Personal Projects: Jet Toys and ModRetro

Palmer Luckey, Co-Founder of Anduril, joins Sourcery for an unfiltered walk through some of the most controversial & speculative questions in modern defense technology, from UAPs and UFOs to invisibility tech, moon warfare, and why all of it may be running on parallel tracks to today’s human military development.

Luckey breaks down what war would actually look like in space and on the moon, why spacecraft are nearly impossible to armor, and why survival off-Earth is so fragile that conflict would be “decisive and catastrophic.” He also explains Anduril’s real work on optical camouflage, why visible-spectrum invisibility is easier than people think, and why it’s largely irrelevant against modern adversaries armed with infrared, radar, and lidar.

The conversation moves from the serious to the personal: Palmer’s blunt take on media coverage and testing failures, his belief that UAPs are likely not recently manufactured, his side project ModRetro (from an heirloom-grade Game Boy to the upcoming M64), and how becoming a father has—and hasn’t—changed his long-term worldview. 

Equal parts speculative, technical, and philosophical, this episode captures the mind of a founder who’s comfortable operating at the edge of science, industry, and culture.

Palmer Luckey: https://x.com/PalmerLuckey

Molly O’Shea: ⁠https://x.com/MollySOShea⁠

Sourcery: ⁠https://x.com/sourceryvc

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(00:00) Palmer Luckey, Co-Founder Anduril

(01:26) Fury: The first autonomous fighter jet

(04:28) Anduril testing failures & Press heat

(11:47) What would war look like on the Moon?

(14:28) Invisible drones & Why camouflaging isn't useful

(18:47) UAPs are from the past?

(22:16) Seabed Sentry, Sentry Tower & Ocean surveillance

(24:44) Shipbuilding gap with China & Why ships matter

(27:18) Palmer's garage projects: Jet engine motorcycle

(30:43) Lessons from fatherhood?

(32:17) The next big step for Anduril