Imminent: Inside the Pentagon's Hunt for UFOs

Puthoff is an American physicist, parapsychologist, and inventor known for his work in a variety of scientific fields, including quantum physics and remote viewing. Born in 1936, Puthoff received his PhD in electrical engineering from Stanford University and worked at the Stanford Research Institute in the 1970s, where he became involved in the study of psychic phenomena and co-founded the remote-viewing program. This program, initially funded by the CIA, explored the potential for individuals to perceive distant or hidden objects without physical interaction, contributing to government efforts during the Cold War. Elizondo played a small role in this program, and Puthoff’s involvement in the UAP program helped convince him of the program’s credibility.

In addition to his research in parapsychology, Puthoff made significant contributions to theoretical physics, particularly in the areas of zero-point energy and vacuum fluctuations. He has published extensively on the subject, proposing models related to alternative energy sources. He is also the co-founder of EarthTech International, a research organization focused on advanced scientific topics, including breakthrough propulsion physics. Elizondo cites these research papers to bolster the credibility of the UAP research conducted by his team. As a result, Puthoff plays the important role of lending legitimacy to the search for UAP. Elizondo can point to him as a source of genuine scientific knowledge to reinforce the theories, data, and speculations that Elizondo and others put forward. In Imminent, for example, Puthoff is the scientist who cracked the question of “the observables”—the inexplicable properties that many UAP possess. By warping space and time, Puthoff suggested, UAP can defy the limitations of human technology in exactly the ways that have been observed by witnesses. This kind of scientific insight (backed up by graphs and diagrams) adds scientific legitimacy to a subject that has long been stigmatized in mainstream culture.

Senator Reid, born on December 2, 1939, in Searchlight, Nevada, was a prominent figure in American politics, serving as a US Senator from 1987 to 2017 and as Senate Majority Leader from 2007 to 2015. As well as his substantive political career, Reid also had a lesser known but significant interest in UFOs and UAP, and he played a crucial role in bringing the topic into mainstream political discussion. Reid’s interest in UFOs stemmed from his long-standing concerns about national security. Representing Nevada, home to the infamous Area 51, he became familiar with local lore and the enduring mystery surrounding the military’s secretive activities in the desert. Over time, Reid began to view the UFO phenomenon through the lens of potential national defense implications, especially as numerous credible reports of unexplained sightings were made by military personnel and other trained observers. This is a view echoed by Elizondo and key to why he consistently praises Reid for his work in bringing the issue to the public’s attention.

In 2007, Reid, along with Senators Ted Stevens and Daniel Inouye, helped establish the AATIP, a covert Pentagon program tasked with investigating UFO sightings and unexplained aerial phenomena. Reid secured $22 million in funding for the program, motivated by his belief that these phenomena could pose potential threats and required rigorous scientific study. The program, which ran until 2012, gathered reports from military pilots and intelligence officials about sightings of advanced, unexplained aircraft demonstrating capabilities far beyond those of any known technology. Reid emphasized that the purpose of AATIP was not to prove or disprove the existence of extraterrestrial life, but rather to assess whether these unidentified objects represented a technological advancement that could threaten US security. He remained an advocate for transparency on the issue, calling for more government openness and urging Congress to take the subject seriously. Reid frequently voiced concerns that the stigma surrounding UFOs had long discouraged serious research and hindered scientific inquiry.

Reid passed away on December 28, 2021, but his influence on the national conversation about UFOs and UAP endures. As Elizondo notes in Imminent, he was determined to remain alive until key legislation regarding UAP was written into law. Once President Biden signed a bill establishing a permanent government office dedicated to UAP research, the terminally ill Reid died a short time later. His efforts to de-stigmatize the topic and promote government transparency have been pivotal in transforming UFOs from a fringe issue to a matter of public and governmental interest, earning praise from Elizondo.