A man named Luis Elizondo has been banging the “UFOs are real” drum since 2017, claiming that he was the person in charge of the Pentagon’s investigation. Though Elizondo did work in intelligence and had a security clearance, the Pentagon denies he ever led any UFO investigation, according to reporting in the Intercept in 2019.

https://nationalpost.com/opinion/ufos-are-real-is-the-dumbest-story-of-2021-seriously-were-not-being-visited-by-little-green-men

Incidentally, the Pentagon doesn't usually come out with firm denials.

On top of that:

To anyone who fancies him or herself a pseudoscience debunker, To the Stars Academy’s website raises all kinds of red flags: “We have access to a global team of research scientists with advanced knowledge to pursue projects, which include Human Ultra-Experience Database, Engineering Space-Time Metrics, Brain-Computer Interface, and Telepathy,” the website explains. As someone with an academic physics background, I’ll tell you upfront that “Engineering Space-Time Metrics” doesn't mean anything.

To the Stars Academy also has an entertainment division. “Our content aims to educate and inspire curiosity in scientific possibilities through various media formats like film, television, books, music and art,” the site explains. Appropriately, To the Stars Academy is involved in “entertainment properties” that include book series, including a young adult novel series.

This all seems bizarre, but note that this kind of press is certainly good for To the Stars Academy; indeed, most startups only dream of a Times report linking your employee to a mind-bending UFO caper.

The point is, To the Stars Academy — and Elizondo himself — have a vested interest in Elizondo’s efforts to get the Pentagon to disclose these kinds of programs. That doesn’t make the programs any less real, but it doesn’t mean Elizondo doesn't have a conflict of interest here either.

https://www.salon.com/2017/12/23/is-the-truth-really-out-there-a-deep-dive-into-the-new-york-times-ufo-report/

And then there's the way he claims he's bound by an NDA any time anyone asks for the slightest bit of corroborating evidence for his claims about Roswell and the like. We know what Roswell was, it was a detector for Soviet atomic bomb tests. Elizondo says it's aliens and uses his supposed inside information to make that sound credible.

Lol