Pentagon's top UFO expert says he shared 'as much as he legally could' in new X-files style book

A former senior intelligence official who led the Pentagon’s official investigation into unidentified anomalous phenomena has broken his silence, revealing that he shared "as much as he legally could" about non-human intelligence, covert crash recoveries, and government cover-ups.

Jay Stratton, the first director of the Pentagon’s Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force and former chief of air and space warfare for the Defense Intelligence Agency, has stepped forward in his explosive new 293-page memoir, Out of the Shadows.

The release makes the 54-year-old the most senior former U.S. government official to publicly detail his frontline role investigating UFOs.

Speaking to PEOPLE, Stratton explained the ethical weight behind his decision to publish his findings after spending 16 years leading deep-state inquiries.

"I felt a responsibility," Stratton said in his first in-depth interview about the memoir, "to tell this story."

According to a representative, Stratton's book was vetted by 21 government agencies and departments before receiving clearance for public release.

In its pages, the retired official—who held a civilian rank equivalent to a two-star general—claims an 80-year-long "disinformation campaign" has actively concealed secret government programs designed to reverse-engineer recovered non-human spacecraft.

"We’re not the only intelligent life in the universe," Stratton warned. "We don’t know the intentions of the non-human intelligent life that’s here. We have ongoing UAP activity (Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena) over sensitive military and nuclear sites. We have flight safety concerns for military and civilian aviation [due to UAP]. The world has the right to know about this."

Stratton was adamant that he needed to share his findings with the world ( Robby Klein/Getty Images for IMDb)

Stratton's obsession with the phenomenon began on an autumn day in 2005, when an alarmed colleague asked him to analyze classified military footage recorded near a sensitive nuclear missile silo.

The clip captured a black triangular craft with glowing yellow, white, and orange corner lights that accelerated at speeds that seemed to defy known physics.

"I can literally still see that video in my head," Stratton recalled. "That was the moment that changed my world."

In the memoir, Stratton details startling accounts sourced from classified archives and fellow government insiders.

He describes covert special operations units sent to retrieve downed craft and alien remains, alleging that defense contractors currently house at least a dozen retrieved spacecraft across the United States.

He also claims officials once deployed a nuclear submarine as bait to lure an extraterrestrial vehicle into a designated tracking zone.

Stratton also writes that insider briefings confirmed the infamous 1947 Roswell crash in New Mexico actually happened, resulting in the retrieval of two craft sections and biological remains.

"[The source] said that there was indeed a crash in Roswell, New Mexico in 1947," Stratton writes. "The crash broke into two pieces, and everything was recovered—the crash and non-human bodies."

According to Stratton, numerous alien ships and lifeforms have been recovered (Dept of War)

Describing the recovered occupants, he added: "Some were dead on arrival. Others, allegedly, were alive but later perished, refusing food or contact. Communication was limited and often futile."

The psychological toll on personnel exposed to the recovery programs was devastating. Stratton noted that the encounters proved "so disturbing that it led individuals involved to resign, suffer mental breakdowns, and in some case take their own lives. The truth was just too difficult for them to process."

The phenomena reportedly followed Stratton home. From 2010 onwards, his wife and two sons allegedly witnessed glowing orbs and "shadowy figures … darker than dark" watching them at their residence near Washington, D.C.

"As I began investigating deeper and deeper into non-human intelligent life, they started paying closer attention to me and my family," Stratton said, noting the bizarre occurrences ceased after his 2022 retirement.

While acknowledging warnings from peers that high-ranking officials were unhappy with his findings, the veteran insists public safety outweighs potential career fallout.

"I was in the Pentagon when the plane hit [on 9/11]," Stratton said, warning that failing to share intelligence regarding superior non-human tech creates massive vulnerabilities.

"This could be a strategic surprise on the level of Pearl Harbor — and it’s very important to me not to let that happen."