Dan Sherman's Project Preserve Destiny recruitment
From the UAP Encyclopedia, the open encyclopedia of UFO and UAP history · 🗓️ Event
Contents 11
| Person | Dan Sherman, USAF electronic intelligence specialist |
|---|---|
| Claimed recruitment | 1992, Fort Meade, Maryland, by a captain in the book called "Captain White" |
| Program | "Project Preserve Destiny" (PPD), said to be run through the NSA |
| Claimed basis | Genetic "management" before birth; program said to run 1960–1968 |
| Role | "Intuitive communicator" (IC) |
| Source | Above Black (1997, self-published) |
| Status | Uncorroborated |
| Date | 1 January 1997 |
| Topics | Beings & bodies (topic), Secrecy & cover-up (topic), Government programs (topic) |
| People | Dan Sherman |
| Testimony | Shellenberger testimony, p. 127 |
| Year | 1997 in UFO history |
| Timeline | 1997 on the UAP Timeline |
| Sources | 12 |
Dan Sherman, a former U.S. Air Force electronic intelligence specialist, says in his self-published 1997 book Above Black that the National Security Agency recruited him into "Project Preserve Destiny". He describes it as a program to train "intuitive communicators" to receive telepathic messages from extraterrestrial "Greys".[1][2] He says he was not chosen in any normal sense. In his account he had been genetically prepared before birth, and the program simply waited until he was ready.[11] Sherman is the only source for Project Preserve Destiny.[1][2]
Air Force career
According to an account of the book by the military writer Blake Stilwell, Sherman joined the Air Force in 1982 in the Security Police and served in Korea. He later cross-trained into electronic intelligence (ELINT), despite being told his chances were "zero".[1] He went to technical school in 1990, was posted to Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska, and then returned to Korea, which he had asked for. He served until 1994.[1][4] Stilwell noted that "his luck held" at each step, and presented this as part of the sense of destiny Sherman later saw in his career.[1]
Recruitment
Sherman says that in 1992, when he was sent to Fort Meade, Maryland, for an intermediate ELINT course at the NSA, he was ordered on his first day to report for what he expected to be a brief introduction.[1] An unnamed captain called him for a private meeting before he had even checked in, and escorted him into the facility.[6][11] In the book the officer appears as "Captain White". At one point he tells Sherman: "Everyone I have had to tell this to has had the same concern".[9] Sherman says he was told the following:[1][12]
- The government had been trying to communicate with the Greys since the early 1960s, after a first contact in 1947.
- A program begun in 1960 was set up "to genetically 'manage' a select number of humans" so they could communicate with the Greys intuitively.
- His mother had been visited in 1960 and 1963 and genetically altered before his birth, and he was conceived in 1963.
- The genetic program ended in 1968, once enough embryos had been engineered to form "a cadre of exceptional telepathic individuals".
"Not selected"
Sherman insisted he was not recruited in the usual way: "I was not SELECTED in the sense that they sat down and looked at potential candidates and chose me. My abilities had been given to me before birth while in the womb. There was no 'selection' process after that."[11] He gave these reasons for the program waiting until he was in his late twenties:[11]
- His abilities "could not be uncovered (as I was told) until my mid 20's".
- The program could have retrained him into any career field at any time.
- Many Air Force intelligence staff come from other fields by retraining.
He said he had joined the Security Police only because his first-choice career field had a waiting list.[11]
Asked in 1997 how many intuitive communicators there were, Sherman said he did not know. He had assumed he was "one of the first" because his handlers seemed "a bit green". His first commander "was the only one who seemed to have a clue", and had probably briefed all the communicators.[9] No other communicator has come forward. Sherman said he believed he was the only one to have left the military.[9]
Training
Sherman says he was driven in a van with blacked-out windows to an unknown site, given two pills, and taught to move waves on electronic screens with his mind.[1] On Art Bell's Coast to Coast AM he described a night school where trainees mentally "clicked" onto tones and flattened sine waves.[6] He says his ordinary ELINT training served as cover for the program.[1][2][4]
Criticism of the recruitment story
The former intelligence instructor Mark Louttit questioned the recruitment account in 1997:[10]
- Recruitment path. He asked why a genetically engineered "empath" would be allowed into the Security Police, a field with lower aptitude requirements that is also "the light infantry of the Air Force", where he might be put in harm's way.
- Civilians. He asked why the program would wait for such people to join the military instead of recruiting them directly as civilians, as the CIA, FBI and NSA do.
- Retraining. Drawing on his time teaching at the intelligence school at Fort Devens, he said most Air Force intelligence trainees were young airmen straight from basic training, not retrainees.
Louttit did accept Sherman's explanation of how he was escorted into the captain's office.[10]
Later claims
In 2014 Michael Salla's Exopolitics news site argued that leaked NSA slides about hiding sensitive programs under less sensitive ones supported Sherman's account. The slides did not mention Sherman or any alien program.[2] Sherman discussed his recruitment on Coast to Coast AM in November 1997 and, decades later, on the podcast American Alchemy.[6][8] His book runs to about 147 pages.[5][7]
Assessment
Sherman is the only source for Project Preserve Destiny, and no other participant or document has confirmed it.[1][2] Everything he knows about the program's origins he says came from a single captain at Fort Meade.[1][12]
People and topics
- Dan Sherman — Former Air Force sergeant who claimed in Above Black that he was trained to communicate with aliens.
- National Security Agency — The U.S. signals intelligence agency, which holds UFO-related intercepts.
- Project Preserve Destiny — The alleged NSA program Dan Sherman says trained him to communicate with aliens.
- Above Black — Dan Sherman's 1997 book.
On the Timeline
- Prudence Calabrese and TransDimensional Systems (1997) — Prudence Calabrese starts a medical remote viewing organization.
- Corso's doubts about autopsy reports (1997) (13 January 1997) — Philip Corso tells Vallée he may have received disinformation about alien autopsies.
See every 1997 event on the UAP Timeline →
Further reading
- UFO documents — NSA · nsa.gov · archived copy
References
- Blake Stilwell, "This airman claims his top secret official duty was to talk to aliens", We Are The Mighty (updated Apr 2021) · wearethemighty.com · archived copy
- Michael Salla, "NSA document supports whistleblower claim of alien UFO communication program", Exo News (Oct 2014) · exonews.org · archived copy
- This airman claims his secret duty was to talk to aliens — We Are The Mighty · wearethemighty.com · archived copy
- Dan Sherman collection — Anomaly Archives · anomalyarchives.org · archived copy
- Dan Sherman, Above Black: Project Preserve Destiny (1997) · barnesandnoble.com · archived copy
- Dan Sherman on Coast to Coast AM, Nov 1997 · artbellarchive-org.pages.dev · archived copy
- Above Black: Project Preserve Destiny (Dan Sherman) — Goodreads · goodreads.com · archived copy
- 'The NSA hired me to speak to aliens': Sgt. Dan Sherman — American Alchemy · podcastrex.com · archived copy
- David Kirby, "Dan Sherman interview and book review", Colorado Daily (18 Dec 1997), via Rense · rense.com
- Mark Louttit, "Louttit rebuttal to Sherman on PPD" (1 Dec 1997), Area 51 mailing list, Ufomind (archived) · web.archive.org
- Dan Sherman, "Sherman responds to Louttit's PPD critique" (28 Nov 1997), Area 51 mailing list, Ufomind (archived) · web.archive.org
- Richard Boylan, "Air Force Staff Sergeant Reveals NSA Project Receiving Star Visitors Communications" (1997) · drboylan.com
This page was last edited on 29 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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