Jay Stratton

First director of the Pentagon's UAP Task Force and AAWSAP co-founder. His memoir Out of the Shadows, due 13 Oct 2026, is the first book by a former UAPTF head.

Current role: Retired defense intelligence senior executive and author. His memoir Out of the Shadows (William Morrow/HarperCollins) is due 13 October 2026, with a television series based on it announced in September 2026.

Former roles:

Director, Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force (UAPTF), from its formation in 2020 until 2021
Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP), after Luis Elizondo's departure
Co-founder and consultant, Advanced Aerospace Weapon System Applications Program (AAWSAP), DIA-funded, from 2007
Office of Naval Intelligence and Defense Intelligence Agency (Defense Warning Office) intelligence official
Radiance Technologies, after leaving government in 2022

@jaystratton on X

Background

John F. "Jay" Stratton Jr. is a retired U.S. intelligence official who worked UAP inside government for more than 16 years, first alongside his regular duties and later full time, according to his speaker biography. He served with the Office of Naval Intelligence and the Defense Intelligence Agency's Defense Warning Office. In 2007 he was recruited to consult for the DIA-funded Advanced Aerospace Weapon System Applications Program (AAWSAP), which he is credited with co-founding, and after it ended he worked with Luis Elizondo on its successor, AATIP (speaker bio, KLAS). When the Pentagon formalised the Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force in August 2020 he became its first director, running the interagency effort that fed the June 2021 ODNI preliminary assessment. Accounts differ on when he left the task force in 2021. He retired in early 2022 after 32 years of combined military and federal service and joined the defence contractor Radiance Technologies, which also hired the task force's chief scientist Travis Taylor on his recommendation (KLAS). Much of his government work remains classified, which is why the forthcoming memoir is the first extended first-person account from anyone who led the UAPTF.

On the record

2026-09-03 – interview with George Knapp (KLAS) at a UAP conference in Alabama, previewing the book – discussed AAWSAP, his later move to AATIP and the task force, and the time he spent at Skinwalker Ranch during AAWSAP. (paraphrased by KLAS) KLAS via Yahoo · KLAS
2026-06-03 – X – announced Out of the Shadows: Revealing the Truth About Non-Human Intelligent Life, to be published by William Morrow (HarperCollins) on 13 October 2026, writing that he would "break my silence" and reveal what he legally can about his government UAP investigations. X · UAP Logbook
2025-01-23 – appears in the trailer for The Age of Disclosure (dir. Dan Farah), one of 34 current and former U.S. government, military and intelligence figures interviewed on camera. Trailer

Reported claims (secondary / anonymous-sourced)

2026-06 – HarperCollins publisher copy for the memoir says Stratton "discovered" an 80-year cover-up involving non-human intelligent life and describes AAWSAP as the first official U.S. government UAP programme since Project Blue Book. This is marketing text, not yet checkable against the book or any document. AARO's stated position, in its FY2025 annual report, is that no evidence suggests any U.S. government or private entity has captured or exploited UAP-derived materials. UAP Logbook · AARO FY2025 report (PDF mirror)
2022 – KLAS reported that Radiance Technologies had hired Stratton as a "reverse engineering specialist", prompting speculation in UAP circles about the company's work. Radiance did not confirm any UAP-related activity. KLAS

Timeline of involvement

2007 – recruited to consult for AAWSAP, co-founder
2020-08 – UAP Task Force formally approved, Stratton its first director (DoD release context)
2021 – leaves the task force
2022 – retires from government, joins Radiance Technologies
2025-01-23 – appears in The Age of Disclosure trailer
2026-06-03 – announces Out of the Shadows
2026-09-03 – KLAS interview previewing the book
2026-09-24 – Terence Winter and Dan Farah announce a television series based on the memoir (The Debrief)
2026-10-13 – publication date (audiobook read by Stratton and Hal Puthoff)

Relevant links

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