Jake Barber is a former Air Force special operations member and intelligence contractor who personally retrieved nonhuman craft—including a 20-foot white egg-shaped object and an octagonal disc—using a helicopter, and who now works with a private team that claims it can summon these objects on demand. He sat down with Jesse Michels to describe his experiences from childhood recruitment through active retrieval missions, the health consequences he suffered, the structure of the secret programs he worked in, and his current efforts to demonstrate these phenomena publicly.
Jake’s Background and Recruitment
Jake grew up in a military family—his grandfathers were a Navy Scouts and Raiders veteran and an Army veteran—and had a difficult childhood marked by physical and emotional abuse from his stepfather and stepbrother after his parents divorced.
He showed early aptitude in multiple domains: he won a state science fair with a project called “Color Chords,” which explored whether color combinations could produce the same harmonic emotional responses as musical intervals, based on the idea that overlapping light wavelengths might interact the way sound waves do in harmony.
After being expelled from high school his senior year, his grandfathers secretly arranged military opportunities for him. He was recruited through an unusual process that included standard IQ testing (scoring 138) and then a stress IQ test performed while wearing a sealed oxygen mask with no air, on which he scored 152—a result that shaped his lifelong concept of “comfort and chaos,” the idea that he thinks more clearly under stress.
He was recruited into a program called GTE (Guaranteed Training Education), a 10-year contract that fast-tracked him through Air Force Special Warfare combat control training. He signed the contract in 1994 at age 17 and shipped to basic training at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, then to selection at what the Air Force calls “Operating Location Hotel” for combat control and pararescue.
Of roughly 89 candidates in his selection class, only nine graduated. He then entered the training pipeline, where he was approached by two individuals who convinced him to become an airplane mechanic—a cover identity that gave him access to Pope Air Force Base in North Carolina while he was actually being groomed for a very different role.
Red Teaming and the Black World
Jake became a red team expert—an opposition force whose job is to exploit weaknesses in standard military units during exercises, using boundless creativity to disrupt standard operating procedures. He describes this as his “four eyes” (imagination, intellect, intuition, instincts) becoming tools of war.
He emphasizes that deception is the first rule of war, and openly acknowledges that his red team training means listeners should not simply take his word for everything—they should corroborate his claims through their own research.
He explains that the Air Force has straddled the “blue-black line” (overt vs. covert operations) since its creation in 1947, just two weeks after the Roswell incident, alongside the formation of the CIA and the Department of Defense. He describes the black world as a “four-dimensional projection into a three-dimensional world”—present but largely invisible because most people aren’t perceiving the connecting dimension.
While enlisted, Jake held a NATO top secret clearance and participated in classified flights escorting high-value targets (HVTs) in sealed containers he called “mystery boxes”—varying in size from helicopter-portable to requiring a C5 Galaxy transport aircraft.
Radiation Exposure Incident
On one mission escorting a mystery box, Jake was exposed to what he believes was radiation. He subsequently lost all the hair on his body, had skin peel off his arms, suffered nausea, and developed a heart murmur he never had before. He also experiences ongoing autoimmune issues.
He believes the box was likely related to UAP because there was no nuclear hazmat protocol in place—had the contents been known nuclear material, proper procedures would have been followed. He suspects the object was activated during transport.
He was unable to discuss the cause of his symptoms with doctors, so he was treated for conditions inconsistent with radiation poisoning. He has since been working with Dr. Gary Nolan, a Stanford microbiologist and Nobel nominee, who has reviewed his medical records and found his symptoms consistent with those of John Burroughs, a key witness from the 1980 Rendlesham Forest incident in the UK, who also developed a heart condition and had brain scarring after his encounter.
The Egg Recovery
After 9/11, Jake transitioned to contractor work in the broader intelligence community. He operated under a cover contract through the Bureau of Indian Affairs at a sovereign nation near White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico, running a helicopter company as director of operations while making himself available for classified callouts.
He describes two firsthand experiences with nonhuman craft. The first was the recovery of what he calls “the egg”—a roughly 20-foot-long, pearly white, slightly asymmetrical three-dimensional egg-shaped object.
The recovery was a surprise to everyone, including leadership. Communication and security protocols were altered on the spot, signaling that something extraordinary was happening. Jake was called in as a helicopter pilot to transport the egg via a 150-foot external longline with a remote hook.
He hovered directly over the object, which was lying flat on the ground with no disturbed earth around it—it did not appear to have crashed. It was smooth, seamless, with no symbology, and weighed less than 5,000 pounds (the capacity of his helicopter). It had been secured with nets by a ground crew.
There was no hazmat or “souls on board” disclosure before the pickup, which was unusual. He flew it approximately 15 miles to a drop point where it was taken away on secured transport.
He initially could not confirm it was nonhuman because the range where he worked was filled with advanced human technology—craft that changed shape, color, and appeared to come from or go into the earth. Three factors convinced him it was NHI: (1) no one on his highly specialized team had any idea what it was or how to handle it, (2) ranking members of the UAP Task Force later confirmed to him directly that it was nonhuman anomalous craft, and (3) since leaving the program, he and his team have been able to summon the egg on demand.
Summoning the Egg and Sky Watcher Technologies
Since leaving the government program, Jake and several former colleagues formed a private company called Sky Watcher Technologies. They claim to possess all the tools, talent, and techniques of the legacy program and can now operate independently.
In August (year not specified, but described as recent and post-program), they summoned the egg in broad daylight as a demonstration for the new director of AARO (All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office). The egg appeared moving at approximately 10,000 mph, made a turn, came in to land, and disappeared behind a house. It was tracked on sensor data.
Dr. Gary Nolan has been present during these summoning events and has reviewed the sensor data and reports, though the egg moves too fast to be seen with the naked eye during the demonstration.
Jake describes eight or more classes of UAP, ranging from ground-based paranormal phenomena to objects in the sky, and emphasizes that the term UAP (Unidentified Anomalous Phenomenon) is intentionally broad.
The Octagonal Craft and Consciousness Interaction
The second craft Jake describes is called the “eight-gone”—a disc with eight individual sections when viewed from above, dark matte gray or black, roughly 25–30 feet across. This matches the description given by whistleblower Michael Herrera, who reported seeing such a craft hovering above treetops in Indonesia in 2009 during a humanitarian deployment.
During the recovery of this craft, Jake received a hazmat disclosure for “biologics,” which he initially interpreted as human remains from a crash. As he flew closer to the object, he experienced an overwhelming emotional escalation—not nausea, but a profound feeling of sadness and beauty, like a minor chord in music. He described it as feeling like the presence of his mother—a feminine energy that was loving and sad.
He was crying intensely while flying the helicopter at night using night vision goggles, trying to avoid mountains, carrying an object that was disrupting his consciousness. The emotional effect faded only after he delivered the craft and flew away.
He speculates that either the craft contained a powerful conscious entity that connected with him, or a psionic asset (a person trained in remote viewing and psychic abilities) had their consciousness trapped in the craft and was communicating through him.
Psionics and Consciousness as a Field
Jake describes psionic assets as individuals trained in remote viewing, telekinesis, and similar abilities, who can tap into what he calls a “consciousness field”—analogous to the internet or a Wi-Fi network that is always present but requires specific protocols to access.
To serve as a psionic asset, a person must suppress the intellect and heighten intuition through stress inoculation (triggering fight-or-flight responses) and disassociation (achieved through meditation or chemical means), then reintroduce intellect at a higher level as an observer. Physical instincts must also be satisfied—the person must be comfortable, not hungry, tired, or cold.
He notes that children are naturally better at this because they are more intuitive, have lower baseline intellect, and are more viscerally responsive. He expresses discomfort with the implication that children have been used as psionic assets in programs outside the continental United States.
One of his teammates has developed a non-intrusive ultrasound system that can target the brain and assist in transitioning into this state. Testing is done using random number generators (binary outputs based on quantum-mechanical random processes like radioactive decay). A successful psionic asset can impose their will on the generator, causing statistically significant deviations in the output—a “mind over matter” effect.
Psionic assets serve as an additional data collection instrument alongside radar, IR cameras, and other sensors. Sometimes they are used to summon phenomena while other equipment measures; sometimes they serve as a sixth or seventh sensor to corroborate detections from other instruments.
Michael Herrera and Human Trafficking Operations
Jake attended a 2023 whistleblower conference at the National Press Club in Washington DC, hosted by Steven Greer, where he was sent by his employer to identify and potentially report whistleblowers to the FBI. Instead, he heard Michael Herrera describe seeing an octagonal craft in Indonesia and was shaken because it matched what he had personally recovered.
Herrera described an elite paramilitary unit—possibly Department of Energy—with bioscanners and technical gear threatening his Marine unit, suggesting it would be easy for them to “get lost in the jungle.” Jake confirmed that such paramilitary units exist and that he had been recruited for similar work (though he never participated).
Jake back-channeled a message to Herrera explaining that the containers Herrera saw on rooftops were actually HVAC units consistent with the Faraday cage workstations used for psionic assets on the range. He confirmed that operations exist outside the continental United States where people with natural psionic talents are recruited—often from third-world countries where people live simpler lives with fewer contaminants, which seems to enhance their abilities.
He pushes back on the term “human trafficking,” saying the individuals come willingly for economic reasons and are treated well, and that “liberating” them would be unwanted. However, he acknowledges the power imbalance and the convenience of operating in disaster zones where people can go missing easily.
He presented this information to Sean Kirkpatrick’s version of AARO, who denied it. He claims Kirkpatrick later admitted to members of the Senate Intelligence Committee that it did happen as described.
The Program’s Structure and Loss of Control
Jake describes the UAP program not as a monolith but as a “gangly octopus”—heavily compartmentalized, with no clear chain of command, where even people at the administrative level have no idea what operators on the ground are doing on any given day.
He argues that private aerospace contractors hold most of the power and real estate in this space, and that the US government lost control of the programs long ago. The use of private contractors provides plausible deniability—if a prime contractor retrieves a UAP, the government can deny involvement, whereas official government retrieval would be a documented crime.
He traces this structure to the 1950s, when nuclear secrecy (the “born secret” doctrine for radiological materials) was overlaid onto UFO secrecy, creating a Cold War-era cargo cult of secrecy that is now anachronistic and counterproductive to national security.
After the 2017 New York Times article on ATIP, things changed dramatically for his team: callouts changed, new leadership was introduced, compensation became “creative,” and communication methods shifted. Team members began sharing information across compartments to piece together the broader picture.
Red Teaming the DOPSR Process
When Jake and his team decided to come forward, they faced the DOPSR (DoD Pre-publication and Security Review) process, which requires anyone who held a clearance to submit all public writings for review before publication.
They wrote a 120,000-word historical fiction manuscript and submitted it in 20-page increments to “red team” the DOPSR process—probing to see which subject matter experts (SMEs) would react to which information, thereby mapping who controls what.
They included four categories of information: (1) known classified information that should be redacted, (2) classified information so niche that only the operators who were there would know it, (3) open-source information that is technically classified but publicly available, and (4) pure fiction speculating on the broader picture.
After six months, they received seven pages of redactions across all four categories. The process revealed that the DOPSR system is disorganized—offices don’t want to be the one to flag sensitive information, turnover means the people responsible may no longer be there, and the system’s only options (redact or not redact) create a binary that can be gamed.
They exploited the fiction classification: if classified information passes through DOPSR under the guise of fiction, it becomes open-source fantasy, effectively disclosing it. Conversely, the government can allow classified information to pass through fiction and then claim it was never real. Jake calls this strategy “the best place to hide the truth is in a pile of horseshit.”
He notes that this may be the government’s only viable path to disclosure—through passive non-redaction rather than active confession.
The New Jersey Drone Incident
Jake and his Sky Watcher team were dispatched to New Jersey during the December 2024 drone incursions, supporting a DoD and FBI task force. They were sent as a “hidden hand” to help establish whether the drones posed a public safety hazard or involved criminal activity.
Within 30 minutes of setting up at Picatinny Arsenal, they observed approximately 40 orange orbs appearing over the arsenal, present for 40–45 minutes at a time, only at night between 5 PM and midnight. It was unclear whether these were the same drones turning lights on and off or different drones.
A Temporary Flight Restriction (TFR) had been in place over Picatinny Arsenal since before November, restricting drone activity but not general aviation—a safety concern because a manned aircraft could collide with an unmarked drone.
Jake observed both conventional drone activity and what he classifies as UAP—objects coming in from the outer atmosphere, hovering, and returning to space. He believes there was an NHI component mixed in with human drone activity, which is what made the situation so confusing and difficult to narrate.
He dismisses the “loose nuke” narrative that circulated on social media (based on a Las Vegas bomber’s claims about Chinese gravitic drones), noting that he knows people on the Nuclear Emergency Support Team and the FBI’s WMD directive who were present with their families and showed no concern about nuclear threats.
He suggests the drone incursions could have been a false flag operation designed to look like Chinese aggression, using hired Chinese nationals to provoke a US-China conflict.
He notes that the drones appeared consistently around sensitive military and nuclear sites—Picatinny Arsenal, Lakehurst, Salem nuclear power plant, Brunswick Duke Energy plant—which aligns with Robert Hastings’ research in “UAPs and Nukes” documenting decades of UFO activity around nuclear facilities.
The Clinton Era and Political Dimensions
Jake says it is no coincidence that his recruitment and early career occurred during the Clinton era. He believes President Clinton discovered he was not truly in control of the programs he ostensibly led and took personal interest in the subject.
He suggests the Clintons have been pro-disclosure, citing Hillary Clinton’s meeting with Lawrence Rockefeller and her holding Paul Davies’ book “Are We Alone?” and John Podesta’s long-standing advocacy. He sees the standing up of ATIP and the 2017 New York Times article as correlated with Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign.
On the JFK assassination, he references Harold Malmgren, a presidential adviser to four presidents, who described anomalous material falling from a nuclear test plume at Johnston Atoll (Bluegill Triple Prime) and being taken to the Atomic Energy Commission’s Albuquerque office, where Lawrence Rockefeller (Jeff Bezos’s maternal grandfather) was director. JFK was briefed on UFOs shortly afterward and wrote a letter to CIA Director John McCone about coordinating with the Soviets to prevent UFOs from being mistaken for acts of aggression.
He is encouraged by the Trump administration’s appointments—Tulsi Gabbard as DNI and Cash Patel as FBI director—and suggests that David Grush should be given a “hunting license” to pursue accountability.
Health, Safety, and the Boogeyman
Jake is not afraid of being silenced because he believes that if someone had both the will and the skill to kill him, it would have already happened. He acknowledges that individuals within the organizations he worked for have called for “wet works” (assassinations) and that people have died under suspicious circumstances while preparing to speak out.
He says he is “the boogeyman” and that anyone attempting brute force against him would regret it, though he also acknowledges the complexity of having a wife and children to protect.
He submitted his manuscript to DOPSR and is currently in a limbo period where his story is supposed to break on News Nation. Every day it doesn’t go live increases the danger to his life.
Metaphysical Dimensions and Personal Transformation
Jake describes his encounters with NHI as profoundly positive—a “guiding light” or “omnipresent god that has your best will at heart.” He contrasts this with the “hitchhiker effect” reported by others (such as researchers at Skinwalker Ranch), where negative paranormal phenomena followed them home.
His family has experienced UAP activity over their home, including an object they call “the angel”—a blue, winged form resembling a seraphim or butterfly that materializes over the house, is seen by neighbors, and then shoots into outer space. His son is moved to tears by it but not afraid.
He believes the inner/outer dichotomy is false—that outer space and inner space are the same, and that consciousness is the mechanism through which these phenomena operate. He sees the current moment as one where science and spirituality, bifurcated since the Enlightenment, are converging.
He references Rudolf Steiner’s anthroposophy and the alchemical tradition of studying the inner to master the outer, and suggests that future science will be a more spiritual science.
On the question of whether these beings are extraterrestrial, he notes that “biologics” does not necessarily mean conscious beings—they could be soft tissue drones, and consciousness itself may be what pilots the craft. He has no firsthand experience with gray aliens but trusts people in his circle who report such encounters.
He plans to conduct a public demonstration in the first half of 2025, inviting key institutional members to witness a summoning and potentially recover a craft, in coordination with government partners.
Final Message
Jake urges people to humble themselves about what they consider believable, to do their own research, and to start looking up at the sky and inward through prayer or meditation. He believes the phenomenon responds to intention and that individuals can have their own experiences by opening their hearts to the “good spirit of the universe.”
He frames the moment not as one of ontological shock but of “ontological relief”—the idea that there is something more, that we are not the most powerful or meaningful beings in the room, and that this is comforting rather than terrifying.
He calls for good people to occupy positions of power within institutions—military, police, government, religious organizations—rather than abandoning them, arguing that institutional reform requires presence and engagement, not withdrawal.
