Garry Nolan

Stanford immunologist who analyses alleged UAP materials, co-founded the Sol Foundation in 2023 and joined the UAP Science Advisory Council in 2026.

Current role: Rachford and Carlota A. Harris Professor, Department of Pathology, Stanford University School of Medicine; co-founder and Executive Director of the Board, Sol Foundation; member of the UAP Science Advisory Council

Background

Garry Nolan is an American immunologist and inventor who holds the Rachford and Carlota A. Harris Professorship in the Department of Pathology at Stanford University School of Medicine. His lab's instrumentation and analytical work led him into the study of alleged UAP materials and of medical effects reported by people who say they had close encounters. In August 2023 he co-founded the Sol Foundation, a research institute and policy think tank on UAP, where he is Executive Director of the Board. In June 2026 he was named a member of the UAP Science Advisory Council chaired by Avi Loeb, which advises the government from unclassified data.

On the record

2026-07 – Sol Forum – presented new results from advanced testing of alleged UAP materials. Sol Forum page · Video
2026-06-25 – Disclosure Forum, Russell Senate Office Building – co-signed a 29-signatory expert letter released at the event. Disclosure Foundation
2026-06-13 – named as a member of the UAP Science Advisory Council (materials) in Avi Loeb's announcement. DefenseScoop · Loeb roster on X
2026-05 – Sol Foundation leadership statement (Nolan, Gallaudet, Skafish) on the PURSUE releases – "This release underscores the importance of forthrightness about the subject of UAP after decades of the opposite." The statement calls on Congress to pass the UAP Disclosure Act. Sol Foundation
2025-10-25 – Sol Foundation Symposium, Lake Maggiore, Italy – "Conversation with Dr. Garry Nolan and Jake Barber". Agenda · Event page
2023-08-15 – Sol Foundation launch – listed as a founder of the new think tank researching the philosophical, policy and scientific implications of UAP. Launch announcement
2023-05-18 – SALT iConnections, New York – on new whistleblower protections: "allows people from within – I'm gonna say this – who've been working on the Reverse Engineering Programs...Reverse engineering of objects...so that they can come in and break their oaths, but specifically just to talk to Congress and give that information in classified settings." He added: "the most recent one that happened – just last weekend – and it created quite a hornet's nest in Washington". Clip · Full session
2022-01 – Progress in Aerospace Sciences, lead author – peer-reviewed review of analytic procedures, including mass spectrometry and isotopic analysis, for characterising unknown materials of possible aerospace relevance. Paper
2021-06-14 – KQED – said he had been approached by "some people representing the government and an aerospace corporation to help them understand the medical harm that had come to some individuals, related to supposed interactions with an anomalous craft" because "they were interested in the kinds of blood analysis that my lab can do". KQED

Responses and criticism

The 2026 UAP Science Advisory Council, on which Nolan sits, has no published charter or Federal Register notice, no budget and no classified access, by the chair's own account. Crimson
AARO's 2024 Historical Record Report Vol. 1 found "no empirical evidence" for claims of recovered off-world materials, the category of material Nolan's lab tests. Report PDF

Timeline of involvement

2012 – begins analysis of the Atacama skeleton, later shown to be a human stillbirth with genetic mutations (background)
2021-06-14 – describes being approached about medical harm linked to reported encounters (KQED)
2022-01 – lead author on the Progress in Aerospace Sciences materials paper
2023-05-18 – SALT remarks on whistleblowers
2023-08-15 – co-founds the Sol Foundation
2025-10-25 – Sol Foundation Symposium, Italy
2026-05 – co-signs Sol leadership statement on PURSUE
2026-06-13 – named to the UAP Science Advisory Council
2026-07 – presents new materials test results at the Sol Forum

Relevant links

Part of the Key People in Disclosure series. Verified 2026-10-10. Spotted an error? Reach out.