Just as someone interested in matters such as the UFO Phenomenon and the so-called “paranormal” aspects of reality begins to conclude that these topics will always remain on the very fringes of both our collective radar and our collective curiosity, a startling piece of news comes to the fore, demonstrating that, as painstakingly slow as it may feel to those of us deeply invested in these matters, the collective imagination does eventually come around, finally entertaining and investigating these fascinating dimensions of reality.

Such news emerged with fresh, startling clarity in recent weeks with the publication of a trailblazing new book titled Skinwalkers at the Pentagon: An Insiders’ Account of the Secret Government UFO Program. The book, penned by James, Lacatski, Colm Kelleher, & George Knapp, details a truly ground-breaking program known as AAWSAP – the Advanced Aerospace Weapon System Applications Program, that approached the topic of UAP – unidentified aerial phenomena – with a refreshingly broad lens, recognizing the uncanny but unmistakable connection between the UFO Phenomenon and what has come to be referred to as “high strangeness” or “the paranormal”.

It is one thing for a forward-thinking private think tank or some paradigm-challenging corner of academia to explore these matters. It is something else entirely for an official government body to do so. And yet, this is exactly the story we learn about in this book. The DIA – the Defense Intelligence Agency – steered 22 million dollars in tax-payer funds towards precisely this endeavor.

And, as is stated in the book, “AAWSAP personnel chose to launch the UAP program with as broad a scope as possible” and to “research paranormal phenomena that co-locate with UAPs and to examine psychic effects in UAP witnesses in addition to scrutinizing the core UAP technology itself.”

While this broad-reaching net was as ambitious as it was unorthodox, to say the least, ultimately the data it produced proved revelatory. And while the program seemingly opened up more new questions than it ever managed to answer, the findings are nevertheless essential, because they help to define the direction such research needs to take in the months and years to come.

It should not be surprising, however, that so many new questions emerged at the culmination of the AAWSAP program. Because, ultimately, these findings point towards the undeniable necessity to expand our current model of reality. But what were these revelations? And what do they hint towards in regards to the very fabric of what we call “the real”? These are precisely the matters we’ll seek to engage with in this, the 44th episode of the Point of Convergence podcast.