Joseph Ralston on the Wilson notes
From the UAP Encyclopedia, the open encyclopedia of UFO and UAP history · 🗓️ Event
Contents 8
| Date | 5 July 2019 |
|---|---|
| Topics | Beings & bodies (topic), Secrecy & cover-up (topic), Government programs (topic) |
| People | Joseph Ralston, Thomas Wilson |
| Testimony | Shellenberger testimony, p. 194 |
| Year | 2019 in UFO history |
| Timeline | 2019 on the UAP Timeline |
| Sources | 5 |
Retired Gen. Joseph Ralston, a former Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has said he does not recall any discussion of UFOs with Vice Adm. Thomas Wilson, despite being a member of the Pentagon committee that the disputed Wilson–Davis notes say turned down Wilson's request for access to a secret UFO program in 1997.[1][2]
The notes
The notes, typed pages presented as physicist Eric Davis's record of a conversation with Wilson in Las Vegas on 16 October 2002, surfaced online in April 2019 after emerging from the papers of the late astronaut Edgar Mitchell. They describe Wilson, then director of intelligence for the Joint Staff, learning in 1997 of a contractor-run program holding recovered craft, being refused access, and taking his case to the Special Access Program Oversight Committee (SAPOC), whose senior review group sided with the contractor. In May 2022 Rep. Mike Gallagher had the notes entered into the record of a House intelligence subcommittee hearing.[3]
Ralston's response
Journalist Billy Cox, who reported that Ralston sat on SAPOC at the time, asked him about the notes. Ralston said he did not remember discussing UFOs with Wilson and did not recall "anything about that in 1997", adding that it could have happened but he did not know. Former Pentagon acquisition official Noel Longuemare and former Under Secretary Paul Kaminski likewise said they had no knowledge of the events described.[1][2]
Wilson's denial
Wilson has called the notes "fiction", saying he would not know Davis if he walked in and that they contain demonstrably inaccurate details, though he said he did meet Edgar Mitchell, probably in 1997, and that UFOs and black programs came up. Davis has neither confirmed nor denied writing them.[2][3]
Assessment
Supporters of the notes argue that people with knowledge of sensitive programs would be obliged to deny them, while skeptics see the denials as evidence that the notes are inaccurate or fabricated. Their authenticity remains disputed.[1][3]
People and topics
- Joseph Ralston — Former Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs named in the Wilson–Davis notes.
- Unidentified anomalous phenomena — The U.S. government's current term for unidentified objects in the air, in space and underwater.
- Wilson–Davis notes — Wilson–Davis notes
- Thomas Wilson — Former DIA director named in the Wilson–Davis notes.
- Unidentified flying object — An object in the sky that can't be identified; the older term for UAP.
On the Timeline
- Eric Davis on recovered hardware (2019) (30 April 2019) — Eric Davis says the government holds recovered crashed and landed UFO hardware.
- TTSA Senate briefings (12 July 2019) — DeLonge says To The Stars spent 18 months briefing the Senate and committees.
See every 2019 event on the UAP Timeline →
References
- Billy Cox, "Reviving the W-D memo", Life in Jonestown (Sep 2024) · lifeinjonestown.substack.com · archived copy
- Billy Cox, "Core Secrets UFO memo: 'It's all fiction,' says former DIA director Thomas Wilson", UFO Chronicles (Jun 2020) · theufochronicles.com · archived copy
- "Davis–Wilson memo timeline", daviswilsonmemo.github.io · daviswilsonmemo.github.io · archived copy
- The Wilson memo collection — Anomaly Archives · anomalyarchives.org · archived copy
- not-devoid.blogs.heraldtribune.com · not-devoid.blogs.heraldtribune.com · archived copy
Further reading
- Skunk Works — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · 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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