Renowned advocates for UAP transparency bring decades of relevant experience to the Galileo Project’s scientific research efforts

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts — October 30, 2021 — Today the Galileo Project lead Professor Avi Loeb announced the additions of Mr. Luis Elizondo and Mr. Christopher Mellon to the project team as research affiliates. Noting their depth of experience investigating the subject of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP), and their shared interest in open and transparent study of the phenomena, Loeb welcomed them as the latest members of a diverse and growing Galileo Project team.

“The Galileo Project will greatly benefit from the broad knowledge base and wisdom of Elizondo and Mellon,” said Professor Loeb. “We all share the goal of identifying the nature of UAP and of anomalous interstellar objects like `Oumuamua.”

As research affiliates, Elizondo and Mellon intend to support the Galileo Project’s mission through the selection of sites where the UAP-Scope systems will be located and in assessing the societal implications of the data, if any extraterrestrial technological signatures or artifacts are discovered.

"The Galileo Project, under the leadership of Dr. Loeb, is precisely the direction our scientific and academic communities should be taking regarding this topic. Deliberate and methodical research, along with strict rigor will help ensure the tenets of the scientific method are followed and the spirit of science remains preserved,” said Mr. Elizondo.

“It is deeply gratifying to be associated with this unprecedented effort by leading academic scientists to rigorously assess a phenomenon that has for far too long suffered from inappropriate stigma and fear. It takes a renowned and courageous scientist of Dr. Loeb’s stature to confront orthodoxy and explore possibilities that genuinely have the potential to transform our understanding of the universe and humanity’s place within it. I’m thrilled to be part of the team,” added Mr. Mellon.

Messrs. Mellon and Elizondo are both well-known names in the study of UAP. Their efforts to bring increased public awareness and greater transparency to the subject were pivotal in bringing about the Pentagon’s release and confirmation of the “FLIR,” “GIMBAL,” and “GOFAST” videos, taken by the flight crews of the USS Nimitz and USS Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carriers. Also, the “Preliminary Assessment: Unidentified Aerial Phenomena” report published by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence in June 2021 -- one of the inspirations for the founding of the Galileo Project -- was the direct result of two years of patient public and private lobbying by Messrs. Mellon and Elizondo.

Luis Elizondo

Luis Elizondo is a former counterintelligence special agent and the former director of the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP). He served in the U.S. Army in intelligence for twenty years, followed by 9 years of defense intelligence work in the Pentagon. In 2017, Elizondo resigned from his position in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence, citing the need for more public exposure and governmental cooperation in the study of UAP. In the private sector, Elizondo was responsible for the distribution of the declassified Pentagon videos. He has served as advisor and public speaker across numerous programs.

Christopher Mellon

Christopher Mellon brings over twenty years of experience in defense intelligence and national security affairs, including serving as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Intelligence under the Clinton and George W. Bush administrations. In the private sector, Mellon has outspokenly pushed for public awareness and governmental accountability regarding the subject of UAP. Like Elizondo, he has served as advisor and on-screen expert for numerous documentaries and television programming.

About the Galileo Project

The Galileo Project for the Systematic Scientific Search for Evidence of Extraterrestrial Technological Artifacts is a Harvard-hosted, cross-institutional research project launched in June of 2021 by co-founders Avi Loeb and Frank Laukien. Led by Science Professor Avi Loeb at the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian, the Galileo Project’s goal is to bring the search for extraterrestrial technological signatures or artifacts of Extraterrestrial Technological Civilizations (ETCs) from accidental or anecdotal observations and legends into the mainstream of transparent, validated and systematic scientific research. The Galileo Project searches for physical objects, artifacts or traces, in addition to electromagnetic signals associated with extraterrestrial technological equipment.