“This week, history was made. #Pentagon officially released three Navy videos acknowledging the existence of #UAPs and confirming that footage that was taken by U.S. Navy fighter jets was authentic,” reads a Tweet from the To the Stars Academy (@TTSAcademy) on Tuesday.
"UAPs," to those not familiar with Navy jargon, are "unidentified aerial phenomena" -- more familiarly known to most as "UFOs," or "unidentified flying objects."
To the Stars Academy is, of course, an organization co-founded by Tom DeLonge -- the former frontman of Blink-182 -- in 2017.
“To the Stars Academy of Arts and Science (TTSA) specializes in creating, acquiring and commercializing science-focused intellectual property within the technology and entertainment verticals,” the academy states on its website. Their offices are based in Encinitas along with a merchandise storefront.
TTSA, and DeLonge specifically, are likely feeling some vindication. After years of skepticism and denials from the U.S. government, and plenty of mockery from the general public, the Pentagon acknowledged the authenticity of three videos and the “Unidentified Aerial Phenomena” captured on those videos, which had originally been shared on TTSA's website.
In a six-part series titled “Unidentified: Inside America's UFO Investigation,” shown on the History Channel, DeLonge is prominently featured. A founding member of Blink-182 and Angels and Airwaves, the rocker explained his interest in UFOs: “I got to that point where my daughter was 2 years old, and I was gone for two years straight, and I really really needed a break. The only other thing I was ever interested in was UFOs.” A narrator continued, “[DeLonge] walked away from stardom and dedicated himself to disclosing what he believes is the truth about UFOs.”
DeLonge began communicating with some pretty powerful people and putting together a research team of strategists and scientists, including ex-military and ex-CIA officials, who also believe that the government should be more forthcoming about information they have about UAPs as it pertains to national security.
Local
“This is monumental news that marks the very first time in history the Pentagon has officially acknowledged the existence of unidentified aerial phenomena and removed doubt around the authenticity of evidence in the public domain,” DeLonge told the New York Times.
Still, the news doesn't come without additional scrutiny. Twitter user @SternShark responded, “Officially acknowledging Unidentifoed Ariel [sic] Phenomena is like saying 'we acknowledge sometimes we don’t know what we’re looking at,.”
DeLonge, however, is undeterred.
“We believe that this level of recognition is exactly what is required to eliminate the extreme skepticism surrounding UAP events, so we can finally move forward to sharing and analyzing reliable data from respected institutions,” DeLonge also told the Times.
