UAP Science Advisory Council chartered
Formal UAP Science Advisory Council chartered by the White House, ODNI, AARO, FBI, and the broader Intelligence Community. Chaired by Avi Loeb, with a published 13-15 member roster including Garry Nolan, Tim Gallaudet, Michael Shermer, Matthew Szydagis, Kevin Knuth, and Carol Cleland.
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Official description
The UAP Science Advisory Council is a formally chartered advisory body reporting to the newly established Interagency UAP Governance Board. Chair: Avi Loeb (Harvard). Named council members published on the record: Garry Nolan (Stanford), Tim Gallaudet (former NOAA administrator, retired Rear Admiral), Michael Shermer (Skeptic magazine), Matthew Szydagis (SUNY Albany), Kevin Knuth (SUNY Albany), Carol Cleland (Colorado). Between 13 and 15 total members depending on which agency count is used.
Editor's context
The Council is significant for the diversity of its named members. Loeb has publicly argued for taking potential-extraterrestrial hypotheses seriously; Shermer is a professional skeptic; Nolan is an interdisciplinary Stanford immunologist who has worked on physical analysis of purported UAP materials; Cleland is a philosopher of science specializing in astrobiology and the definition of life. This is a deliberately heterogeneous panel and is likely designed to make it difficult to accuse the advisory body of ideological capture in either direction.
Prevailing explanation
What scientists and analysts generally think
As with the Governance Board, this is an organizational instrument, not a phenomenon. Its interpretive value is in establishing that senior US decision-making on UAP is now formally advised by a named-scientist body that mixes credulous, skeptical, and philosophy-of-science voices.
In the margins
Transcribed redactions, stamps, and handwritten markings, the paratext of the file. Often the most human part of a declassified document, and worth reading on its own.
- Stampp. releaseUAP SCIENCE ADVISORY COUNCIL, CHARTER
- AnnotationChartering entities: White House, ODNI, AARO, FBI, wider IC.
- AnnotationChair: Avi Loeb (Harvard).
- AnnotationNamed members: Nolan (Stanford), Gallaudet (Ret. RADM, former NOAA), Shermer (Skeptic), Szydagis (SUNY Albany), Knuth (SUNY Albany), Cleland (Colorado).
- AnnotationCouncil size: 13 to 15 members.
Cite the primary source
Citations center the originating government agency and link to the official record. This archive is listed as the access point, not the author.
U.S. Government. "UAP Science Advisory Council chartered." Released via PURSUE program, 2026-06-17. File ID: White House UAP Science Advisory Council Charter. https://defensescoop.com/2026/06/17/new-science-advisory-council-forms-to-help-us-government-resolve-the-uap-mystery/. Accessed 2026-09-04 via Social Media for Aliens archive, https://socialmediaforaliens.com/files/uap-science-advisory-council-2026.
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