And They've Visited Vandenberg Space Force Base in Lompoc More Than Once Today, Vandenberg is best known for the booming SpaceX launches that send satellites into orbit. Historically dismissed as fodder for conspiracy theorists, these accounts began to be taken seriously in 2017, when the U.S. government acknowledged briefings on Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP). In the years following, high-ranking military officials — many tied to nuclear weapons programs — started sharing the startling details of their strange encounters. Long-secret government programs meant to track and investigate UAP encounters were exposed. Some whistleblowers have even alleged the retrieval of UAP crash sites and non-human “biologics.” And a new NASA task force was recently created to investigate UAP. In The Age of Disclosure, former military leaders, quantum physicists, professors, and directors of these covert programs recount their experiences and swear it's all true. The most damning photo and video evidence remains classified, they say, but the proof is “indisputable.” Based on what they claim to have seen, the former admirals, lieutenants, and colonels were convinced that UAPs are real and they are definitely not human. He argues the globe is in a secret war to reverse-engineer alien technologies. Anomalous phenomena is happening everywhere, with greater frequency, he warns, but it is often met with stigma and treated as taboo — something he blames on government disinformation campaigns. Witness testimonies recount highly unusual experiences at Vandenberg, such as a gigantic red, glowing square object that allegedly hovered over the base in 2003. In total, five incidents involving UAPs occurred at Vandenberg between 2003 and 2005, according to Jeffrey Nuccetelli, a former military police officer with 16 years of active service under his belt. “I'm here today because the American people have both the right and responsibility to know the truth about unidentified aerial phenomena,” he said during a House Oversight Committee hearing in September. He relays it all in detail:Aa red, glowing square the size of a football field, erratic lights dancing over the ocean or blinking in and out of the skyline, a huge sphere of light floating over his own home, and the intimidation of witnesses to keep their mouths shut. Vandenberg — home to the National Missile Defense Project — was “repeatedly visited by UAP,” back when personnel were completing “historic launches,” Nuccetelli said. Each incident was witnessed and documented by multiple personnel, and reported up the chain of command, he adds. Three Boeing contractors reported seeing a “massive glowing red square silently hovering over two missile defense sites,” Nuccetelli said. It lingered for several minutes before vanishing over the hills. Later that same night, security guards at a launch site reported a bright, fast-moving object darting over the ocean. Moments later, it shot off and was gone. Five shaken witnesses reported to Nuccetelli that they saw a massive rectangular craft larger than a football field, which hovered silently for 45 seconds before shooting away at an impossible speed. A week later, there was another light over the ocean “behaving erratically,” Nuccetelli said. But the craft eventually took off, again at an “impossible speed.” These witnesses were allegedly intimidated by their superiors and told to keep quiet, Nuccetelli said. Things did go quiet until 2005, when another giant rectangle made an appearance. While off duty, he and two other police officers saw a pulsing, moving light over the ocean that he said was acting too strange to be a satellite. They watched it blink around the sky, vanishing and reappearing in different directions, until it appeared 200 feet above his house. “It was a 30-foot diameter sphere of light,” he said. These events profoundly changed his life, Nuccetelli testified. In The Age of Disclosure, directed and produced by Dan Farah, multiple U.S. Air Force veterans describe incredible encounters with seemingly impossible details. Another describes seeing a matte-black diamond in the sky. The objects do a lot of “shooting off into the horizon” at instant acceleration — among other feats human-made aircraft could not possibly even dream of, the witnesses say. These stories go hand-in-hand with the criteria of most UAPs, or “observables,” as they're described in the film: hyper-sonic velocity; instantaneous acceleration; no visible signatures, such as propulsion or exhaust; transmedium travel through space, air, and water without compromising the craft's performance or disturbing the environment; anti-gravity; and biological effects on the people who interact with UAPs. “VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE” — its former title — appears onscreen in all-capital letters, segueing into an account from Lieutenant Bob Jacobs. As it was flying along, he said, “something else entered the frame.” He makes a whooshing sound effect, and describes this unknown craft shooting beams of light at the warhead from multiple directions. “All the while, everything in our frame was moving along at 8,000 to 9,000 miles an hour,” he says. “It shot off, a thousand miles an hour, up the coast.” It was seen by more than a dozen direct witnesses. “The UAP activity, surrounding nuclear weapons, is not a historic issue. It's an ongoing issue,” says Jay Stratton, former director of a government UAP task force, following the Vandenberg testimonies. Foreign adversary technology somehow hidden from the U.S. government? In the time since these encounters, no recent UAP sightings at Vandenberg have been reported. Whether they have occurred and just been kept under wraps is speculative. But legislation has been authored in recent years to protect whistleblowers and encourage disclosure. One such bill was signed into law by President Joe Biden in 2022. Another one, with expanded, historic elements — the UAP Disclosure Act — was proposed again by senators this year. But legislators on the ET-side of history face pushback. Santa Barbara Congressmember Salud Carbajal would not comment directly on whether he believes in aliens. He has not signed onto any UAP-related legislation, either. Nevertheless, he said, “I've long been supportive of efforts to improve government transparency and accountability, including safeguarding whistleblowers. He added, “Any credible reports from our servicemembers, whether related to national security issues or unexplained phenomena, deserve to be heard.” Please note this login is to submit events or press releases. Use this page here to login for your Independent subscription Copyright ©2025 Santa Barbara Independent, Inc. Reproduction of material from any Independent.com pages without written permission is strictly prohibited. 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Open inquiry depends on the ability to ask uncomfortable questions and follow evidence wherever it leads. Eric Kaufmann argues that this norm is now under strain. Drawing on history, survey data, and political theory, Kaufmann outlines how certain identity categories came to be treated as morally sacred—and how that shift has reshaped debates about equality, free speech, and academic inquiry. The conversation examines the long roots of today's culture conflicts, the move from equal opportunity to equal outcomes, and why disagreement is increasingly interpreted as moral transgression rather than intellectual difference. At stake is what happens to liberal societies when some questions can no longer be asked, nd whether open inquiry can still be defended without abandoning concern for fairness and dignity His new book is The Third Awokening. Show your support with a tax-deductible donation and share the show with your friends and family. Become a paid member of Skeptic to start commenting To explore complex issues with careful analysis and help you make sense of the world. We've emailed you a magic link — click it to access your account. We've emailed you a magic link — click it to access your account.

According to recent polling highlighted by Wired, nearly half of all Americans now believe that extraterrestrial beings have visited Earth. This shift represents a significant move in the national consciousness, as the number of people who previously identified as “unsure” has plummeted by two-thirds, suggesting that citizens are moving off the fence and toward a definitive belief in alien presence. The data reveals a fascinating partisan and demographic divide in these beliefs. Despite these variations, the overall trend points toward a society that is becoming more comfortable with the idea of non-human intelligence interacting with our world. Experts cited by Wired suggest that the reasons behind this growing conviction are “complicated.” The surge in belief coincides with a period of unprecedented transparency—and subsequent speculation—regarding Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAPs). While some attribute the shift to a “literal mountain of evidence” in the form of declassified government documents, others argue that the rise in belief may be linked to a broader decline in trust toward traditional institutions. This environment has allowed narratives of secret military cover-ups and reverse-engineered technology to flourish. The implications of this shift extend beyond mere curiosity. As reported by Wired, the increasing popularity of visitation narratives is beginning to impact political discourse and even scientific communication. Some researchers worry that the “noise” generated by UFOlogy could overshadow the legitimate work of astrobiologists searching for microbial life. Whether this trend is driven by a genuine increase in unexplained sightings or a cultural need for answers in an uncertain age, the American perspective on the cosmos has fundamentally changed. As more people trade skepticism for belief, the search for life beyond Earth is no longer just a scientific endeavor—it is a cornerstone of modern American identity. Just add your email and you're on the list.