If you served in the US military, you should stop pretending that these reports of drone incursions in NJ and elsewhere need not cause concern. I am a US Army veteran who does not actively use social media, so I created a profile on X after being deeply troubled by the lack of support received by UAP whistleblowers like David Grusch, @LueElizondo, David Fravor, and Ryan Graves (@uncertainvector), all of whom have recently testified before Congress in televised hearings. In solidarity with them, and as not only a veteran but a resident of Morris County, New Jersey, I feel compelled to state the following: No, it is not normal for thousands of people to report seeing drones in the skies over New Jersey. No, they are not planes. How do I know this? Because planes have existed since 1903, and this is the first time citizens are calling the police in alarmed confusion at what they are seeing in the sky, with DoD voicing concern and apparent bewilderment in their public statements addressing this. No, it is not normal for the commanding general of one of our most sensitive military installations like Wright Patterson to close its airspace due to drone sightings. Can any of us recall leaving the motor pool early because no one knew what those aerial objects were that appeared to be collecting intel? Speaking for myself, I cannot. Finally, No, it is not normal that DoD’s public commentary in response to a brazen affront to American sovereignty with “yes there have been thousands of reports of drones near sensitive military installations and over your neighborhoods. We don’t know what they are, but you shouldn't worry about it”. Just listen to the words of the Pentagon Press Secretary, and see if there is a clear denial of the validity of the concerns raised about these obviously anomalous objects. You will not find one. David Grusch, a former GS-15 DoD employee assigned to the UAP Task Force, who was cleared to see some of the most sensitive UAP information imaginable, submitted evidence to the Inspector General regarding DoD’s unacknowledged special access programs. He said these programs operate outside Congressional oversight and are funded illegally with taxpayer money. The purpose of these programs, he says under penalty of perjury, was to recover and reverse engineer non-human "technical vehicles". Given Grusch's credentials and the 6 consecutive failed audits of the defense budget, revealing trillions of dollars in unsubstantiated transactions, it's reasonable to say that these claims are worth of an honest and independent inquiry. In the hearings that were public, Grusch could not divulge specific evidence like names, locations, and pertinent documents and photographs, because he did not want to spend the rest of his life in prison or living alone in a Moscow flat. Because major outlets could not be bothered to publish anything that resembled investigative journalism on this topic, he has been widely ridiculed on social media and in hit published as opinion pieces devoid of journalistic rigor. Elizondo and Graves have received similar treatment. This is wrong. Further, it represents a spectacular failure on the part of the Fourth Estate in holding our elected leaders accountable to the rule of law. As veterans, how long will we pretend any of this is normal, or allow our everyday demands to keep us in a state of oblivion regarding a topic that is at once profound and disturbing? As officers and senior NCOs, we all held security clearances and know that something being classified is not the same as it not existing. Let's be a little smarter and have more empathy for those who took the same oath we did, and show all signs of simply trying to do the right thing. We can do much better. If you are skeptical because you are behind, when you google "UAP Disclosure act of 2023", you'll find that Chuck Schumer is very determined to pass some UAP Disclosure legislation that includes the phrase “non-human intelligence” 22 times, and “controlled disclosure campaign”, and “legacy programs”. If you put those three phrases together, it gives you a pretty decent idea of where all this is headed. Whatever your politics, remember that Schumer sponsored this as the most powerful Senator in the country and perhaps one of the most pragmatic and shrewd legislators of the past century. I served proudly, if unremarkably, in the 1st Cavalry Division at what was then called Fort Hood and is now Fort Cavazos. While I lack the impressive resumes and combat experience of these four, I was fortunate to have excellent leadership who, in my formative years of adulthood, fostered a culture of compassion for own and looking out for our brothers and sisters in arms, not just as warfighters but as human beings. Even if we lack the influence to effect meaningful change individually, we can act as a collective to demonstrate that many other citizens with families and jobs who live with dignity, stand with those who had the courage to act unselfishly and in the best interest of we the people. They should not be the only ones bearing the weight of this revelation that could have profound implications for to our understanding of physics, the natural world, our place in the cosmos and what it means to be human. We all took an oath to the Constitution and learned to take care of the men and women on our left and right. Perhaps it's time more veterans follow the example of Lue, Ryan, and the Davids by not only remembering these values, but acting on them.

I just created a Substack; hope some of you will follow!

@HighlyRetired @jakebarber2025 Same. But recognizing it shows humility and is the only way to improve. I’m glad those leading the charge like Jake are setting an example of compassion and understanding. It’s sorely needed, not just in the UAP discussion, but everywhere.

@lesternare made an incisive observation a couple days ago that is worth dwelling on. Advancing to the next stage requires incremental open discourse, patience, and resilience. If the Copernican shift took centuries to accept, don’t expect this to happen overnight. People who still say things like “all of this lacks a shred of hard evidence” in 2025 will not be convinced at this stage, and should not be the focus of your attention; they will remain lost until a broader consensus is reached. They require a Paul Krugman article about UFOs before wading in. You want to reach the “in-betweeners” who don’t quite know what to think yet, either because of their inherent open-mindedness, or their proximity to analogous encounters. Here are some examples of groups that make contain a high concentration of in-betweeners: -Tech innovators -Yogis -Veterans/intel community -Theologians -Philosophers -Pilots and seafaring folk -Healthcare workers (e.g. hospice) -Artists and creative thinkers -Neurologists -Psychologists -Researchers studying consciousness -First responders #UFOX #ufotwitter

Here are some people who may want to consider that there is a tech solution to the climate crisis, to which @ChrisKMellon alludes here. Otherwise, you will be left to continue a largely ineffectual guilt campaign that goes against the grain of capitalism and indeed human nature: @GretaThunberg @KHayhoe @MichaelEMann @ClimateHuman @ayanaeliza @DrShepherd2013 @algore @billmckibben #ClimateEmergency #ufox #ufotwitter

@UAPmightymoo @jakebarber2025 It’s my favorite Brit on UFO twitter again!!

@nickpopemod @RepEllzey as an F-18 pilot who once worked out in the same gym as David Fravor in the USS Nimitz, should consider voicing some support!

@LoganProksch Now I feel better! My man!!!

@MrMosis @sohamsuke That’s really what it seems like now. It’s binary. Either you get it or you’re the one saying “unidentified just means we don’t know what they are”.

RT @ExoAcademian: Jake Barber's perspective on the opportunity that UAP represent for humankind dovetails with my own. Don't cower in fear…

@BillyNelson2029 I’ve never seen this comparison, but brilliant!!

@BillyNelson2029 @LueElizondo @uncertainvector @jakebarber2025 I thought the same!

@SMT_Solvers @MikeBenzCyber @JBPritzker Now I really don’t know what to think! I think I’ll just play Madden for now and let this thing play out.

@BillyNelson2029 @lesliekean @ralphblu @MattLaslo He is the only reporter in Washington. I’m not a lawyer, but I’m pretty sure that’s a monopoly when you’re the only option for a whole industry.

RT @jakebarber2025: Hello everyone - I’m pleased to finally bring you our full public disclosures. You are going to want to hear every bit…