Wesley Clark on faster-than-light travel
From the UAP Encyclopedia, the open encyclopedia of UFO and UAP history · 🗓️ Event
Contents 9
| Date | 3 November 2004 |
|---|---|
| People | Wesley Clark |
| Testimony | Shellenberger testimony, p. 158 |
| Year | 2004 in UFO history |
| Timeline | 2004 on the UAP Timeline |
| Sources | 6 |
Wesley Clark on faster-than-light travel refers to a remark by the retired U.S. Army general Wesley Clark, former Supreme Allied Commander Europe, during his campaign for the 2004 Democratic presidential nomination. Asked about the space program at a New Hampshire event on 27 September 2003, he said he could not believe that humanity would "never ever be able to go beyond the speed of light", and called that belief "my only faith-based initiative".[2][3] The comment was widely mocked in the press.[1][3] Michael Shellenberger's 2024 UFO timeline, submitted to the House Oversight Committee, records it under 3 November 2004.[5] Years later, the Skinwalker Ranch owner Brandon Fugal named Clark, along with Hal Puthoff and Kit Green, as one of the people who convinced him there was "truth" to UFO reverse-engineering concepts and free-energy devices.[6]
Wesley Clark
According to the Wikipedia account of his campaign, Clark served as Supreme Allied Commander Europe from 1997 to 2000.[3]
- Politics. He said he began to define his politics only after retiring from the military in 2000. He had been a registered independent throughout his military career, and decided he was a Democrat because "I was pro-affirmative action, I was pro-choice, I was pro-education".
- The draft movement. A movement to draft him began in April 2003, with the launch of DraftWesleyClark.com on 10 April. It signed up tens of thousands of volunteers and raised $1.5 million in pledges.
- The campaign. His campaign officially began on 17 September 2003, and fall 2003 polls showed him as a leading candidate.
The remarks
The Wikipedia account describes the exchange.[3]
- The question. During the New Hampshire primary campaign on 27 September 2003, the Space Shuttle astronaut Jay C. Buckey asked Clark what his vision for the space program was after the Columbia disaster.
- His vision. Clark said he was a great believer in space exploration but wanted a vision well beyond a new shuttle or space plane. "I would like to see mankind get off this planet. I'd like to know what's out there beyond the solar system." He thought such a vision would probably require a lifetime of research and development across many fields.
- The remark. At the end of his answer he said: "I still believe in E = mc². But I can't believe that in all of human history we'll never ever be able to go beyond the speed of light to reach where we want to go. I happen to believe that mankind can do it. I've argued with physicists about it. I've argued with best friends about it. I just have to believe it. It's my only faith-based initiative."
Defense Tech, reporting the comment on 30 September 2003, wrote that Clark was convinced people would one day travel faster than light, "a feat Einstein and others have deemed impossible". It credited Brian McWilliams of Wired News, who reported that Clark had "dropped something of a bombshell" during a "whirlwind campaign swing Saturday through New Hampshire".[2]
Reaction
- Headlines. According to the Wikipedia account, the remark led to a series of mocking headlines. They included "Beam Us Up, General Clark" in The New York Times, "Clark is Light-Years Ahead of the Competition" in The Washington Post, "General Relativity (Retired)" on the U.S. News & World Report website, and "Clark Campaigns at Light Speed" in Wired.[3]
- Reason. On 6 October 2003 Reason ran the quotation under the headline "Wes Clark, Space Ranger", introducing it as "the great man himself" weighing in on "time-space continuum", via Wired.[1]
- A defender. Defense Tech noted that Glenn Reynolds, a former chairman of the National Space Society, said the general's faster-than-light dreams "might not be so off-base".[2]
The campaign's end
Several polls from September to November 2003 showed Clark leading the Democratic field or close behind Howard Dean. He chose to skip the Iowa caucuses, which he later called one of his campaign's biggest mistakes. He won the Oklahoma primary narrowly and tied for third in New Hampshire. After third-place finishes in Tennessee and Virginia, which he saw as signs he had lost the South, he withdrew on 11 February 2004. Two days later he endorsed John Kerry at a rally in Madison, Wisconsin.[3]
UFO connections
The 2003 remark itself was about space exploration. The sources read here do not show Clark linking it to UFOs or to classified knowledge.[1][2][3] Shellenberger's timeline, however, includes it among its UFO-related entries, citing a roswellproof.com page.[4][5] The timeline also records a later connection. On 27 October 2022 Brandon Fugal, the real-estate billionaire who owns Skinwalker Ranch, said Clark, Hal Puthoff and Kit Green had convinced him there was "truth" to UFO reverse-engineering concepts and free-energy devices. Fugal said he went on to support Joe Firmage's work by co-founding Motion Sciences in the late 2000s. He said the company closed within a year because tests of anti-gravity devices did not show enough progress. In 2015, he said, Puthoff and Green suggested he buy Skinwalker Ranch from Robert Bigelow, and he did.[6]
Notes on the earlier version
- Date. The infobox, following Shellenberger's timeline, gives 3 November 2004. The remark was made on 27 September 2003, during the New Hampshire campaign, and was reported that week.[2][3][5]
- Physicists' reaction. The earlier version said physicists pointed out that faster-than-light travel conflicts with relativity as currently understood. The sources read here describe the feat as one "Einstein and others have deemed impossible", but do not quote physicists responding to Clark.[2]
- "Not tied to UFOs". The earlier version said Clark's comment was not tied to any claim about secret programs or UFOs. That remains true of the 2003 remark as reported, but Fugal's 2022 account links Clark to UFO reverse-engineering and free-energy ideas later in the decade.[3][6]
- Roswellproof. The roswellproof.com page cited by the timeline returned "not found".[4]
People and topics
- Wesley Clark — Retired general and 2004 presidential candidate who spoke about faster-than-light travel.
- Unidentified flying object — An object in the sky that can't be identified; the older term for UAP.
On the Timeline
- Marconi director claim (2004) (2004) — A Marconi director is said to have worked on a communication system and an unlimited power source.
- USS Princeton data recordings claim (14 November 2004) — USS Princeton radar staff say two men took the Tic Tac encounter data recordings.
See every 2004 event on the UAP Timeline →
References
- Nick Gillespie, "Wes Clark, space ranger", Reason (6 Oct 2003) · reason.com · archived copy
- "Warp 10 for Wes Clark", Defense Tech (Sep 2003) · collegefairs.military.com · archived copy
- Wesley Clark 2004 presidential campaign — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
- roswellproof.com · roswellproof.com · archived copy
- Michael Shellenberger, written testimony to the House Oversight Committee (13 November 2024), p. 158 · oversight.house.gov
- Michael Shellenberger, written testimony to the House Oversight Committee (13 November 2024), p. 212 · oversight.house.gov
Facts in this article are drawn in part from the Wikipedia article “Wesley Clark 2004 presidential campaign”, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.
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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