The Pulse of UFO Twitter (December 2020) Part 2—TTSA Edition
Luis Elizondo dropped a bombshell Sunday night on Coast to Coast AM Radio in confirming that he, Chris Mellon, and Steve Justice would be leaving Tom DeLonge’s To The Stars Academy of Arts & Science (TTSA) for good. Though there is currently no public confirmation on why the separation took place, I was able to independently confirm that there was at least some level of difference in mission within the company. However, the details of these differences have yet to be made public.
A number of people have expressed their frustration with TTSA since its inception in 2017. Some have even gone so far as to suggest that the company was some kind of government-sponsored psychological operation. No substantial evidence has been produced to support this claim.
The previous three years have also been a time where skeptics of the company have resorted to attacking Mr. Elizondo on the accusation that he did not actually serve as the head of the Pentagon’s Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP).
It turns out that Mr. Elizondo, indeed, did serve as the head of AATIP.
The big question some are asking is whether TTSA accomplished what it had set out to do back in 2017. And this is perhaps a question that will forever be debated, depending on the direction the company takes moving forward.
Danny Silva published an article on Monday, stating: “TTSA may not have completed what they set out to do (yet?) or what they said and claimed they would do, but they have certainly completed what they were supposed to do,” adding that the company “facilitated three UAP videos to be released… [and] changed the public’s perception forever about UFOs,” noting that the company’s efforts had drawn the attention of Washington, sparking “political interest.”
There is no doubt TTSA succeeded in all those things. The question still remains: Did the company fail because it did not accomplish all of its initial ambitions, or is the company a success because it accomplished what it did? This is a tough question, and there is perhaps no firm answer.
Award-winning journalist George Knapp was the one to interview Mr. Elizondo about his departure from TTSA, asking point blank: “What’s going on with TTSA? There’s these rumors floating around that an announcement is coming in January that’s going to shake things up a bit. What, if anything, can you say about it?”
Mr. Elizondo responded: “Well, I can’t speak for TTSA. You’d have to go through TTSA channels to ask them about TTSA and I’ll tell you from my perspective I love my friends at TTSA. They are incredible human beings, but I also have to say my mission has always been very clear, George, and that was to push disclosure forward. That’s it. I think after three years, you know, I can look back and I think we’ve achieved much of what we’ve set out to do. TTSA, it’s no secret, also focuses on it’s entertainment division and, you know, let’s face it, guys like Chris Mellon and Steve Justice and myself, we’re not entertainers. We’re not.”
“So, very much like the History Channel project, we have accomplished our mission. Mission success. We have done more in three years collectively than anybody I think really expected us to achieve. Now it’s time I think we shift from…you know it’s like a car, right? You know I speak in car talk, I’m kind of a gearhead, so I think the time has come from the proverbial first gear to now second gear. We have enough momentum, enough inertia where we can shift gears and continue moving forward and to do that guys like me are looking at new and exciting ways to expand that conversation to an even larger audience while still staying true to our core mission of disclosure.”
I took to Twitter to pitch in my two metaphorical cents about the issue: “While Lue and Chris *may* be switching gears, that is not to say DeLonge’s creative endeavors are for naught. These projects he has started are fun for debate and conversation, but I wouldn’t hold my breath about the ‘Science’ division.”
I have defended TTSA in the past where I felt they were being slighted in one way or another, but it is my position that they are not immune from criticism—especially in light of three pivotal “players” now moving on due to one reason or another. Questions need to be asked about what ignited this switch in the company.
I noted: “TTSA, no doubt, accomplished *some* things, but it’s not necessarily what they were *supposed* to do, and they surely have not existed long enough to influence the cultural zeitgeist as much as they could have. It’s a big claim to say they did what they were *supposed* to.”
There are valid arguments to be made on both sides of the aisle, and that is why I decided to start this blog series—because I felt that people’s opinions were not being valued in the way they should. It is important to consider that Mr. Elizondo has expressed support for “UFO Twitter” before, and because of that, I think it is important to consider what community members think about the shifts happening in the world of UFOs.
It is quite possible that Tom DeLonge had a change of heart about the direction of the company, wishing to focus his time and resources on the development of his creative endeavors (ie the “Entertainment” division of TTSA). It was not too long ago that Mr. DeLonge finished filming what will be his directorial debut: Monsters of California. This possibility is also bolstered by the fact that To The Stars Media has been cranking out consumer products as if that is their primary focus.
There is also the question of investments people have made in TTSA over the course of the past three years. With a minimum buy-in amount of $350, it will be tough for the company to rationalize why it turned its back on a number of investors who were in it for the scientific development as opposed to the t-shirts and mugs.
The Twitter account Red Pill Junkie (@red_pill_junkie) posed the question to the Twitterverse: “I wonder if ‘investors’ will ask for a refund?”
Jimmy Church (@JChurchRadio) of Jimmy Church Radio echoed these same concerns for the investors: “BREAKING: Unconfirmed/Confirmed rumors that Luis Elizondo, Chris Mellon, and Steve Justice have left TTSA. Is this the end of To The Stars? Where does this leave the investors/supporters?”
I reached out to a TTSA investor (@MontanaCasey) to get his opinion on what his thoughts were about investing in a company that may have lost some of its luster. He replied: “I bought 70 shares about 6 months ago. I guess I’m mainly a TTSA fan, and even though Tom can sensationalize and seems to kind of go off the rails at times with his ‘inside info,’ I paired his crazy stories with the credibility of Elizondo, Mellon, Justice, Puthoff, etc., and sort of bought it as a half donation to, (what has become an obsession), UFO disclosure. The other half was sort of just in case this stuff all turns out to be true, and they lead the world to acknowledging we are not alone.”
I also reached out to a number of people concerning their thoughts about TTSA as a whole—with the hopes that conversation may be reignited about a company many people feel strongly about. It is important to note that I posed this question a full week before the recent news of TTSA. Please keep that in mind.
To The Stars Academy of Arts and Science (TTSA) has been quite quiet recently. How has your view of the company changed over the past three years?
TTSA hit the ground running amidst many feet trying to trip them up. Their mission was to pull the UAP subject out of the “joke” category and out into mainstream. In my opinion, they’ve succeeded in spades. In between developments, there’s the obligatory lull. (There has to be). I’ve seen DeLonge concentrate on entertainment. That’s his niche, it seems. Mellon, seems to be alluding to a non-human hypothesis, which is compelling. My gut says they have NOT played all their cards. It’s been great that Elizondo has been on Twitter. In my opinion, they ain’t done yet. -Carl Anderson (@carland27488094 on Twitter)
Apart from the fact that Tom DeLonge has been concentrating on his band Angels & Airwaves, I am hesitant to speculate as to why the only thing to come from either Chris Mellon or Lue Elizondo have been limited to a few tweets here and there. I wouldn’t be surprised if they are concentrating on new projects, specifically the Vault, or if they are waiting to see who is in what position when President Biden is inaugurated.
When TTSA first came out, I was excited about what was to come, then admittedly there were a few teething problems and fake photos released which didn’t look good. But I think they got their act together and have pushed the conversation further than anybody in recent memory. Anyone who thinks otherwise is a buffoon. There’s more to come and I believe the next couple of years will see some interesting developments. -Shadows Magazine (@shadowsmagazine on Twitter) Check out the website here!
I always felt they were doing what they could (legally) to lobby for more government transparency regarding UAP. It was easy in the early days for some to get carried away and imagine that core secrets were just going to start spilling out. Those familiar with the history were naturally more skeptical (and apparently stricken with automatic negative thoughts), almost immediately jumping to the conclusion that TTSA represented a disinformation campaign. There are many who are still holding that line today. I don’t see compelling evidence for that at all. AATIP studied UAP and had access to more data than Lue can legally share with us. But by their own admission they didn’t have all the access they felt they needed (which seems to indicate there were other studies being done or at the very least other datasets being compiled). That being said, anyone who is advocating for more government transparency while raising awareness about the subject is doing fine by me. -Daniel Elizondo (@Omega_Point on Twitter) Check out his blog here!
TTSA is mostly credited with the current initiative, and rightly so. Chris Mellon and Luis Elizondo should be considered heroes for the work they are doing with Congress. However, the current initiative needs to transcend TTSA and be able to mobilize without them. -Andreas Freeman Stahl (@AFSUnidentified on Twitter) Check out his website here!
So far as I am aware, TTSA’s “Science Division” consists only of Hal Puthoff (earthtech.org) and they have not been forthcoming with the release of any technical information in the last 3 years since they first appeared on this scene.
Since Hal joined TTSA I have seen one presentation which he gave on the technology which was given at a remote viewing conference! Hal’s Wikipedia page makes him out to be the poster-child for pseudoscience and pseudoscientific research based on his affiliations with remote viewing and the RV community, and the fact that these exotic inertial propulsion technologies are now getting publicly mixed up with remote viewing and other pseudoscientific topics has not helped with the credibility of these topics in the greater scientific community. In fact, it has done quite the opposite!
Was this oversight on how to approach the release of technology an accident or intentional?
While TTSA danced in circles with Leslie Kean and The New York Times over this Nimitz UFO sighting, which, unfortunately, has changed absolutely nothing in terms of the conversations people are having about UFOs (UAP) … China has been hard at work on these crucial quantum technologies which TTSA should have been pushing with their “Science Division” for the past 3 years! Instead I have been covering many of these technologies over the past 3 years and attempting to do the job TTSA’s Science Division should have done, but without any help from the NYT or a massive funding campaign and instead existing inside a shadow-banned wall of silence! Some of that wall, I admit, I built myself while lashing out in frustration at all the liars and frauds who have destroyed this field over the years, and muddied the waters. I’m also pretty sure Tom DeLonge (or at least someone claiming to be him) contacted Ed Fouche and myself back in 2015 prior to the debut of TTSA, and we didn’t believe it was really him and so we trolled the guy instead… But in hindsight, I think it really was Tom, and now I feel bad because I could have really helped him avoid a lot of embarrassment and bullshit in this field, had I mentored him instead of rebuffed him. That embarrassment, in turn, reflects on the entire field as a whole, since when our leaders lose credibility, so do the followers.
TTSA really is failing miserably in their goal of getting humanity “To The Stars”… They have no action plan, no strategy, no immediate or long term goals, no think tanks, no database, no laboratories, no R&D facilities, and No ACADEMY! I’m not even sure that really IS their “goal” any more…
These steps are crucial to humanity’s transition to the stars and building an academy and an institution and setting goals and standards should have been a first priority.
TTSA’s so called “Science Division” ought to start paying attention to what we are doing here at AlienScientist and Falcon Space and take some notes on how to improve their own business model and become a more active leader in the push for scientific disclosure and public science education before the US reverts to a 3rd world country and China becomes the new super-power thanks to Quantum Tech Supremacy and the growing intelligence deficit.
I’m reaching out in hopes of opening up the conversation between our two teams, which appear to have similar goals but very different strategies for how to best achieve them. I also want to learn more about “who we are” and “what we are doing here” and “where are we going”… Sustainability?
I’d love to hear what Tom, Hal, and Lue think about the work we are doing with APEC and our Labs in response to TTSA’s failure to properly educate the public on 70+ years of declassified anti-gravity research and the important scientific history, knowledge, and understanding that body of work contains! See: HoverBrothers.com/Theory
I’ve contacted and interviewed a few former colleagues of Hal’s already. Such as Todd Desiato, and Gary Stephenson.
I’ve already reached out to Hal several times for an interview… but he prefers to leave me to my imagination it seems.. and right now I can’t imagine that TTSA is anything other than a inter-agency collection of ACTIVE intelligence spooks led by a clueless former rock star, whose only goal is to suppress the public disclosure of scientific and technical intelligence regarding this subject, while creating a public distraction designed specifically to revert the field of UFOlogy back 30 years to “lights in the sky” and “I know what I saw” instead of actually building an academy to take us TO THE STARS, and merge our current scientific and technical understandings with that of the future. Like the shape-memory alloys recovered from Roswell, or a host of other incredibly important scientific topics that you guys never ever talk about but should be.. and it doesn’t make sense to me any other way. -Jeremy Rys (@Alien_Scientist on Twitter) Check out his website here!
To be honest, I’m grateful for them as Unidentified [show that was featured on History Channel] is what made me dive deeper in the field. I was always interested but the show just did it for me. I’m a do-your-own-research guy, so earlier this year I decided to dig in a bit. I’m open to all possibilities, signs, synchronicities, what have you. I found that no longer so, Dr. Hal [Puthoff], was a Scientologist. So.. digging a bit on that, I found a book written by the infamous Ron Hubbard that he’d written shortly before his entrance into said religion. The book is entitled “To The Stars.” Well I bought the book and references to zero point gravity or energy in the book struck a chord with me. To tie this together with recent headlines… The idea of a Galactic Federation or ideas very similar to, are themes of the book, and Scientology. I have no idea what any of this means but I do know there’s always the real story that we may never know. I appreciate TTSA with open yet skeptical mind. -Citizen Witness (@WitnessCitizen on Twitter)
I feel TTSA is our best hope of real progress in disclosure. Like Lue has said many times, disclosure is a process and it’s happening now. How far we can move depends on different variables. I have faith in TTSA given what they have achieved so far. I would hope others have a little faith too. -Andy McGrillen (@ufouapam on Twitter) Check out the podcast here!
I find it perplexing, misguided, and somewhat annoying when people question the former employment of various To the Stars Academy (TTSA) staff, as if once being a member of the intelligence “establishment”, or being a former employee of a company with “black budget” contracts should invalidate you from the Ufology game altogether. The truth is that TTSA has been remarkably effective in advocating for disclosure precisely because they have a blend of former government officials and aviation industry insiders among their ranks. Thus, they understand how the game is played. Make no mistake, passion is essential. But so too is know-how regarding realpolitik. TTSA has both. And that’s been the game-changer. -Exo Academian (@ExoAcademian on Twitter)
To The Stars Academy of Arts & Science has undoubtedly changed the history of the UFO subject, now more commonly being called UAP: Unidentified Aerial Phenomena. Whether you agree or not with their methods and approach to moving the UFO conversation forward, there is no question they have been crucial in making UFOs a mainstream topic and have greatly de-stigmatized the subject. The US Navy, mainstream media, academia, and even Joe Rogan are now openly taking UFOs seriously and considering them a legitimate reality, whatever they may ultimately be. If To The Stars Academy disjointed today, their efforts would be regarded a massive success and “mission accomplished.”
They have generated more progress for the UFO issue than has been made in the last several decades combined, in a matter of just 3 short years. At least in getting the public to take the UFO issue seriously. And as a result of their actions (getting the first ever set of gun camera footage of UFOs released, public acknowledgement of the Pentagons official UFO program AATIP, assisting in providing briefings to Senators and Defense Agencies) getting the US Navy on the record publicly acknowledging UFOs as a reality, getting people like former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Senator and Chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee Marco Rubio, and others on the record, acknowledging UFOs as a genuine anomaly and reality. All of this accumulating to the acknowledgement and formation of the Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force (UAPTF).
People like Luis Elizondo who laid their future, reputation, and word on the line have done a great service for not only our country (US), but the world as a whole. This is a global Phenomenon with global implications which when finally uncovered will change our global society forever. -James Iandoli (@EngagingThe on Twitter) Check out his YouTube channel here!
TTSA has turned the world of Ufology on its ear! Simply put, they were the right people, at the right time, with the right information. For decades civilian grassroots efforts have picketed, petitioned, and held two citizen hearings on disclosure! Add the tens of thousands of investigations, and you have respected gains but nothing breached the doors like TTSA. They have raised the bar so high, most can’t keep up. Most UFO groups have been benched and rightly so. TTSA presented evidence that is admissible and directed the conversation to “National Security” while others chase lights in the sky. This was how they were able to gain the attention of lawmakers. They and they alone brought the topic to the MSM and world governments and they shared the rewards of a legitimate UAP phenomena now acknowledged officially with all of us and never taking credit for themselves. In fact, Lue has mentioned #UFOTWITTER many times for their contributions and support. Lue Elizondo, Chris Mellon, and Steve Justice have brought a great credit upon themselves, and I know this is just the beginning! Watch for breadcrumbs that they are laying down, “Crash Retrieval” and “Off World Vehicles”….of course I’m just guessing! -Chase Kloetzke (@ChaseKloetzke on Twitter)
I feel TTSA are here to help create a new direction in the field of UAP. A new anecdote to listening to an amplified washing machine in a room full of sweaty Gargoyles, easing the public’s perception into immunity from the lies and misinformation that have littered this already congested topic. Injecting true-to-life scenarios of UAP occurrences into the unsuspecting minds of the the public at large via the MSM [mainstream media]. Rule of thumb. Watch what you wish for. -Jason (@UFOCollage on Twitter)
TTSA’s relative silence is possibly related to delays among some projects, due to the complexity and some resistances to overcome. Some TTSA members have been on Twitter for over a year, have done Q&A, talks, and there are regular interviews with Lue. The communication, then, is much better than previous years. When there are rumors of imminent news, it creates some expectations which sometimes turn into frustration or disappointment. It would be good to avoid these rumors, and find a way to bring us more prospects, despite the necessary discretion. It’s also up to us—social media users—to learn to be patient. The time for administrative battles and complex projects isn’t the social media time. Rome was not built in a day. This process will be even more historic. TTSA may be the best vehicle to engage the conversation internationally. Let’s be constructive and fair regarding the results and enjoy the trip. -Akam (@Akam1129 on Twitter)
TTSA has the merit of having developed a new linguistic code which is the key to bypass the stigma. This dialectic monster is the main character of a global pantomime lasted for decades. Like the Schopenhauerian Veil of Maya, we altogether have to tear it up once for all in order to understand what’s really going on. -CrewCut Chronicles (@CrewCutYoutube on Twitter)
TTSA seems like an honest attempt to connect two ideas that are hard to connect. The first idea is that we need more content and media to move our minds to a place where we can understand and discuss the phenomenon. The second idea is to bring former military professionals together to comment on and push the legitimacy of the topic forward. There’s not really another example of a business trying to do something like this and it’s not likely to be immensely profitable in direct way. Which aligns with their status as a public benefit company. If I had to guess, I’d say the people behind TTSA want the truth out but would also like some small credit for doing the hard work… nobody wants to work for free. Although I doubt money alone is the driver here. With a gov’t clearance, any of them could get $200k jobs elsewhere without a headache. -Darren Mills (@DarrenMills on Twitter) Check out his website here!
The next installment of “The Pulse of UFO Twitter” will tackle the question of anonymity. Is it permissible for members of UFO Twitter to sit behind an anonymous account while simultaneously demanding that government officials unmask themselves for the sake of Disclosure?
I would love to hear your thoughts on this subject! You can send a message to me via DM through Twitter (@TheLastSisyphus), or shoot me an email at CollinJones15@protonmail.com!
