made similar claims before Congress about secret crash-retrieval programs, also without presenting evidence. The fact that high-ranking former officials are increasingly speaking about such things is noteworthy in itself. The number of testimonies, however, is no substitute for verifiable data. Until the sensor data from the submarine operation or any physical evidence is made public, Stratton's account remains a claim that stands in opposition to the Pentagon's official findings.
Sources
- IBTimes UK – tengeralattjáró
- Pentagon’s UFO Hunter Reveals Himself and What He Learned, Including the Video He Can’t Forget
- Pentagon's top UFO expert says he shared 'as much as he legally could' in new X-files style book
- “Shielded from the truth:” ex-UAP chief claims US presidents are kept in the dark about UFOs