The Micah Hanks Program

In 2013, a feature article appeared on the website of legendary aerospace and defense giant Lockheed Martin that quickly had aviation buffs talking. The piece, titled “Speed is the New Stealth,” claimed that a new hypersonic aircraft was under development at the company’s famous Skunk Works facility, which would soon set a new standard for speed and stealth in American aerospace technologies. They called it the SR-72, an aircraft Aviation Week had already dubbed "the son of Blackbird" after its predecessor, the legendary SR-71.  Today, the status of the SR-72 program remains in question, although recent reports suggest that America's next secretive spy plane could soon be taking flight. This week on The Micah Hanks Program, we delve into the mystery surrounding this aircraft, it's relationship to the fictional "Darkstar" program depicted in the film Top Gun: Maverick, and also look at UAP sightings that could involve encounters with unacknowledged U.S. stealth technologies. This episode is sponsored by SurfShark. Find out more about their cybersecurity protection services by going to https://surfshark.com/MICAHHANKS. Have you had a UFO/UAP sighting? Please consider reporting your sighting to the UAP Sightings Reporting System, a public resource for information about sightings of aerial phenomena. The story doesn't end here... become an X Subscriber and get access to even more weekly content and monthly specials. Want to advertise/sponsor The Micah Hanks Program? We have partnered with the AdvertiseCast to handle our advertising/sponsorship requests. If you would like to advertise with The Micah Hanks Program, all you have to do is click the link below to get started: AdvertiseCast: Advertise with The Micah Hanks Program Show Notes Below are links to stories and other content featured in this episode: NEWS: James Earl Jones, voice of Darth Vader, dies aged 93 Astronauts would have been fine on Boeing's Starliner during landing, NASA says China’s Classified Space Plane, Shenlong, Returns from Secretive 267-Day Mission in Space Japanese Eels Have Evolved the Ability to Escape a Predator’s Stomach After Being Eaten DARKSTAR: Secretive SR-72 Hypersonic Aircraft, Successor to Lockheed Martin’s Legendary SR-71, Could Soon Take Flight SKUNK WORKS: Speed is the New Stealth: Lockheed Martin Skunkworks  It Sure Seems Like Darkstar, Lockheed’s Secret High-Speed Jet, Is Real BECOME AN X SUBSCRIBER AND GET EVEN MORE GREAT PODCASTS AND MONTHLY SPECIALS FROM MICAH HANKS. Sign up today and get access to the entire back catalog of The Micah Hanks Program, as well as “classic” episodes of The Gralien Report Podcast, weekly “additional editions” of the subscriber-only X Podcast, the monthly Enigmas specials, and much more. Like us on Facebook Follow @MicahHanks on X. Keep up with Micah and his work at micahhanks.com.

In the years immediately following the Second World War, sightings of strange phenomena in our skies gave rise to one of the strangest developments of the postwar era: the "arrival" of flying saucers, strange objects that the U.S. government now calls unidentified anomalous phenomena.  Joining us this week is Greg Eghigian, a Professor of History and Bioethics at Pennsylvania State University. An expert on the history of the abnormal and the paranormal in the modern world, his research has been supported by NASA and the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, and Greg joins us on The Micah Hanks Program to discuss his recent book, After the Flying Saucers Came: A Global History of the UFO Phenomenon. Have you had a UFO/UAP sighting? Please consider reporting your sighting to the UAP Sightings Reporting System, a public resource for information about sightings of aerial phenomena. The story doesn't end here... become an X Subscriber and get access to even more weekly content and monthly specials. Want to advertise/sponsor The Micah Hanks Program? We have partnered with the AdvertiseCast to handle our advertising/sponsorship requests. If you would like to advertise with The Micah Hanks Program, all you have to do is click the link below to get started: AdvertiseCast: Advertise with The Micah Hanks Program Show Notes Below are links to stories and other content featured in this episode: NEWS: Fishermen Off Hawaii Stumble Upon Mysterious Classified DARPA Drone Belief in alien visits to Earth is spiralling out of control – here’s why that’s so dangerous  EGHIGIAN: Greg Eghigian, Department of History at Princeton University BOOK: After the Flying Saucers Came: A Global History of the UFO Phenomenon BECOME AN X SUBSCRIBER AND GET EVEN MORE GREAT PODCASTS AND MONTHLY SPECIALS FROM MICAH HANKS. Sign up today and get access to the entire back catalog of The Micah Hanks Program, as well as “classic” episodes of The Gralien Report Podcast, weekly “additional editions” of the subscriber-only X Podcast, the monthly Enigmas specials, and much more. Like us on Facebook Follow @MicahHanks on X. Keep up with Micah and his work at micahhanks.com.

Throughout the final decades of the 20th century, strange beliefs began to pervade the UFO research community. Ranging from stories of alleged flying saucer crashes, to strange encounters with "malevolent" alien beings, these and other controversial narratives began to predominate the minds of many in the UFO field. Where did these ideas originate, and how have they continued to shape the modern UFO narrative?  Joining us this week to discuss the origins of such ideas is Charles Lear, an independent historical researcher and author of books that include his latest work, Crashed Saucers and Malevolent Aliens: The Emergence of the Popular Modern UFO Mythos in the Late 20th Century. We explore these ideas, and much more, on this week's edition of The Micah Hanks Program.  Have you had a UFO/UAP sighting? Please consider reporting your sighting to the UAP Sightings Reporting System, a public resource for information about sightings of aerial phenomena. The story doesn't end here... become an X Subscriber and get access to even more weekly content and monthly specials. Want to advertise/sponsor The Micah Hanks Program? We have partnered with the AdvertiseCast to handle our advertising/sponsorship requests. If you would like to advertise with The Micah Hanks Program, all you have to do is click the link below to get started: AdvertiseCast: Advertise with The Micah Hanks Program Show Notes Below are links to stories and other content featured in this episode: ELIZONDO: Imminent: Former Counterintelligence Agent's New Memoir Reveals an Insider's Look at UFOs  AARO: The Pentagon’s Official UAP Investigative Office Has a New Full-Time Director ANNOUNCEMENT: Department of Defense Announces the New Director, All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office  JON KOSLOSKI BIO: Dr. Jon T. Kosloski:  U.S. Department of Defense Biography CHARLES LEAR: Crashed Saucers and Malevolent Aliens: The Emergence of the Popular Modern UFO Mythos in the Late 20th Century BECOME AN X SUBSCRIBER AND GET EVEN MORE GREAT PODCASTS AND MONTHLY SPECIALS FROM MICAH HANKS. Sign up today and get access to the entire back catalog of The Micah Hanks Program, as well as “classic” episodes of The Gralien Report Podcast, weekly “additional editions” of the subscriber-only X Podcast, the monthly Enigmas specials, and much more. Like us on Facebook Follow @MicahHanks on X. Keep up with Micah and his work at micahhanks.com.

As humans continue to search the cosmos for evidence of intelligent life from other worlds, and the UAP debate suggests the possibility that it may already have found us, legal scholars are now considering how laws would apply to potential contact scenarios.  Joining us on The Micah Hanks Program this week are Professor Michael Bohlander, the Chair in Global Law and SETI Policy in the Durham Law School, and Dr. John Elliott, an Honorary Research Fellow in the School of Computer Science and the Coordinator for the SETI Post Detection Hub at the University of St Andrews. Together we explore how international laws could apply if contact with an extraterrestrial intelligence were made, and how a recent survey the researchers are conducting could be used to develop post-contact protocols.  Have you had a UFO/UAP sighting? Please consider reporting your sighting to the UAP Sightings Reporting System, a public resource for information about sightings of aerial phenomena. The story doesn't end here... become an X Subscriber and get access to even more weekly content and monthly specials. Want to advertise/sponsor The Micah Hanks Program? We have partnered with the AdvertiseCast to handle our advertising/sponsorship requests. If you would like to advertise with The Micah Hanks Program, all you have to do is click the link below to get started: AdvertiseCast: Advertise with The Micah Hanks Program Show Notes Below are links to stories and other content featured in this episode: ELIZONDO: I Investigated UAPs at the Pentagon—Americans Can Handle the Truth  NEWS: Palmdale UFO Scare Leads To Revelations About Mystery Drone Incursions Over Plant 42  How Would Humans React to Contact with Extraterrestrials? UK Researchers Seek Answers in New Survey MICHAEL BOHLANDER: Professor Michael Bohlander - Durham University  BOOK: Contact With Extraterrestrial Intelligence and Human Law: The Applicability of Rules of War and Human Rights ARTICLE: Take Me to Your Lawyer: The Legal Aspects of Contact with Extraterrestrial Intelligence JOHN ELLIOT: Dr John Elliott - School of Computer Science PAPER: Meeting extraterrestrials: scenarios of first contact from the perspective of exosociology  BECOME AN X SUBSCRIBER AND GET EVEN MORE GREAT PODCASTS AND MONTHLY SPECIALS FROM MICAH HANKS. Sign up today and get access to the entire back catalog of The Micah Hanks Program, as well as “classic” episodes of The Gralien Report Podcast, weekly “additional editions” of the subscriber-only X Podcast, the monthly Enigmas specials, and much more. Like us on Facebook Follow @MicahHanks on X. Keep up with Micah and his work at micahhanks.com.

Over the decades, sightings of mysterious objects in our skies have been reported from all over the world. Boasting a wide range of physical features, questions about these mysterious objects which the U.S. government now calls unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) have long perplexed experts.  This week on The Micah Hanks Program, we offer a status update from the case files of the UAP Sightings Reporting System (UAPSRS), which officially launched earlier this year. In our analysis, we'll examine trends we have observed in the current batch of reports, detailed in a series of odd first-hand witness reports involving sightings of spherical UAP, and massive triangular craft observed in our skies.  Have you had a UFO/UAP sighting? Please consider reporting your sighting to the UAP Sightings Reporting System, a public resource for information about sightings of aerial phenomena. The story doesn't end here... become an X Subscriber and get access to even more weekly content and monthly specials. Want to advertise/sponsor The Micah Hanks Program? We have partnered with the AdvertiseCast to handle our advertising/sponsorship requests. If you would like to advertise with The Micah Hanks Program, all you have to do is click the link below to get started: AdvertiseCast: Advertise with The Micah Hanks Program Show Notes Below are links to stories and other content featured in this episode: NEWS: Carvings at ancient monument may be world's oldest calendar Ancient Babylonian Tablets Are Finally Deciphered. They’re Full of Bad News  UAPSRS SPHERICAL UAP SIGHTINGS:  United Kingdom, 2020: UAPSRS Case No. 171 North Carolina, 1997: UAPSRS Case No. 179 Channel Islands, 2022: UAPSRS Case No. 167 Kentucky, 2023: UAPSRS Case No. 153 UAPSRS TRIANGULAR UAP SIGHTINGS:  Kentucky, 2008: UAPSRS Case No. 151 California, 1997: UAPSRS Case No. 150  Canada, 2020: UAPSRS Case No. 106  Alabama, 2000: UAPSRS Case No. 145 Texas, 2002: UAPSRS Case No. 163 Colorado, 2021: UAPSRS Case No. 124 BECOME AN X SUBSCRIBER AND GET EVEN MORE GREAT PODCASTS AND MONTHLY SPECIALS FROM MICAH HANKS. Sign up today and get access to the entire back catalog of The Micah Hanks Program, as well as “classic” episodes of The Gralien Report Podcast, weekly “additional editions” of the subscriber-only X Podcast, the monthly Enigmas specials, and much more. Like us on Facebook Follow @MicahHanks on X. Keep up with Micah and his work at micahhanks.com.

After the surrender of Japan that marked the end of the Second World War, American forces began to unravel clues to the existence of a disturbing secret program involving biological experiments carried out on human test subjects during the height of the conflict. Known as "Unit 731", the program has never been officially acknowledged, and although its existence is well established, the American government's secretive dealings with Japanese scientists led to an eastern counterpart to the controversial "Operation Paperclip" that ensued with Nazi scientists after the war.  This week on The Micah Hanks Program, we look at the tragic history of Unit 731's war crimes, as well as the American effort to cover up its cooperation with the secretive group after the war, and finally, its possible connection to one of the most controversial alleged UFO incidents of all time.  Have you had a UFO/UAP sighting? Please consider reporting your sighting to the UAP Sightings Reporting System, a public resource for information about sightings of aerial phenomena. The story doesn't end here... become an X Subscriber and get access to even more weekly content and monthly specials. Want to advertise/sponsor The Micah Hanks Program? We have partnered with the AdvertiseCast to handle our advertising/sponsorship requests. If you would like to advertise with The Micah Hanks Program, all you have to do is click the link below to get started: AdvertiseCast: Advertise with The Micah Hanks Program Show Notes Below are links to stories and other content featured in this episode: NEWS: Tropical Storm Debby hits Florida with floods, threat of record rain in Georgia and the Carolinas  Dow tumbles 1000 points, S&P 500 posts worst day since 2022 in global market sell-off U.S. to send more warships, fighter jets to Middle East to bolster defenses Chinese-made humanoid robots raise alarms in Congress: 'Stealth army on our land' Inbred, gibberish or just MAD? Warnings rise about AI models     UNIT 731: A mysterious pile of bones could hold evidence of Japanese war crimes, activists say  Unit 731: Japan's Biological Force (BBC News Article)  100,000 Pages Declassified in Search for Japanese War Crimes Records | National Archives Japanese War Crimes and Japanese Biological Warfare, 1934-2006 POPULAR MECHANICS: July 1997 “Roswell” Issue THE SMOKING GUN? Document: “Analysis of Factors Contributing to "Pilot Error" Experiences in Operating Experimental Aircraft Controls”  BECOME AN X SUBSCRIBER AND GET EVEN MORE GREAT PODCASTS AND MONTHLY SPECIALS FROM MICAH HANKS. Sign up today and get access to the entire back catalog of The Micah Hanks Program, as well as “classic” episodes of The Gralien Report Podcast, weekly “additional editions” of the subscriber-only X Podcast, the monthly Enigmas specials, and much more. Like us on Facebook Follow @MicahHanks on X. Keep up with Micah and his work at micahhanks.com.

In postwar America, a shocking secret program was undertaken to bring former Nazi scientists to the United States, in order to maintain a strategic advantage against the Soviet Union. Known as Operation Paperclip, the program involved hundreds of German scientists who ultimately helped give birth to the American Space Program.  This week on The Micah Hanks Program, we take a historical deep dive into the controversial program, with an analysis that also looks at the various connections the program, its scientists, and the curious technologies involved may have had to UFO sightings during and after World War II. Is there an even deeper secret history to the U.S.'s post war collaborations with German scientists?  Have you had a UFO/UAP sighting? Please consider reporting your sighting to the UAP Sightings Reporting System, a public resource for information about sightings of aerial phenomena. The story doesn't end here... become an X Subscriber and get access to even more weekly content and monthly specials. Want to advertise/sponsor The Micah Hanks Program? We have partnered with the AdvertiseCast to handle our advertising/sponsorship requests. If you would like to advertise with The Micah Hanks Program, all you have to do is click the link below to get started: AdvertiseCast: Advertise with The Micah Hanks Program Show Notes Below are links to stories and other content featured in this episode: OPERATION PAPERCLIP: Project Paperclip and American Rocketry after WWII Memorandum by The Acting Secretary of State to President Truman  CIA DOCUMENTS: Operation Paperclip CIA documents 'Engineer claims saucer plans are in Soviet hands'  OBERTH: Herman Oberth UFO lecture notes  VON BRAUN: Werner von Braun at Roswell  Aerospace Executive Carol Rosin on Braun and space weapons BECOME AN X SUBSCRIBER AND GET EVEN MORE GREAT PODCASTS AND MONTHLY SPECIALS FROM MICAH HANKS. Sign up today and get access to the entire back catalog of The Micah Hanks Program, as well as “classic” episodes of The Gralien Report Podcast, weekly “additional editions” of the subscriber-only X Podcast, the monthly Enigmas specials, and much more. Like us on Facebook Follow @MicahHanks on X. Keep up with Micah and his work at micahhanks.com.

In the early 1940s, the world was engulfed in the Second World War. During the height of the battle, a secretive scientific endeavor began to take shape, The Manhattan Project, which would forever alter the course of history.  During this period, sightings of unidentified aerial phenomena would also begin to rise, with a concerning number occurring around sites related to the American atomic warfare complex. This week on The Micah Hanks Program, we look at what historical research and recent studies have revealed about this period, as well as the potential intentions of the UAP operators, and finally, a series of strange secrets about UAP-related happenings in the American southwest at that time. Have you had a UFO/UAP sighting? Please consider reporting your sighting to the UAP Sightings Reporting System, a public resource for information about sightings of aerial phenomena. The story doesn't end here... become an X Subscriber and get access to even more weekly content and monthly specials. Want to advertise/sponsor The Micah Hanks Program? We have partnered with the AdvertiseCast to handle our advertising/sponsorship requests. If you would like to advertise with The Micah Hanks Program, all you have to do is click the link below to get started: AdvertiseCast: Advertise with The Micah Hanks Program Show Notes Below are links to stories and other content featured in this episode: NEWS: Joe Biden Drops Out of 2024 Presidential Race Secret Service director, grilled by lawmakers on the Trump assassination attempt, says 'we failed' Asheville Red Lobster delivered rare orange lobster  Deputy has 'close encounter' with UFO-shaped vehicle  MAKING THE BOMB: The Manhattan Project 1947: Year of the Flying Saucer Ellsworth UFO sighting SCU STUDY PART I: UAP Pattern Recognition Study 1945-1975 US Military Atomic Warfare Complex PART II: UAP Activity Pattern Study 1945-1975 Military and Public Activities   STRINGFIELD: UFO Crash Retrievals: The Inner Sanctum - Status Report VI BECOME AN X SUBSCRIBER AND GET EVEN MORE GREAT PODCASTS AND MONTHLY SPECIALS FROM MICAH HANKS. Sign up today and get access to the entire back catalog of The Micah Hanks Program, as well as “classic” episodes of The Gralien Report Podcast, weekly “additional editions” of the subscriber-only X Podcast, the monthly Enigmas specials, and much more. Like us on Facebook Follow @MicahHanks on X. Keep up with Micah and his work at micahhanks.com.

In 1996, radio host Art Bell received a mysterious package containing small metallic samples and an incredible story. According to the anonymous author of the enclosed letter, the material fragments had been collected during the recovery of an advanced aerospace vehicle that crashed near Roswell, New Mexico in the summer of 1947. Recently, the All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) conducted a series of tests on the legendary material, whose unique physiochemical properties were claimed to enable "inertial mass reduction" (i.e., levitation or antigravity functionality), potentially due to the bismuth and magnesium layers acting as a terahertz waveguide. This week on The Micah Hanks Program, look at AARO and Oak Ridge National Laboratory's findings, as well as a deep dive into the bizarre story of these alleged Roswell materials. Have you had a UFO/UAP sighting? Please consider reporting your sighting to the UAP Sightings Reporting System, a public resource for information about sightings of aerial phenomena. The story doesn't end here... become an X Subscriber and get access to even more weekly content and monthly specials. Want to advertise/sponsor The Micah Hanks Program? We have partnered with the AdvertiseCast to handle our advertising/sponsorship requests. If you would like to advertise with The Micah Hanks Program, all you have to do is click the link below to get started: AdvertiseCast: Advertise with The Micah Hanks Program Show Notes Below are links to stories and other content featured in this episode: ROSWELL MATERIALS: UAP metal fragment not alien in origin: AARO Material of Interest: Magnesium-Zinc-Bismuth – To The Stars*  FLASHBACK: Dr. Hal Puthoff Address to the SSE/IRVA Conference, Las Vegas, 8 June 2018 Tom DeLonge’s UFO Organization Says It’s Obtained ‘Exotic’ Metals Unknown to Science  Linda Howe Lecture from X Con 2004 Analysis of "Art's Parts" by Nicholas A. Reiter  AARO: AARO's Supplement to Oak Ridge National Lab Analysis of Metallic Specimen OAK RIDGE: Oak Ridge Synopsis of Material Analysis ORNL and AARO Material Analysis Update – To The Stars* The Truth About Those Alien Alloys in the NYT UFO Story OURS OR THEIRS? US says UFO sightings likely secret military tests BECOME AN X SUBSCRIBER AND GET EVEN MORE GREAT PODCASTS AND MONTHLY SPECIALS FROM MICAH HANKS. Sign up today and get access to the entire back catalog of The Micah Hanks Program, as well as “classic” episodes of The Gralien Report Podcast, weekly “additional editions” of the subscriber-only X Podcast, the monthly Enigmas specials, and much more. Like us on Facebook Follow @MicahHanks on X. Keep up with Micah and his work at micahhanks.com.

In the summer of 1995, following a congressional request, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) investigated documents related to the alleged crash of a "flying disc" near Roswell Army Air Field (RAAF), New Mexico in 1947. The result, which produced no "smoking gun" evidence of the purported crash, did reveal the mysterious destruction of records from the period, raising questions about who, and under what authority, the records might have been destroyed.  Now, new draft language has revealed a possible effort by present-day U.S. lawmakers to have the GAO conduct a similar audit of the Pentagon's All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO). This week on The Micah Hanks Program, we examine the situation, and also look at the history of the GAO's involvement with U.S. government investigations into UAP.  Have you had a UFO/UAP sighting? Please consider reporting your sighting to the UAP Sightings Reporting System, a public resource for information about sightings of aerial phenomena. The story doesn't end here... become an X Subscriber and get access to even more weekly content and monthly specials. Want to advertise/sponsor The Micah Hanks Program? We have partnered with the AdvertiseCast to handle our advertising/sponsorship requests. If you would like to advertise with The Micah Hanks Program, all you have to do is click the link below to get started: AdvertiseCast: Advertise with The Micah Hanks Program Show Notes Below are links to stories and other content featured in this episode: NEWS: Mysterious glowing objects found above Jupiter's Great Red Spot Crew of NASA's earthbound simulated Mars habitat emerge after a year Boeing in talks with US defense department on impact of guilty plea Multiple nations enact mysterious export controls on quantum computers  DOUGLAS D. JOHNSON: Will the GAO Be Investigating AARO? THE GAO: GAO Report on Roswell Incident  DOD IG: The DoD IG's UAP Audit BECOME AN X SUBSCRIBER AND GET EVEN MORE GREAT PODCASTS AND MONTHLY SPECIALS FROM MICAH HANKS. Sign up today and get access to the entire back catalog of The Micah Hanks Program, as well as “classic” episodes of The Gralien Report Podcast, weekly “additional editions” of the subscriber-only X Podcast, the monthly Enigmas specials, and much more. Like us on Facebook Follow @MicahHanks on Twitter Keep up with Micah and his work at micahhanks.com.