Jay Stratton says secret programs recovered unusual craft and concealed evidence, allegations that remain unverified and conflict with previous Pentagon findings.
WASHINGTON, DC — A former senior U.S. intelligence official who led the Pentagon’s task force on unidentified anomalous phenomena is publicly alleging that the government has spent decades concealing evidence involving recovered craft and what he describes as nonhuman intelligence.
Jay Stratton, the former director of the Pentagon’s Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force, detailed the claims in his new memoir, “Out of the Shadows: Revealing the Truth About Non-Human Intelligent Life,” and discussed them in interviews released this week. Stratton’s allegations represent one of the most sweeping public accounts from a former official who directly managed a federal UAP investigation, but the extraordinary claims have not been independently established. The Pentagon’s own historical review has said it found no evidence that the U.S. government or private companies secretly possessed extraterrestrial technology.
Stratton, who retired from government service in 2022, told People that his interest in UAPs intensified after he viewed classified footage in 2005 showing what he described as a black triangular object near sensitive U.S. airspace. He said the object appeared to move in ways he could not explain. Stratton later spent years examining military reports of unusual objects and eventually became the first director of the Pentagon task force created in 2020 to investigate UAP reports involving military personnel, sensors and restricted airspace.
In the memoir, Stratton alleges that an approximately 80-year campaign of secrecy and disinformation obscured efforts to retrieve and study unusual craft. He also says military contractors possess recovered vehicles in secure facilities and recounts information he says was provided to him by insiders concerning the 1947 Roswell incident in New Mexico. Those claims rely in part on accounts Stratton says he received from other people and have not been publicly supported by physical evidence that independent researchers can examine.
The Pentagon has reached a sharply different conclusion. In a 2024 historical review, the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office, known as AARO, said it found no empirical evidence that the U.S. government or private industry had been reverse-engineering extraterrestrial technology. The office said past government investigations overwhelmingly attributed UAP reports to ordinary objects, natural phenomena, optical effects or misidentification, although some cases remained unresolved because investigators lacked enough reliable data.
AARO’s review also examined allegations from witnesses who described hidden programs, unusual materials, recovered spacecraft and secret research. The office said its investigation did not substantiate claims that the government had concealed extraterrestrial craft or biological material. It also found that some stories about alleged reverse-engineering efforts appeared to stem from real classified national security programs that had been misunderstood or associated over time with claims about extraterrestrial technology.
The dispute comes as Congress continues pressing federal agencies for greater disclosure about unexplained sightings. The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform said in April that its Task Force on the Declassification of Federal Secrets was continuing an investigation into UAP transparency. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna of Florida, the task force chair, requested additional government video files after witnesses and lawmakers raised concerns about records involving sightings near restricted military airspace.
Federal officials have also continued releasing material through AARO. The office says unresolved cases are not, by themselves, evidence of extraterrestrial activity. A case may remain unidentified because available images, sensor readings or other information are too limited to determine what was observed. Officials have repeatedly said UAP reports can still carry national security significance because unexplained objects near military installations could involve drones, surveillance systems, foreign technology or other hazards even when no extraordinary origin is established.
Stratton argues that the potential national security consequences justify greater disclosure. He told People that unexplained activity around military and nuclear sites should be taken seriously and said he believes information gathered during his government career points to nonhuman intelligence. His book was subjected to government prepublication review, according to a representative cited by People. Such a review determines whether material can be publicly released without exposing classified information; clearance for publication does not amount to government confirmation that an author’s assertions are true.
Stratton’s allegations add to a growing public dispute involving former intelligence officials, military witnesses, lawmakers and Pentagon investigators. Former intelligence officer David Grusch told Congress in 2023 that he had received information about secret retrieval and reverse-engineering programs, claims the government’s UAP office later said it could not substantiate. Congressional committees have nevertheless continued seeking records and testimony, keeping questions about government transparency separate from the unresolved question of what individual UAP cases actually represent.
For now, no publicly released evidence has independently confirmed Stratton’s central claims about recovered extraterrestrial craft or nonhuman beings. Federal investigators continue to collect reports and release selected records, while lawmakers pursue additional material from defense and intelligence agencies. The competing accounts leave the government’s handling of UAP information under continuing scrutiny even as the most extraordinary allegations remain disputed.
Author note: Last updated October 17, 2026.