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Jake Barber

Air Force veteran who told NewsNation in Jan 2025 he flew helicopters in UAP crash-retrieval operations, and who fronts the private group Skywatcher.

Current role: Listed as Jacob Barber on the Skywatcher team page (as of 2026-10-10); U.S. Air Force veteran and former contract helicopter pilot by his own account. No public statements located since October 2025

Former roles:

  • Contract helicopter pilot taking part in UAP crash-retrieval operations (by his own account, dates and employer not public)
  • U.S. Air Force airman, officially a mechanic at Pope AFB (by his own account, as summarised by Liberation Times)

@jakebarber2025 on X

Background

Jake Barber is a U.S. Air Force veteran who, in a NewsNation special with Ross Coulthart broadcast on 18 January 2025, said he had worked as a contract helicopter pilot retrieving downed craft, some of which he believes were of non-human origin. He is the public face of Skywatcher, a private group that says it attracts, tracks and aims to recover UAP. The Pentagon confirmed in February 2025 that AARO was investigating his claims, and no outcome has been made public. He is listed as a whistleblower rather than a close observer because his core claim is first-hand participation in retrieval operations. Three veterans vouched for his background on camera. His account rests on his own word and on footage whose provenance is not independently established.

On the record

  • 2025-10-25 – Sol Foundation Symposium, Lake Maggiore – "Conversation with Dr. Garry Nolan and Jake Barber". Event page
  • 2025-04-25 – interview with Skywatcher advisor Matthew Pines – "Our number one goal is material recovery. We want our hands on exotic material, and we want to do that in a legal and ethical way. And so thats the best case scenario as far as our business plan goes." Interview · Update #88
  • 2025-02-22 – to Jesse Michels, and separately to Liberation Times – "We're conducting demonstrations for the new director of AARO. They are fully privy to our work—they've seen our videos, our data, and our report." To Liberation Times: "Skywatcher has had positive initial interactions with AARO under Dr. Kosloski and other federal authorities." Michels interview · Liberation Times
  • 2025-01-24 – full NewsNation interview published – expanded on his background and allegations, with no further evidence. Video · Update #76
  • 2025-01-16 – NewsNation, ahead of the special "Hunting UFOs: The Crash Retrieval Whistleblower" (aired 18 Jan) – on one recovered object: "I saw an egg, a white egg." and "Just visually looking at the object on the ground, you could tell that it was extraordinary and anomalous," and "It was not human." Elsewhere in the special: "My work has included the recovery of downed UAP [...] of non-human origin." NewsNation · Clip

Reported claims (secondary / anonymous-sourced)

  • 2025-01-24 – Fred Baker, John Blitch and Don Paul Bales, NewsNation – three veterans vouched for Barber's background and covert role. Bales said he worked on Barber's team "on the range". Baker and Blitch also described their own alleged sightings. None offered documentary evidence. Baker · Blitch · Bales · Bales on NewsNation
  • 2025-11 to 2026-01 – per a secondary recap (Digital Saviour, 26 Jan 2026) – Barber is said to have told a Sol Foundation audience that Skywatcher would publish its field data by the end of 2025. The release did not appear. Recap

Responses and criticism

  • 2025-02-22 – DoD spokesperson Susan Gough to Liberation Times: "AARO is aware of Barber's claims and is investigating them." No result has been published. Liberation Times
  • 2025-01 – Gough to NewsNation – AARO "is aware of the claim" and the department "has not discovered any verifiable information to substantiate claims" that programs to possess or reverse-engineer extraterrestrial materials have existed or exist. NewsNation
  • Skywatcher's own site, as of October 2026, says it "does not currently claim possession of such materials". Skywatcher
  • AARO's standing position – the 2024 Historical Record Report found "no empirical evidence" for reverse-engineering programs. Report PDF

Timeline of involvement

  • 2025-01-16 – NewsNation article previews his claims, special airs 18 Jan
  • 2025-01-24 – full interview and three corroborating interviews published
  • 2025-01-28 – Skywatcher's first release, including footage of a "summoning" operation (X)
  • 2025-02-22 – Pentagon confirms AARO is investigating his claims
  • 2025-04-07 – Skywatcher Part II taxonomy of nine UAP classes (X)
  • 2025-10-25 – conversation with Garry Nolan at the Sol Foundation Symposium
  • 2026-10 – still listed on Skywatcher's team page, no 2026 public statements located

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