InterNASA lawsuit
From the UAP Encyclopedia, the open encyclopedia of UFO and UAP history · 🗓️ Event
Contents 7
| Date | 26 February 2019 |
|---|---|
| Topics | Congress & law (topic), Disinformation & hoaxes (topic) |
| People | Robert Kiviat, Ron Pandolfi, Bruce Maccabee |
| Testimony | Shellenberger testimony, p. 192 |
| Year | 2019 in UFO history |
| Timeline | 2019 on the UAP Timeline |
| Sources | 8 |
In March 2019 television producer Robert Kiviat filed a lawsuit in California against former CIA scientist Ron Pandolfi and a venture called InterNASA, seeking about $300,000 in salary he said he was owed. InterNASA had been set up to pursue gravity-control and related research.[1][2]
The parties
Kiviat is known for producing Fox's 1995 special Alien Autopsy: Fact or Fiction? and other paranormal programmes. InterNASA's chief executive was Silicon Valley entrepreneur Joe Firmage, who in the late 1990s had left his technology career after announcing his belief in extraterrestrial visitation. Pandolfi, a longtime CIA scientist, had earlier appeared in the UFO story through physicist Bruce Maccabee's briefings to CIA staff in the 1980s and through reports about the origins of the Pentagon's AAWSAP program.[1][2][3]
The claims
According to a press release on Kiviat's behalf dated 7 March 2019, Kiviat accepted a role running InterNASA's studios division after Firmage told him funding was secured and that Pandolfi was backing the research. He said he was later told the company was going "dark" and that he would be paid from funds contributed by a backer.[1]
Outcome
The claims come from Kiviat's side, and the outcome of the suit was not widely reported. The case attracted coverage in UFO circles because it involved a former CIA employee and claims about anti-gravity research. Firmage later faced unrelated legal problems.[1][2][4]
People and topics
- Robert Kiviat — TV producer who sued over the InterNASA venture.
- Ron Pandolfi — CIA scientist who appears in several UFO stories.
- Central Intelligence Agency — The U.S. foreign intelligence agency, which has followed UFO reports since the 1940s.
- Unidentified flying object — An object in the sky that can't be identified; the older term for UAP.
- Anti-gravity — The idea of cancelling or controlling gravity for propulsion.
- Bruce Maccabee — Navy optical physicist and leading analyst of UFO photographs.
- AAWSAP — The Defense Intelligence Agency's UAP research program of 2008–2010, carried out by Bigelow Aerospace Advanced Space Studies.
On the Timeline
- American Cosmic (20 February 2019) — Diana Pasulka's book describes a scientist, 'Tyler', who handled claimed non-human artifacts.
- Elizondo on shoot-downs and recoveries (2019) (15 March 2019) — Lue Elizondo is asked about shoot-downs and recoveries and doesn't answer directly.
See every 2019 event on the UAP Timeline →
References
- Press release on Robert Kiviat's lawsuit (Mar 2019), Spreaker · spreaker.com · archived copy
- Joseph Firmage — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
- "Dr. Bruce Maccabee and the CIA", UFOs Scientific Research (Nov 2014) · ufos-scientificresearch.blogspot.com · archived copy
- "Defying gravity: tech founder in trouble", Futurism · futurism.com · archived copy
- thesun.co.uk · thesun.co.uk · archived copy
- kalkorff.medium.com · kalkorff.medium.com · archived copy
- badufos.blogspot.com · badufos.blogspot.com · archived copy
- canadiannewsnetwork.net · canadiannewsnetwork.net · archived copy
Further reading
- UFO documents — CIA Reading Room · cia.gov · archived copy
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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