"To The Stars" Seeking Government Grants to Warp Space-Time, and do other Remarkable Things [Updated 10-21]

On October 17, 2019, To The Stars Academy (which has sucked the air out of all other UFO discussions recently) announced a partnership with "The U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command to Advance Materiel and Technology Innovations."

It says,

SAN DIEGO — Oct. 17, 2019 — To The Stars Academy of Arts & Science (TTSA) announced today a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) with the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command to advance TTSA’s materiel and technology innovations in order to develop enhanced capabilities for Army ground vehicles.

TTSA's technology solutions, which leverage developments in material science, space-time metric engineering, quantum physics, beamed energy propulsion, and active camouflage, have the potential to enhance survivability and effectiveness of multiple Army systems. TTSA will share its discoveries with Ground Vehicle System Center (GVSC) and Ground Vehicle Survivability and Protection (GVSP) and the U.S. Army shall provide laboratories, expertise, support, and resources to help characterize the technologies and its applications.

It conveniently provides an "invest now" button for those who actually believe this ridiculous stuff. 

TTSA is apparently saying that they will help the Army develop devices that can warp space-time and use quantum physics and all that. This makes me wonder - are there any adults in charge of the U.S. Army CCDC?? Do they seriously believe A), that space-warping devices made out of exotic "metamaterials" can actually be built, and B), that these clowns can do it? 

People were soon asking, does this make TTSA a government contractor? It looks like it does, but actually, it's more complicated than that. Some insight came from astrophysicist Dr. Eric Davis, who is not officially affiliated with TTSA but has a long association with TTSA researchers. He has worked extensively with Bob Bigelow, Hal Puthoff, and others on far-out research. He also spent a long time doing on-site investigations at the so-called "Skinwalker Ranch." (Davis told reporter George Knapp that a poltergeist apparently followed him home from that haunted ranch.) Davis  posted the following explanation of the recent TTSA announcement on Erica Luke's Facebook page:

What in the world is an SBIR? I had to look it up. 

The Small Business Innovation Research (or SBIR) program is a United States Government program, coordinated by the Small Business Administration, intended to help certain small businesses conduct research and development (R&D). Funding takes the form of contracts or grants. The recipient projects must have the potential for commercialization and must meet specific U.S. government R&D needs.

The SBIR program was created to support scientific excellence and technological innovation through the investment of federal research funds in critical American priorities to build a strong national economy ... one business at a time.[1] In the words of program founder Roland Tibbetts: "to provide funding for some of the best early-stage innovation ideas -- ideas that, however promising, are still too high risk for private investors, including venture capital firms."

Davis adds that

the physics and engineering already exist for most of topics, but not for FTL propulsion. I’ve developed the incremental theory and experimental steps toward FTL propulsion at EarthTech. The DoD was ordered by law to fund by grants any disruptive sci-tech research that will benefit the military and commercial tech markets.

So TTSA isn't going to actually make anything for the Army or other government agency (although their press release seems to be written to make one think so). But they're basically fishing for government funds. TTSA wants your taxpayer dollars in the form of a Small Business grant to support their "scientific excellence,"  such as

• material science. Presumably this refers to their "metamaterials" that supposedly come from the "Roswell UFO crash" (Art's Parts).
• space-time metric engineering. In other words, warping space and time as desired. That part is easy - all you have to do is grab a Black Hole, and drag it around.
• quantum physics - WHAT exactly does TTSA propose to do using Quantum Physics in the way of developing a useful technology?
• beamed energy propulsion - The concept is well-known, but is TTSA going to be able to actually develop any useful technology using these ideas?
• active camouflage -a modest term for what might be called "invisibility."

Presumably, after Dr. Davis completes his FTL research with Dr. Puthoff at EarthTech, "faster-then-light propulsion" will be added to the list of TTSA's unique technological capabilities.

How much of the taxpayers' money will Tom and Lu get from this? Time will tell.

                                                        [Update Oct. 21, 2019]

The indefatigable John Greenewald of The Black Vault has once again scored a coup by being the first to publish a copy of the actual agreement between TTSA and the Army. It reveals that the Army's interest lies not in TTSA's reputed anbilties to warp space-time, to control quantum mechanics, to make something invisible, or to leap tall buildings in a single bound. Instead, it is TTSA's possession of so-called "metamaterials": supposedly anomalous metal samples that had earlier been sent anonymously to Art Bell, and sometimes known as "Art's Parts." These were claimed to be fragments of the supposed saucer crash at Roswell. From the Army's initial statement:

Specific to the To The Stars Academy CRADA, TTSA has a set of different materials, the properties of which they’re interested in investigating the properties.  As materials research in general is of key interest to Army research, the Army is interested in any insights gained from investigating the properties of these materials, too.  In this case, the Army is providing the expertise and facilities to analyze the materials, and TTSA is providing the materials themselves; both parties receive the results of the analysis.  Just as there is no financial compensation to TTSA for the use of the materials, there is no financial compensation to the Army for the use of the facilities.

Dr. Doug Halleaux,  Public Affairs Officer for the Army’s CCDC GVSC, told the Black Vault,

As far as the materials– the Army’s interest is in the potential for novel materials and exploring the edges of materials science, any speculation as to their origin is (pardon the pun) immaterial. Our team is always excited to look at something new, whether it’s materials or technologies, capabilities or processes,” said Dr. Halleaux. “As materials research in general is of key interest to Army research, the Army is interested in any insights gained from investigating the properties of these materials, too. In this case, the Army is providing the expertise and facilities to analyze the materials, and TTSA is providing the materials themselves; both parties receive the results of the analysis.

It has been pointed out by several sources that the use of a CRADA precludes the transfer of funds in either direction. This seems to contradict what Eric Davis said above, about the CRADA involving the submission of SBIRs, which are grant requests. So far it is not clear whether or not TTSA will be submitting SBIRs, or has already done so.

One big benefit of this arrangement for TTSA is obvious: now they don't need to pay any lab to analyze those "metamaterials" for them. Pretty clever!

"To The Stars" Covertly Publishes Bob Lazar's Book, and Buys 'Metamaterials' - from Tom DeLonge!

Bruce Fenton, who describes himself as "a British data scientist, adventurer and independent anthropologist," writes a far-out Blog titled "Hybrid Humans - Extraterrestrial genetic engineering of Homo sapiens alien-human hybrids." I didn't get into his claims about "Fingerprints of Our Ancient Alien Genetic Engineers." But on October 8, Fenton turned up something quite interesting. He noted that

Back in October 2017, Tom DeLonge [founder of "To The Stars"] was on the super popular Joe Rogan show, in what is widely considered a train-wreck of an interview (partly because Tom had to give various no-comment replies). During this conversation, Tom revealed that he would be putting out Bob Lazar’s autobiography. Despite two years passing we have not heard anything more about that project, and yet, the book is now available on Amazon [here] – at least ‘partly’.

For a while now there have been questions over whether TTSA would still be publishing Bob’s book, the publisher is listed as Interstellar, which turns out to be a small mysterious imprint with only one title in its listing, the Lazar autobiography. Strangely there was no clarification of who owns this imprint, but on the Amazon page for the autobiography, an error (or clue) was left that helped solve this puzzle. While the official launch date for the book was recently moved from the end of September to October 15th (the same date as Tom’s new Sekret Machines book), somehow the audio version did not get ‘correctly updated’ we are left to assume. This audiobook also included a small note stating that TTSA retained the copyright.

Fenton then did a Whois domain name search, and found that the domain name Interstellarbooks.com belongs to "To The Stars." I checked this myself, and here is what I found:

I obtained this registration information on interstellarbooks.com, registered by "To The Stars".

 (Update October 11:)

 

 Here is the exact same query submitted 48 hours later. "To The Stars" tries to cover its tracks.

Fenton also notes that the audiobook version of this book (probably carelessly) carries a copyright by "To The Stars." (Two days later, that "copyright" was changed to remove "To The Stars.")

Notice the copyright on this audiobook. This was also changed within 48 hours.

Most of my readers already know who Bob Lazar is. For the benefit of those who don't, here is the promotional blurb for his book:

Bob Lazar was a brilliant young physicist that found himself employed at a top secret facility in the middle of the desert outside Las Vegas. Under the watchful eye of the government elite, he is tasked with understanding an exotic propulsion system being used by an advanced aerospace vehicle he is told came from outer space.

The stressful work and long, odd hours start to wear on Bob and he becomes concerned for his safety. He tells his wife and a couple close friends about what he's doing in the desert, and his employers find out and are furious. When they station goons outside his house, Bob seeks help from wealthy UFOlogist, John Lear, who encourages Bob to take his story to award-winning investigative journalist George Knapp at KLAS-TV, a CBS affiliate.

George Knapp is, of course, the go-to journalist for all things concerning "To The Stars," or Bob Lazar, or Robert Bigelow, or anything UFOlogical.

Lazar claims to have gotten degrees in physics from MIT and Caltech. He says he worked on reverse-engineering crashed alien saucers at area 51. They are supposedly powered by Element 115, which ought to be named Lazarium, said to be a wonderful source of power.

Anyone in UFOlogy with a shred of intelligence or critical thinking realizes that Lazar's preposterous story is a hoax, from top to bottom. Even the famous "Flying Saucer Physicist," the late Stanton Freidman (1934-2019), consistently maintained that Bob Lazar was a "fraud." Friedman wrote about Lazar's story,

It is all BUNK. Not one shred of evidence has been put forth to support this story: No diplomas, no résumés, no transcripts, no memberships in professional organizations, no papers, no pages from MIT or Caltech yearbooks. He also mentioned, in a phone conversation with me, California State University at Northridge and Pierce Junior College — also in the San Fernando Valley, California. I checked all four schools. Pierce said he had taken electronics courses in the late 1970s. The other three schools never heard of him.... I checked his High School in New York State. He graduated in August, not with his class. The only science course he took was chemistry. He ranked 261 out of 369, which is in the bottom third. There is no way he would have been admitted by MIT or Caltech. An MS in Physics from MIT requires a thesis. No such thesis exists at MIT, and he is not on a commencement list. The notion that the government wiped his CIVILIAN records clean is absurd. I checked with the Legal Counsel at MIT — no way to wipe all his records clean. The Physics department never heard of him and he is not a member of the American Physical Society.

Old Stanton had no patience with those he considered phonies. The important question now is: If even Stanton Friedman could definitively call out Lazar as a fraud, why is "To The Stars" destroying whatever credibility it might possibly retain by publishing Lazar's absurd hoax? The initial answer is, I think - TTSA deliberately obscured its connection with Interstellar Books, and hoped nobody would notice that connection. That way they could get the revenue from the book sales, and enjoy the indirect benefit of greater public interest in wild UFO tales, without having such a preposterous claim directly tied to them. Either "To The Stars" is too gullible to see Lazar's obvious hoax, or (more likely) they don't care, because they are a "multimedia entertainment company."

Suddenly on October 9, the day after Fenton's piece was published, To The Stars abandoned its pretense of ignoring the Lazar autobiography, and for the first time promoted it on their Twitter feed:

However, sensitive to the inevitable criticisms, To The Stars added,

Notice that they did not say that any of the "facts" in Lazar's book might be bogus (which they clearly are), but only that there are some "the TTS Academy team can't verify." Like Lazar's claim to be a physicist? Plenty of Lazar's claims can readily be un-verified, if TTSA would bother to check.

To which Bruce Fenton had a fitting reply:

Bravo!

---

We reported earlier how To The Stars was obtaining and investigating "metamaterials" from supposed UFO crashes for its supposed 'scientific analysis.' On October 2, the Australian researcher Keith Basterfield reported,

On 29 September 2019, TTSA filed a number of documents with the US government's Securities and Exchange Commission.  One of these documents, was "Form 1-SA." Item 4  to this form is a list of "exhibits," one of which is labelled "6.22 Asset Purchase Agreement dated July 15, 2019." It is this one which was of particularly interest to me, in relation to the 25 July 2019 announcement by TTSA concerning the acquisition of metamaterials.

This "Confidential" Asset Purchase Agreement is an agreement between TTSA as the buyer and Thomas DeLonge as the seller. Section 1.03 tells us that the purchase price for the Assets was $35,000.

Some of the "Metamaterials" purchased by TTSA from Tom DeLonge.

These "metamaterials" are of course also known as "Art's Parts," sent anonymously in 1996 to the late talk show maven, Art Bell of Coast to Coast AM. They have previously been examined, and appear to be a type of industrial waste from right here on earth. So, if you have "invested" in "To The Stars," and are wondering where your money went, a big chunk of it just went into the pocket of Tom DeLonge, for selling to his company supposed flying saucer pieces already in his possession. He sold them Art's Parts.

                                                UPDATE November 20, 2019

Linda Moulton Howe says it was she who owned Art's Parts, and sold them to Tom DeLonge for $35,000. However, the Form 1-SA filed by TTSA clearly identified DeLonge as the seller. So far nobody has explained this.

Did the U.S. Navy Admit that UFOs Are Real in 1961? Or was it 1954?

On October 1, the veteran Canadian UFO researcher Chris Rutkowski posted on the Facebook group UFO Updates the wry comment, "Wow! The US Navy admitted UFOs are real!... In 1961." He refers to a brief article published by  NICAP, the largest UFO investigative group in the U.S. at that time, in its publication UFO Investigator, July-August, 1961."UFO Recognition Charts Issued to U.S. Ships" was the headline.

Approved by the U.S. Navy, recognition charts showing two types of UFOs are now posted for quick use on the bridges of most American ships.

Designated "OPNAV-94-P-3B," and bearing the words "Authorized by the Secretary of the Navy," these early-warning recognition charts show two sketches of UFOs - one as a typical round "flying saucer," the other a bat-like space craft with ports along the side.

With the illustration of these two UFO types specifically authorized by the Secretary of the Navy, this appears to be official Navy recognition that UFOs are real, regardless of public Air Force denials.

Rutkowsi adds, "Please alert Fox News immediately and thank Tom DeLonge for advancing Disclosure." He is referring, of course, to DeLonge's frequent claim that he and his colleagues at his To The Stars Academy are single-handedly responsible for the U.S. Navy 'admitting that UFOs are real.' 

NICAP UFO Investigator, July-August, 1961.

 Below we see the chart to which the NICAP article refers:

This is the actual "recognition chart" released to sailors in 1961.

Of course Tom and his pal Luis Elizondo won't know this, as they are Babes in the Woods concerning what happened in UFOlogy before they came along. But those of us who have been around for a while will remember hearing about JANAP 146, which is mentioned in the above article as the requirement for reporting unidentified objects. JANAP 146 was promulgated by the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the highest level of U.S. military command. It concerns "instructions for reporting vital intelligence sightings from airborne and waterborne sources."

It all seems eminently reasonable. The U.S. military, then as now, has a need to know if unknown aircraft, ships, or missiles are encroaching into the territory that they are sworn to protect. They would be derelict if it were otherwise.

In related news, Tom DeLonge announced that his series on the "History" Channel, Unidentified, would be back for a second season.  The first season ended on a disastrous note with TTSA's descent into pure crackpottery. Let's hope that they can be a bit more skeptical and sophisticated in the next season, but I wouldn't bet on it.