Mick West
From the UAP Encyclopedia, the open encyclopedia of UFO and UAP history · 👤 Person
Contents 5
| Type | Person |
|---|---|
| Also known as | Michael West |
Mick West (born 1967) is a former video game programmer, raised in England, who became one of the most prominent skeptical investigators of UFO claims and conspiracy theories. He is known for detailed analyses of military UAP videos, which he argues show ordinary objects affected by camera and sensor effects.[1]
Video game career
West co-founded the video game studio Neversoft in July 1994 and was heavily involved in programming the first five games in the Tony Hawk's skateboarding series. He later left the games industry.[1]
Skeptical work
West first became known for writing about the "chemtrails" conspiracy theory on his website Contrail Science, and he co-authored a 2016 study in Environmental Research Letters in which atmospheric scientists rejected the evidence offered for a secret large-scale spraying program. He founded the forum Metabunk, where contributors examine claims in detail, and in 2018 published Escaping the Rabbit Hole, a guide to talking with people who believe conspiracy theories. In 2020 he was elected a fellow of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry.[1]
The Gimbal video
West's best-known UAP analysis concerns the "Gimbal" video released by the Pentagon. He argues that the rotating shape is not the object itself but glare from a hot source, probably a distant jet's engines, and that it appears to rotate because of the way the camera's gimbal mechanism turns to keep the image level. Critics, including some pilots, have disputed his estimate of the object's distance and his reading of the video.[1][2][3]
2026 records
After the first release of U.S. government UFO files in May 2026, West said it contained nothing really interesting.[4]
References
- Mick West — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
- "Gimbal UFO — A New Analysis", Metabunk · metabunk.org · archived copy
- "It is pointed out that the UFO video that the U.S. Navy recognized as genuine is 'due to the reflection of light'", Gigazine (17 Mar 2022) · gigazine.net · archived copy
- United States UFO files — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
This page was last edited on 31 October 2026. Articles are written in our own words from the sources listed under References; disputed claims are attributed to the people who made them.
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