Blink-182's Tom DeLonge's "To The Stars" UFO Disclosure Enterprise

[Whitebeard]

There seems to be a lot of apprehension and discomfort about the topic of this venture on Metabunk. I would counter this by suggesting that not everything UFO-related should be regarded a priori as merely some conventional phenomenon:

Not uncomfortable AT ALL I've been following the whole UFO thing since I was a kid addicted to B-Movies in the early '70s. Used to be a believer myself, watched the skies, read the books, subscribed to UFO magazines (this is well pre-internet), even saw some odd lights in the sky that I still can't explain. I was convinced the truth was out there and THE BIG REVEAL was coming real soon.... anyday now... any.. day.. now... After all, all those magazines kept telling me so.

But as time went by, and ET still hadn't landed in Hyde Park, and those reverse engineered alien anti-g back packs we were promised were not forth coming, yet always just around the corner I started to see sense. I began to realise that there are three main types of UFO proponents. Genuine believers who hang on the vague and almost religious faith that ET is out there and one day, real soon, anyday now... will make himself known and save us from whatever terrible evil that currently looms over society (nuclear war / global warming / over population / pollution / etc / etc / etc): The hoaxers photographing flying hub caps (or these days using basic cgi) to feed the gullibility of the first lot for 'lolz': and the charlatans seeking to make a few bucks out the gullibility of the first lot.

I did real research, not just the UFO propaganda, but started reading into science, astronomy, aviation etc and soon realised that whilst ET is very likely to be out there given the size of the universe, given the size of the universe the chances of them showing up on earth are very very slim. Whats more most UFOs have a far more logical explanation than alien space craft, and even if a sighting cannot be explained, it is still a massive leap of the imagination to go from whats that to ET is buzzing the planet again. These days I find working out exactly what the UFO really is, kids party balloon, aircraft landing lights, Chinese lantern, odd stellar alignment etc is far more interesting than screaming ET at every film of out of focus birds or passing satellite.

I still love a b-movie, and would still be over the moon if REAL evidence of an ETI was provided that stood up to real scrutiny (We are talking HARD PROOF here, a craft landing in a major city, televised live with thousands of independent witnesses for a start). However after having been promised the TRUTH, any day now... real soon... its IS coming honest... for well over 40 years, you will understand I am now a little jaded of such claims and tend to take a 'whatever' approach to the whole issue.

 

[John85]

Let's face it - nobody has yet produced evidence that a UFO has landed, that aliens got out of it and made contact with humans, much less taken clear, sharp, uncontroversial photos or videos of such an event, from multiple angles and by multiple witnesses. Nor has anyone proven that 'aliens live among us' - another favorite claim. Let's see those aliens, name them, photograph them, let's hear them speak....until then, it's just fabrication

Used to be a believer myself, watched the skies, read the books, subscribed to UFO magazines (this is well pre-internet), even saw some odd lights in the sky that I still can't explain. I was convinced the truth was out there and THE BIG REVEAL was coming real soon.... anyday now... any.. day.. now... After all, all those magazines kept telling me

However after having been promised the TRUTH, any day now... real soon... its IS coming honest... for well over 40 years, you will understand I am now a little jaded of such claims and tend to take a 'whatever' approach to the whole issue.

'm not apprehensive, I'm simply observing a repetition of events. Nothing will come of it.

Maybe apprehension is not correct, but there does seem to be discomfort and disillusionment. The arguments presented against caring about the TTS announcement seem to start from a place of high expectations about UFO 'disclosure' - expectations that announcements ought to reveal definitive alien encounters or massive government coverups. When the announcement is made and no Disclosure happens, that is taken a a good reason to retreat into the comfort of saying 'Huh, nothing ever happens, just like I knew'. Starting from a more neutral position, we could say no, let's not commit ourselves to the view that UAP are aliens, but consider whether they're worth studying. In that context, is it really 'nothing' that an ex-government official states publicly that he was involved in a study of UFOs, and now wishes to support a private sector venture aimed at exploiting scientific breakthroughs such phenomena may represent? That is in itself an event which many would have scorned before it happened. An appropriate reaction is not, I believe, to assume that this senior defense official has mistaken the phenomenon for a balloon, etc.

 

[Mick West]

In that context, is it really 'nothing' that an ex-government official states publicly that he was involved in a study of UFOs, and now wishes to support a private sector venture aimed at exploiting scientific breakthroughs such phenomena may represent?

It's not "nothing", it's many things. But it's also not evidence of the imminent delivery of flying cars using over-unity power supplies.

"A study of UFOs"? Okay, what exactly does that mean? What did he do? What were the reports he studied? How many of them were unidentified? How many broke the known laws of physics? What was the evidence?

Here's what he actually said:
http://www.openminds.tv/transcript-of-to-the-stars-academy-press-conference/41145

Luis Elizondo: Well thanks Tom for that very special introduction. My name is Luis Elizondo and as a career intelligence officer I am accustomed to being involved in close hold nuance programs involving national security. This includes being a counterintelligence special agent a case officer and an intelligence practitioner. However by far the most interesting effort I was involved with was the topic of advanced aerial threats. For nearly the last decade, I ran a sensitive aerospace threat identification program focusing on unidentified aerial technologies. It was in this position I learned that the phenomena is indeed real. And now as a member of To the Stars Academy we will bring our observations to you. For starters To the Stars Academy is planning exciting new tools and capabilities that allow you and others to effectively take part of what we're doing and we will allow you to detect analyze categorize and yes even engineer technologies that have remained elusive until now. One of the many ways we seek to accomplish this is through a community of interests, a virtual environment of sorts. This virtual environment provides a platform for the detection and triangulation of phenomena events in real time and allows two way communication between the public and our team regarding this information. My job will be to work as a liaison and an interlocutor in the collection of this information for the science division allowing us to collect facts for analysis. We are also planning to provide never before released footage from real U.S. government systems, not blurry amateur photos but real data and real videos. And we're inviting our government colleagues and friends and defense to participate regularly with their own findings. Another To the Stars Academy objective is the development of an app that allows you to help us quote unquote crowd crunch the data.

Anyone with a cell phone could be alerted to an event occurring in their area. In essence making them a virtual contributor with millions of people documenting events as they actually happen. Allowing us to cross over a new threshold of understanding To the Stars Academy is on the verge of bringing all of us across that threshold together and I am excited frankly like hell to be part of this effort with you. Thank you sincerely for your time.

Tom over to you.

He gives ZERO details as to what his job entailed. It could have been work on missiles or drones based on that description.

The more interesting bit is:

We are also planning to provide never before released footage from real U.S. government systems, not blurry amateur photos but real data and real videos.

Well... go on then! Of course he does not actually have this, it's just wishful thinking. Made clear by the next sentence:

And we're inviting our government colleagues and friends and defense to participate regularly with their own findings.

So he's really just hopeful that people in the government will release something.

What's his job now?

My job will be to work as a liaison and an interlocutor in the collection of this information for the science division allowing us to collect facts for analysis.

Here's the meat. The theory they are operating with is that if you study the movement and appearance of these "alien craft" them you will be able to figure out how they work, and then build one yourself. So they got the idea of crowdsourcing the data, maybe using a phone app, and eventually they will have lots of data about UFOs, so the science will just flow out of that data, and bam, over-unity power supply!!

It's like this: imagine you lived in England, in the 1600s. There's some kind of time warp, so you occasionally see a jet powered plane high in the sky, you also see birds, clouds, planets, distant fires, meteors, hallucinations, and suchlike. You collate lots of observations of these things, and twenty years later you have a jet engine.

That's what DeLonge is saying will happen. It's what Elizondo is saying he's going to be doing. It's just wishful thinking.

Tone down my expectations, you say - well these are not MY expectations - they are what DeLonge is promising his investors.

And sure, I'd be really interested if there was a government program, or person, who was actually studying what was thought to be an exotic aerial technology (and not simply advanced Russian/Chinese stuff). So let's see the evidence of this program or person.

 

[NoParty]

Maybe apprehension is not correct, but there does seem to be discomfort and disillusionment. .

Again, you seem to be trying to attribute qualities ("discomfort and disillusionment") to folks here
that are absolutely unsupported by anything anyone has typed.

These "To The Stars" people seem to want to make some money.
So they made a big announcement implying dramatic, insider information.
Oddly, instead of offering even a little sample of what they were promising, they offered virtually nothing.

Before, I politely requested that you point to something to support your "apprehension" assertion.
You did not.
So now that you've shifted to "discomfort," can you point to something that supports that?

Many folks here have entertained 100+ claims of amazing UFO revelations.

No one is upset or surprised when #101 is also empty.

Did you see something there, that makes you think they'll actually be revealing real, dramatic UFO info?

 

[John85]

Before, I politely requested that you point to something to support your "apprehension" assertion.
You did not.
So now that you've shifted to "discomfort," can you point to something that supports that?

I said:

There seems to be a lot of apprehension and discomfort about the topic of this venture on Metabunk

Which is an interpretation I'm sticking to. You may have noticed this thread goes under the category of 'Aliens, Monsters, and the Paranormal'...

 

[deirdre]

Which is an interpretation I'm sticking to. You may have noticed this thread goes under the category of 'Aliens, Monsters, and the Paranormal'...

you think the Blink 182 guy and Elizondo are monsters?

 

[Mick West]

Which is an interpretation I'm sticking to. You may have noticed this thread goes under the category of 'Aliens, Monsters, and the Paranormal'...

The original description was:
https://web.archive.org/web/20110109033332/http://metabunk.org:80/forum.php

Fortean phenomena
Pyramid Power, Crop Circles, Ghosts, Cryptozoology. Things that are a little bit more towards the fringe.

Since "Fortean" is a bit of an uncommon word I changed it to:

Aliens, Monsters, and the Paranormal
Fortean phenomena, Alien UFOs, Pyramid Power, Crop Circles, Ghosts, Cryptozoology. Things that are a little bit more towards the fringe.

I wasn't really writing much about UFOs back then, but some topics cropped up, so I added them to the byline. I specified "Alien" UFOs as we were already doing a lot of identifying unknown flying craft leaving contrails. "Monsters" was just a simpler way of writing "cryptozoology"

I've not felt any "apprehension and discomfort" about any of these topics since my early teens, and never about aliens. I've read a lot of science fiction, and first encounter books were some of my favorite. I would LOVE to find aliens were real. Bring it on!

But there's a sad reality here. There's no good evidence that any UFO are aliens or any kind of advanced technology (except some fairly ordinary advances in plane, missile, and drone technology that get misidentified while classified, like the U2). And DeLonge is clearly laboring under a highly unrealistic set of expectations.

 

[NoParty]

There seems to be a lot of apprehension and discomfort about the topic of this venture on Metabunk.

Could you please point to the posts that lead you to this ("lot of discomfort," here) conclusion?

...an interpretation I'm sticking to.

That is your privilege. On the other hand, I'm not thrilled wth kind of being
judged, and then--when politely requesting some (any!!) support for the
weird assertion of "discomfort"--just having the claim reasserted...
again with zero reason. Not sure how an intelligent exchange can happen on those terms.

 

[Whitebeard]

but there does seem to be discomfort and disillusionment.

I am not in discomfort or disillusioned. My UFO stage ended about the age of 15. I grew up, thats all. I began to take interest in real science, philosophy, astronomy, psychology etc and began to see the whole UFO thing for what it really was, a mish-mash of hoaxers, gullible believers and fast buck merchants.

What brings it all home for me is the whole crop circle thing. I live in the English West Country, crop circle central, an even now crop circles 'appear' and UFO believers run around pointing at them and crying out they are proof of alien contact. Thing is I've met some of the crop circle makers, they are not mystic alien beings, they are a group of hippy pranksters from a small town in Wiltshire who like doing arty things in fields and laughing in pubs at the UFOlogists who take their use of rope, planks, stilts and a good GPS as proof of alien visitation. Hell for a few quid and a couple of pints they will do one for you to order. Farmers let them do it, so they can charge the UFO mob to inspect the 'phenomena'. And all this is after they have appeared in the press and on TV showing how they do it and why they do it!!

I my opinion UFO believers, along with people like Nessie hunters, para-normal investigators and the like need to take a step back, and apply a healthy dose of rational skepticism to their beliefs, and drop all the preconceptions that those who dont share their blind faith are, uncomfortable, disillusioned, in denial etc. Then I, and other more rational types might be able have a serious discussion on these topics.

 

[DJC]

I am not in discomfort or disillusioned. My UFO stage ended about the age of 15. I grew up, thats all. I began to take interest in real science, philosophy, astronomy, psychology etc and began to see the whole UFO thing for what it really was, a mish-mash of hoaxers, gullible believers and fast buck merchants.

What brings it all home for me is the whole crop circle thing. I live in the English West Country, crop circle central, an even now crop circles 'appear' and UFO believers run around pointing at them and crying out they are proof of alien contact. Thing is I've met some of the crop circle makers, they are not mystic alien beings, they are a group of hippy pranksters from a small town in Wiltshire who like doing arty things in fields and laughing in pubs at the UFOlogists who take their use of rope, planks, stilts and a good GPS as proof of alien visitation. Hell for a few quid and a couple of pints they will do one for you to order. Farmers let them do it, so they can charge the UFO mob to inspect the 'phenomena'. And all this is after they have appeared in the press and on TV showing how they do it and why they do it!!

I my opinion UFO believers, along with people like Nessie hunters, para-normal investigators and the like need to take a step back, and apply a healthy dose of rational skepticism to their beliefs, and drop all the preconceptions that those who dont share their blind faith are, uncomfortable, disillusioned, in denial etc. Then I, and other more rational types might be able have a serious discussion on these topics.

Wow i finally agree with you guys on something aliens and "flying saucers " arent real .

although i have to disagree with your growing up at 15 statement ..i was positive star wars was a documentary til i was at least 30 ..

 

[John85]

That is your privilege. On the other hand, I'm not thrilled wth kind of being
judged, and then--when politely requesting some (any!!) support for the
weird assertion of "discomfort"--just having the claim reasserted...
again with zero reason. Not sure how an intelligent exchange can happen on those terms.

You'll note I didn't say *you* were apprehensive. Perfectly happy to take you at your word. I'm apprehensive about a private venture backed by ex-defense officials that has 'entertainment' as one of its explicit goals.

 

[John85]

I am not in discomfort or disillusioned. My UFO stage ended about the age of 15. I grew up, thats all. I began to take interest in real science, philosophy, astronomy, psychology etc and began to see the whole UFO thing for what it really was, a mish-mash of hoaxers, gullible believers and fast buck merchants.

Does it pique your interest that ex DoD and Lockheed officials are supporting a venture predicated on there being a physical reality to UFOs?

 

[Mick West]

Does it pique your interest that ex DoD and Lockheed officials are supporting a venture predicated on there being a physical reality to UFOs?

A little. But the devil is in the details, and there are none. So really it's just two guys. There's all sorts of odd folk with curious beliefs in every industry.

 

[Whitebeard]

Does it pique your interest that ex DoD and Lockheed officials are supporting a venture predicated on there being a physical reality to UFOs?

Only the vaguest sense in that what crap is going to spouted next. The world of conspiracy is packed with ex this official or former that employee about reveal this that and the other, But they never deliver, and investigations into the former whatevers back ground normally reveals they are nowhere near being the big hitter they claim to be. We've had MI5 whistleblowers who turned out to be low ranking office clerks, chemtrail insiders who turned out to be janitors, and other irreverent low level potions. Not to mention 'experts' on stuff like 9-11 who specialized in bridges with no experience at all in the workings of steel framed buildings.

I used to work for BP, I could come forward and claim some new in-depth insight into the Deep Water Horizon incident. No doubt some conspiracy theorists would take me seriously and I could make a few bucks on the lecture circuit. However my fellow debunkers here would take very little time or effort to discover that my time with BP was spent as night manager at a small petrol (gas) station, part of the companies UK retail arm, and nothing to do with their drilling operations, and I had left the job a good few years before the incident happened. But even then, those who really want to believe would stick with me and claim I was being besmirched by the powers that be.

The drummer in my band is a current Ministry of Defense employee, he works ordering rucksacks and combat boots. Just cos he works in the same (vast) organisation don't make him a trust worthy source on information about the Eurofighter Typhoon or the UKs drone program!

If the Lockheed company themselves started to endorse the idea, or one of the current crop of space tech companies, Ad Astra / Virgin Galactic / Space X / etc (some company who could stand to make BIG money from this space plane idea) or a national space agency (India, Japan, etc)... Then I would take notice, but when the 'experts' who are going to the big reveal are FORMER employees who could well turn out to be part time bog cleaners, you will forgive me for not jumping around and getting over excited about the whole idea.

And for the record, yes I am very skeptical about the whole idea, but if they do actually deliver on these promised wonders, I WILL eat my words and say I was wrong. But if 10-15 years down the line and, as I strongly suspect, this has come to nothing and lays moldering in a back draw with all the other hundreds of alien tech revealed promises will YOU be eating your words and say it all a scam, a hoax or the pipe dreams of misguided individuals? Or will you still be hanging on to the hope the latest 'big reveal'?

 

[John85]

I've read a lot of science fiction, and first encounter books were some of my favorite. I would LOVE to find aliens were real. Bring it on!

But there's a sad reality here. There's no good evidence that any UFO are aliens or any kind of advanced technology (except some fairly ordinary advances in plane, missile, and drone technology that get misidentified while classified, like the U2). And DeLonge is clearly laboring under a highly unrealistic set of expectations.

I don't think there is a sad reality here, and actually don't think that 'debunking' per se is an appropriate response to the TTS announcement. Unlike with other examples, there is no false claim being made which needs to be held up to reason and exposed as a sham. They are making clear their own beliefs that there is a reality worthy of study which could lead to future-defining technological breakthroughs. Anyone interested in investing ought to be extremely careful, and consider the size of the payoff against the low probability of achieving it. But is it such a bad idea to have a whole host of people download an app (if they wish) to tell them where the nearest sighting is occurring, so they can go and take photos? Should we debunk their stated intention to get insiders to reveal what knowledge they claim to have about UFO encounters? We want the evidence as much as they do, if it exists. However flawed this venture, and however well-funded and connected, let's see where they go with it. Let's say they release a video of a UFO up close, friendly aliens and all. That should be examined for evidence of fakery, and any associated claims debunked as necessary. But an announcement and funding pitch is not a claim of evidence, and so jumping on it seems to reflect discomfort borne of once believing, then doubting, then fearing having one's hopes raised again only to be disappointed again. Maybe that is not representative of your views, but it is a plausible sequence of feelings.

What I think is better is examining the 5% of reported sightings that defy conventional explanations, and seeing if there is something of substance there. There are numerous cases of sightings by multiple high-status, skilled, professional people of standing in the community, where something highly unusual is witnessed. There are cases of radar and visually confirmed sightings. There are sometimes damaging physiological effects, electromagnetic effects, psychological effects. Whether we want it to be aliens, Russian prototypes, over-unity flying cars, psyops, mental illness or whatever, the happenings themselves are unusual and significant. Let's not commit ourselves to the view that it is all nonsense to be debunked.

 

[deirdre]

and actually don't think that 'debunking' per se is an appropriate response to the TTS announcement. Unlike with other examples, there is no false claim being made which needs to be held up to reason and exposed as a sham.

it's the 'meta exemption'.

 

[deirdre]

But an announcement and funding pitch is not a claim of evidence, and so jumping on it seems to reflect discomfort borne of once believing, then doubting, then fearing having one's hopes raised again only to be disappointed again. Maybe that is not representative of your views, but it is a plausible sequence of feelings.

one of the goals of MB and fact checking/debunking in general is to help prevent people from getting ripped off by scams.

 

[deirdre]

And in the interest of general interest, if you're wondering what makes me so open-minded, here are a few example of sightings which suggest that someone is buzzing us with advanced technology:

• WW2 foo fighters. Witnessed by Allied, German and Japanese bomber crews. They followed and circled aircrews. No flying saucer craze back then. What could they have been?
• 1977 Colares incident, Brazil. Flying objects appeared on and off for weeks, seen by many, recorded by a doctor, said to have shone light beams that caused burns. Government team sent to investigate. Did everyone make it up?
• 1989 black triangles over France and Belgium. Seen by dozens, fleetingly on radar, Belgian Air Force scrambled F-16s, couldn't keep up with sudden vertical acceleration.

Let's not assert 50,000 alleged possible alien ufo sightings in this thread. If you wish to start a thread (check first to see if a thread already exists) about any "evidence" you may have, then do so following Posting Guidelines.
https://www.metabunk.org/posting-guidelines.t2064/

 

[John85]

Let's not assert 50,000 alleged possible alien ufo sightings in this thread. If you wish to start a thread (check first to see if a thread already exists) about any "evidence" you may have, then do so following Posting Guidelines.
https://www.metabunk.org/posting-guidelines.t2064/

No, I know responses to that post could get out of hand - I don't wish to plunge this thread into general chat. Thanks for quoting it though, so it lives on. All I was doing was addressing this claim:

But there's a sad reality here. There's no good evidence that any UFO are aliens or any kind of advanced technology (except some fairly ordinary advances in plane, missile, and drone technology that get misidentified while classified, like the U2). And DeLonge is clearly laboring under a highly unrealistic set of expectations

It makes sense to try to 'debunk' the TTS venture if that is your view, and it makes sense to say hold on, there might be something to this, if that is not your view. But we can't just have two competing assertions without presenting evidence in either direction. That's why I felt it necessary to indicate the evidence behind my view. If the post follows the meta exemption, then surely a response that engages with the thrust of the debunking could also be meta. Otherwise, we're just presenting opinions - and as some might say, let's go with mine!

 

[txt29]

But we can't just have two competing assertions without presenting evidence in either direction.

I do not think so. A rationally thinking person takes UFO sightings for exactly what they are - unidentified flying objects. And unless someone presents evidence that they are something else, the UFOs remain unidentified flying objects. There is no evidence needed for that, because they are unidentified by definition. The evidence burden is on those who claim the UFOs are something specific. If it could be ETs, why it could not be the Seven Dwarfs, ghosts, witches, dinosaurs, Vikings, Russians, Mossad, CIA, Spaghetti Flying Monster, James Bond, Elvis Presley, or whatever else? Why exactly extraterrestrials?

 

[John85]

I do not think so. A rationally thinking person takes UFO sightings for exactly what they are - unidentified flying objects. And unless someone presents evidence that they are something else, the UFOs remain unidentified flying objects. There is no evidence needed for that, because they are unidentified by definition. The evidence burden is on those who claim the UFOs are something specific. If it could be ETs, why it could not be the Seven Dwarfs, ghosts, witches, dinosaurs, Vikings, Russians, Mossad, CIA, Spaghetti Flying Monster, James Bond, Elvis Presley, or whatever else? Why exactly extraterrestrials?

Not interested in whether it's ET, but whether it's advanced technology that could be studied and replicated, as per the aims of TTS

 

[txt29]

Not interested in whether it's ET, but whether it's advanced technology that could be studied and replicated, as per the aims of TTS

So the first step should be presenting the evidence there is some advanced technology to be studied at all.

 

[John85]

So the first step should be presenting the evidence there is some advanced technology to be studied at all.

Yes, it should. See post #59 for why this won't happen.

 

[txt29]

What prevents you from presenting the evidence in a separate thread? However, please be advised that presenting unexplained fenomena cannot be considered an evidence for advanced technology (ET or not) just because the cause was not determined. Using the same argumentation I could equally claim it was the Spaghetti Flying Monster.

 

[deirdre]

No, I know responses to that post could get out of hand - I don't wish to plunge this thread into general chat. Thanks for quoting it though, so it lives on. All I was doing was addressing this claim:



It makes sense to try to 'debunk' the TTS venture if that is your view, and it makes sense to say hold on, there might be something to this, if that is not your view. But we can't just have two competing assertions without presenting evidence in either direction. That's why I felt it necessary to indicate the evidence behind my view. If the post follows the meta exemption, then surely a response that engages with the thrust of the debunking could also be meta. Otherwise, we're just presenting opinions - and as some might say, let's go with mine!

All I was doing was addressing this claim:

I know, that's why I did quote you in my response this time, but.. from now on be more general like "I believe there is evidence for aliens, for ex. these cases" (then link to the threads).

You can link to and/or start any other thread on MB if you feel it presents evidence. Otherwise please don't mention specific 'UFO' cases here and assert that they do present evidence, because other people will feel obligated to respond/debunk those specific cases on this thread, and then 'update information' on TTS progress will be lost to readers in a 500 page thread about every ufo claim under the sun.

If the "TTS" project mentions a specific case, then of course you can share that information here since the thread is about the TTS project.

 

[NoParty]

...advanced technology that could be studied and replicated, as per the aims of TTS

That you accept that these are their true aims, just because they said that, is interesting to me.

Nothing about this start-up suggests to me any serious technology intent: I take them at their word
that they want to make money, selling entertainment (they really have no incentive to lie, there).

I see no reason, however, to take the more scientific claims (of 'aims') as anything more than an attempt to get
people interested in the entertainment they hope to sell. Just claiming you're planning to replicate advanced technology, will, I guess, impress some folks, but if they wanted to impress anyone even half way skeptical, they already dropped the ball with such a lame reveal on 10/11/17.

If this venture exists at all, in 2025, which I wouldn't bet on...I'd wager it's nothing but the same old entertainment.

 

[Whitebeard]

Another possibility to consider is that this whole thing is a rock n' roll publicity stunt. After all Mr DeLonge has just issued a new solo ep, and his band Angels & Airwaves are currently putting together a new studio album that will form the sound track to a new feature film project he has in pre-production called 'Strange Times'. (source)

And given that he has stated they 'want to sell entertainment' it does me make think this another case of a rocker cranking up the ol' hype machine.

 

[Mick West]

Claimed FLIR footage of the Nimitz incident discussed here:
https://www.metabunk.org/2004-uss-nimitz-tic-tac-ufo-flir-footage.t9190/

 

[Z.W. Wolf]

DeLonge was on Joe Rogan. Haven't had a chance to listen. The YT comments section is heavily negative, though.

 

[Balance]

DeLonge was on Joe Rogan. Haven't had a chance to listen. The YT comments section is heavily negative, though.

I was cooking so had time to listen. I may have this wrong but it appears Tom (the man with flying saucer tattoos) is convinced we (earthlings) have possesion of an alien 3d-printed composite metal, which he claims has been tested to show it has the ability to create zero-point energy and anti-gravity (by blasting it with "terrahertz") to bend the space-time field. He hopes that, given enough investment and co-operation, they should be able to develop and demonstrate a proof of concept within 18months eventually allowing them to complete this technology and make a working vessel, advancing humanity.

Unfortunately, there was a lot of "I can see patterns", "can't tell you" (because he's been warned off), "read my book" or "do your research" to most of Joe's pressing enquiries.

Meanwhile he intends to encourage interest and investment via a media company producing thought-provoking sci-fi films and merchandise.
To whet appetites, he's also promised to release recently unclassified data from a FLIR satellite monitoring network that is programmed to filter out man-made flying craft.

Talk about ambitious.

 

[Gam3podia]

DeLonge was on Joe Rogan. Haven't had a chance to listen. The YT comments section is heavily negative, though.

I was quite infuriated at this podcast.The insulting of intelligence is what really angers me..it was painful to watch the whole thing but I did...twice.i'm a people watcher, he did plenty of interesting "body gestures" including the sniffing, also it was clear to me(not so much in the comments of said podcast), that he was clearly baiting for money and planning on Rogan's "general public ignorance" to pay off for them.the site is a money grab.he stated that the main goal of what they are doing is too gently release the real truth of what's going on with ufo's...it's 2017 we have a cartoon character for president, people who think "non-binary" is real, we can handle the "truth".........but apparently we can't get that info unless we pay for it?....I will do everything I possibly can to stop these types of things.it disgusts me that any human would try to deceive so many people for the failing u.s. dollar.*cooincidentally I found your site from the podcast you did on mr.rogan's show.glad i did*

 

[Graham2001]

Looking at the latest post about DeLonge on the BadUFOs blog and he seems to be getting into the bad habit of posting wild claims and then deleting them when people point out they are hoaxes.

By now you probably have heard all about rocker Tom DeLonge, formerly of Blink 182, and his long-promised "UFO announcement" on October 11 that turned out to be nothing more than a fund-raising scheme to provide income for him and his colleagues, with whatever money that might be left "invested" in wacky pseudo-scientific research, like a faster-than light spaceship.

Now that a few weeks have passed since that famous announcement, we are getting a clearer picture of DeLonge, and his venture (which has now raised almost $2 million from "investors", who are perhaps better called "suckers.") For one thing, he is a Serial Deleter on social media. Meaning, that he carelessly posts stupid stuff, that he soon has to delete after the embarrassment of having it quickly shot down.

http://badufos.blogspot.com.au/2017/11/tom-delonge-serial-deleter.html

 

[tadaaa]

Basically DeLonge is a UFO enthusiast, and probably a big reader of science fiction. He believes the government is hiding alien technology and has fallen for the allure of impending "disclosure". Given that he's moderately rich and famous he figures he can spend some of his money and use his celebrity status to push this along. .

and interesting parallel story to this, given the nature of DeLonge's past (Wealthy Musician with a lot of spare time) is that of Reg Presley (formerly of The Troggs)

Reg, became unexpectedly quite wealthy after the Wet Wet Wet hit "Love is all around" stormed the charts in the 90's

with time and money Reg became obsessed with "Crop Circles" and used his windfall to investigate them

He even wrote a book, Wild Things They Don't Tell Us, which explored alien abductions, crop circles, and what he saw as the close relationship between UFOs and ancient monuments.

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-s...y-out-there-is-trying-to-tell-us-1422340.html

"In a field near Silbury Hill in Wiltshire, a new formation of crop circles recently appeared. Small groups of walkers tramp past in the driving rain, barely acknowledging the odd patterns in the corn. A few years ago, says Reg Presley, a veteran rock star turned crop-watcher, these hedgerows would have been lined with tourists, the press and television crews.

'Yeah, it's been discredited by all the hoaxing,' he admits sadly. 'But there's still something going on. Seventy-five per cent of the circles are probably hoaxes. I want to know who's doing the other 25 per cent.'

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbi...es-little-green-men-Trogg-thought-future.html

With a fellow scholar of the unexplained, retired Andover driving instructor Busty Taylor, Reg spent the next few years hastening to each new circle as it appeared, and offering his interpretation of the symbol's hidden meaning.

'We met first on July 17, 1990, at the giant crop circle at Alton Barnes near Devizes, and we became firm friends,' Busty recalls. 'We explored many circles together. He was of the older generation who would not hesitate to help people and talk through their possible meaning.'

Reg ascribed great significance to the fact that many circles appeared in a triangle between Warminster, Wantage and Winchester.

'Look at the first few letters of each place,' he told an interviewer in 1994. 'War, Want, Win. Is that a message, or what?'

Such was worldwide enthusiasm for the crop circles that Reg and Busty were soon giving talks around the country, and going on lecture tours in the U.S. and Germany. Often, the talks would be accompanied by a Troggs gig.

When the huge success of the film Four Weddings And A Funeral brought Reg an unexpected windfall - Wet Wet Wet's cover of Love Is All Around was used in the 1994 movie and topped the charts for 15 weeks - he used the money to fund his interest.

 

[deirdre]

Looking at the latest post about DeLonge on the BadUFOs blog and he seems to be getting into the bad habit of posting wild claims and then deleting them when people point out they are hoaxes.

not sure 2 examples over a year-plus equals 'bad habit'. and is it better if he does not delete bunk once he realizes he is posting bunk?

 

[Mick West]

and is it better if he does not delete bunk once he realizes he is posting bunk?

Deleting bunk is great, I wish Dane Wigington would delete some of the scores of things that are wrong on his site. But deleting without comment, and then continuing to post similar stuff over and over again, is possibly worse.

 

[Mick West]

I think the new NYT story reveals some more misleadingness from the DeLonge thing. DeLong made it seem like Elizondo has just resigned from an active program, but the program funding was shut down in 2012.

http://archive.is/bFdkR

In response to questions from The Times, Pentagon officials this month acknowledged the existence of the program, which began as part of the Defense Intelligence Agency. Officials insisted that the effort had ended after five years, in 2012.
"It was determined that there were other, higher priority issues that merited funding, and it was in the best interest of the DoD to make a change," a Pentagon spokesman, Thomas Crosson, said in an email, referring to the Department of Defense.
But Mr. Elizondo said the only thing that had ended was the effort's government funding, which dried up in 2012. From then on, Mr. Elizondo said in an interview, he worked with officials from the Navy and the C.I.A. He continued to work out of his Pentagon office until this past October, when he resigned to protest what he characterized as excessive secrecy and internal opposition.
"Why aren't we spending more time and effort on this issue?" Mr. Elizondo wrote in a resignation letter to Defense Secretary Jim Mattis.

So basically he was running an unofficial program in his spare time. The DoD had shut it down in 2012 because it was not getting any results (and presumably because there was no real evidence the program was needed). Personally I think he resigned because they told him to stop wasting his time with this, and do his real job.

And the $22 Million does not seem to be a serious thing that the DoD wanted, instead it looks increasingly like it was just some pork for Harry Reid.

The shadowy program — parts of it remain classified — began in 2007, and initially it was largely funded at the request of Harry Reid, the Nevada Democrat who was the Senate majority leader at the time and who has long had an interest in space phenomena. Most of the money went to an aerospace research company run by a billionaire entrepreneur and longtime friend of Mr. Reid's, Robert Bigelow, who is currently working with NASA to produce expandable craft for humans to use in space.

 

[Z.W. Wolf]

This Robert Bigelow

The National Institute for Discovery Science
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Institute_for_Discovery_Science

The National Institute for Discovery Science (NIDSci) was a privately financed research organization based in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, and operated from 1995 to 2004. It was founded in 1995 by real-estate developer Robert Bigelow, who set it up to research and advance serious study of various fringe science, and paranormal topics, most notably ufology.

Deputy Administrator Colm Kelleher was quoted as saying the organization was not designed to study UFOs only. "We don't study aliens, we study anomalies. They're the same thing in a lot of people's minds, but not in our minds."

NIDSci was disbanded in October 2004.

Your tax dollars at work... Oh, my aching back.

 

[Z.W. Wolf]

The above Wiki article identifies Colm Kelleher as the Deputy Administrator of Bigelow's now defunct UFO research program NIDS. Colm Kelleher is part of DeLonge's group.

https://dpo.tothestarsacademy.com/#the-team

Dr. Colm Kelleher
Biotech Consultant
Dr. Colm Kelleher is a biochemist with a twenty-eight-year research career in cell and molecular biology currently working in senior management in the aerospace sector. He served as Laboratory Director at biotech company, Prosetta Corporation, leading several small molecule drug discovery programs focused on viruses of interest to the United States Department of Defense. He worked for eight years as Deputy Director of the National Institute for Discovery Science (NIDS), a research organization using forensic science methodology to unravel scientific anomalies.
From 2008-2011, he served as Deputy Administrator of a US government funded threat assessment program focused on advanced aerospace technology. [my emphasis]
Dr. Kelleher has authored more than forty peer reviewed scientific articles in cell and molecular biology, immunology and virology as well as two best-selling books, "Hunt for the Skinwalker" and "Brain Trust". He holds a Ph.D. in biochemistry from the University of Dublin, Trinity College.

Harold Puthoff is mentioned in the NYT article cited above.

Under Mr. Bigelow's direction, the company modified buildings in Las Vegas for the storage of metal alloys and other materials that Mr. Elizondo and program contractors said had been recovered from unidentified aerial phenomena. Researchers also studied people who said they had experienced physical effects from encounters with the objects and examined them for any physiological changes. In addition, researchers spoke to military service members who had reported sightings of strange aircraft.

"We're sort of in the position of what would happen if you gave Leonardo da Vinci a garage-door opener," said Harold E. Puthoff, an engineer who has conducted research on extrasensory perception for the C.I.A. and later worked as a contractor for the program. "First of all, he'd try to figure out what is this plastic stuff. He wouldn't know anything about the electromagnetic signals involved or its function."

Puthoff is also in Delonge's group.

Dr. Hal Puthoff
Vice President Science & Technology

Dr. Harold E. Puthoff is the co-founder and Vice President of Science and Technology of TTS Academy. Since 1985, Dr. Puthoff has served as President and CEO of EarthTech International, Inc. (ETI), and Director of the Institute for Advanced Studies at Austin (IASA). He has published numerous papers on electron-beam devices, lasers and space propulsion and has patents issued in the laser, communications, and energy fields. Dr. Puthoff's professional background spans more than five decades of research at General Electric, Sperry, the National Security Agency, Stanford University and SRI International. Dr. Puthoff regularly advises NASA , the Department of Defense and intelligence communities, corporations and foundations on leading-edge technologies and future technology trends. He earned his Ph.D. from Stanford University in 1967 and won a Who's Who Lifetime Achievement in 2017 that recognizes individuals that have achieved greatness in their industry and have excelled in their field for at least 20 years.

Skeptical articles that mention Puthoff:

http://skepdic.com/remotevw.html

Remote viewing (RV) is a fancy name for telepathy orclairvoyance, the alleged psychic ability to perceive places, persons, and actions that are not within the range of the senses.

The term seems to have been invented by physicist Dr. Russell Targ and physicist/scientologist Dr. Harold Puthoff to describe their work with alleged psychics for the U.S. government in a project known as Star Gate.

Another exciting UFO breakthrough (1998) that went nowhere:

https://www.csicop.org/si/show/massive_uncritical_publicity

On Monday, June 19, 1998, all of the major media outlets were suddenly filled with accounts proclaiming that an independent panel of scientists had taken a fresh look at the UFO question, and had concluded that the matter needed to be taken seriously after all.

...what virtually every major news organization completely overlooked is that this was far from an "independent" review of UFOs. The Society for Scientific Exploration, sponsor of the panel, is not a "mainstream" scientific organization. Instead, it is a group inclined toward belief in paranormal phenomena, albeit one with many scientists among its membership. This could have been easily determined by any reporter who would have taken the trouble to peruse their Web site, or to interview them meaningfully. For the past eleven years, the Journal of Scientific Exploration been publishing articles suggesting that at least some paranormal claims are true, and have been verified scientifically. On the SSE Web site are found papers purporting to demonstrate that dowsing has been verified, that young chicks have psychokinetic powers, and that reincarnation is not only verified, but that past lives are often indicated by the presence of birthmarks. The Web site proclaims the journal's intention to publish supposedly scientific papers on "UFO and related phenomena, clairvoyance, precognition, telepathy, psychokinesis, out-of-body and near-death experiences, cryptozoology, evidence suggestive of reincarnation, alternative medical practices, astrological claims, ball lightning, crop circles, apparent chemical or biological transmutation (alchemy), etc." Despite the impressive jargon and in some cases the impressive academic degrees of the authors, these papers have been absolutely unconvincing to mainstream scientific journals and organizations, and, far from pointing the way to further research, they have been quite deliberately ignored.

The SSE UFO Panel invited only pro-UFOlogists to present supposed "evidence"; the skeptical viewpoint was evidently felt not to be worth considering. The panel was funded by Laurance Rockefeller, whose previous financial support for pro-UFO organizations is well-known. The scientific sessions of the panel were moderated by David E. Pritchard, professor of physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harold E. Puthoff, director of the Institute for Advanced Studies in Austin. Puthoff is well-known in parapsychological circles for his experiments with Uri Geller at SRI International during the 1970s, which are now viewed even by most parapsycholgists as hopelessly flawed. He is currently researching "Zero-Point Energy," i.e. supposed techniques for extracting useful amounts of free energy from the vacuum of space. (see "Zero-Point Energy and Harold Puthoff," Skeptical Inquirer, May/June 1998, and the subsequent exchange between Puthoff and Martin Gardner in this issue, page 60.)

 

[John85]

What's the problem with studying UFOs? The DeLonge group has ex-Defense officials/contractors involved, not just the scientists mentioned above. Government studies of UFOs have taken place all over the world, and conclusions are not settled.

 

[Mick West]

What's the problem with studying UFOs? The DeLonge group has ex-Defense officials/contractors involved, not just the scientists mentioned above. Government studies of UFOs have taken place all over the world, and conclusions are not settled.

There's no problem. We do it all the time here, in fact there's a dedicated sub-forum for it:
https://www.metabunk.org/forums/Skydentify/

It would also be a good idea for the military to try to identify UFOs in case they are significant, and to help understand why pilots (and their equipment) sometimes make mistakes.