New Thinking Allowed Audio Podcast An Insider’s View of UFO/UAP Disclosure with Jim Semivan
An Insider’s View of UFO/UAP Disclosure with Jim Semivan
Jim Semivan — co-founder and Vice President of Operations for To The Stars and a 25-year veteran of the CIA’s National Clandestine Service — shares his rare vantage point on UFO/UAP disclosure. Speaking with Jeffrey Mishlove, Semivan reflects on his own extraordinary encounters, his cautious stance on full disclosure, and the delicate interplay between national security, public perception, and non-human intelligence.
He discusses his early involvement with To The Stars alongside Tom DeLonge, Hal Puthoff, Lou Elizondo, Chris Mellon, and others, and explains why societal readiness, narrative control, and psychological impact remain key concerns in how — and whether — disclosure unfolds. The conversation also delves into Semivan’s support for experiencers such as Chris Bledsoe, the possible interconnectedness of UFO phenomena with parapsychology, and the enduring “trickster” element behind the mystery.
[00:00] Introduction
[02:01] CIA career, To The Stars, and personal UFO encounters
[10:19] Parapsychology connections and higher-dimensional reality
[12:27] Supporting experiencer Chris Bledsoe
[16:24] Founding To The Stars and challenges in research funding
[24:51] Disclosure debates — limited vs. catastrophic
[28:36] Why the technology is clearly non-human
[33:56] Potential societal and psychological impacts of disclosure
[42:57] The “trickster” element and need for caution
[48:09] Grassroots disclosure, historical secrecy, and today’s whistleblowers
[1:26:06] Conclusion
New Thinking Allowed host, Jeffrey Mishlove, PhD, is author of The Roots of Consciousness, Psi Development Systems, and The PK Man. Between 1986 and 2002 he hosted and co-produced the original Thinking Allowed public television series. He is the recipient of the only doctoral diploma in “parapsychology” ever awarded by an accredited university (University of California, Berkeley, 1980). He is also the Grand Prize winner of the 2021 Bigelow Institute essay competition regarding the best evidence for survival of human consciousness after permanent bodily death. He currently serves as Co-Director of Parapsychology Education at the California Institute for Human Science.
(Recorded on July 26, 2025)
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