Robert Bigelow
From the UAP Encyclopedia, the open encyclopedia of UFO and UAP history · 👤 Person
Contents 7
| Type | Person |
|---|---|
| Also known as | Bigelow |
| On the Timeline | 16 events, 1986–2022 |
Robert Bigelow (born 12 May 1944) is an American hotel and real-estate businessman, founder of Budget Suites of America and Bigelow Aerospace, and one of the largest private funders of research into UFOs, the paranormal and consciousness. His lobbying of Senator Harry Reid led to the Pentagon's AAWSAP program.[1][2]
Business career
Bigelow grew up in Las Vegas, about 110 km from the Nevada nuclear test site. He studied banking and real estate at the University of Nevada, Reno, and graduated from Arizona State University in 1967. From the late 1960s he built a commercial property business, saying he built about 15,000 units and acquired about 8,000 more. In 1987 he founded Budget Suites of America, an extended-stay hotel chain with properties in Nevada, Arizona and Texas.[1][3]
Bigelow Aerospace
In 1999 Bigelow founded Bigelow Aerospace to build expandable space habitats, building on NASA's cancelled TransHab concept. The company launched two uncrewed test modules, Genesis I in 2006 and Genesis II in 2007. Its Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM) was carried to the International Space Station on a SpaceX cargo flight in April 2016 and attached to the station. In 2017 the company announced plans for a commercial station with United Launch Alliance, but in March 2020 it laid off all 88 employees. In 2021 Bigelow sued NASA for about $1 million it said was owed.[1][4][5][6]
UFO and anomalies research
In 1995 Bigelow founded the National Institute for Discovery Science (NIDS) in Las Vegas, with a science board that included Jacques Vallée, Hal Puthoff and Kit Green; it was disbanded in 2004. In 1996 he bought Skinwalker Ranch in Utah for about $200,000, studying it for two decades before selling it in 2016 for about $500,000. He also funded studies of abduction claims, including the 1991 Roper survey.[1][7]
According to The New York Times, Bigelow urged his friend Senator Harry Reid to start what became the AAWSAP/AATIP program, and his company Bigelow Aerospace Advanced Space Studies received most of its roughly $22 million; the Times reported that the company modified buildings in Las Vegas to store materials said to be connected to UAP. Bigelow has said he is "absolutely convinced" that extraterrestrial life exists and that aliens are present on Earth.[1][2]
Consciousness studies
In June 2020 he founded the Bigelow Institute for Consciousness Studies. In 2021 it offered nearly $1 million in prizes for essays on the best evidence for the survival of human consciousness after death; the first prize went to parapsychology writer Jeffrey Mishlove.[1][8]
Personal life and politics
Bigelow married Diane Grammy in 1965; she died in 2020. Their son Rod died in 1992, and his grandson in 2011. He has been a major donor to Republican candidates, including $10 million to Florida governor Ron DeSantis's 2022 re-election campaign and, according to Reuters, $1 million toward Donald Trump's legal fees in 2024.[1][9]
On the UAP Timeline
- Steve Millard's Silicon Valley study group (10 November 1986) — A Silicon Valley investor hosts a private UAP study group including Vallée.
- TRESTLE facility and Ron Blackburn (1990) — A Lockheed engineer tells Vallée he helped build the TRESTLE facility.
- Roper Organization abduction survey (1991) (22 May 1991) — Vallée says Liechtenstein's prince funded a study of alien abduction claims through Robert Bigelow.
- Bigelow recruits consciousness experts (1996) (7 January 1996) — Bigelow tells Vallée he is hiring experts on consciousness.
- Las Vegas data-gathering meeting (1996) (28 January 1996) — Military, scientific and corporate figures meet in Las Vegas about gathering UAP data.
- Bigelow's expectation of a UFO announcement (1998) (11 January 1998) — Bigelow tells Vallée he feels a dramatic UAP development is coming soon.
- Blackburn–Warmkessel drag reduction patent (22 August 1998) — Lockheed's Ron Blackburn patents a technology to improve vehicle efficiency.
- Bigelow's contact contingency planning (1999) (8 January 1999) — Bigelow discusses the need for a plan if alien contact were confirmed.
- Proposal for a new Project Blue Book (2000) (24 January 2000) — Bigelow tells Vallée of an idea to push Congress for a new Project Blue Book.
- NIDS black triangle study (3 November 2001) — Over 150 black triangle sightings are tallied at a NIDS meeting.
- Arlington Institute contact scenario exercises (14 September 2003) — Puthoff took part in a think tank's role-play of possible alien contact scenarios.
- DIA interest in Skinwalker Ranch (21 October 2007) — Bigelow says the DIA expressed interest in strange events at Skinwalker Ranch.
- AAWSAP begins (2008) (2 October 2008) — Bigelow tells Vallée the DIA's AAWSAP project has started but promised access hasn't arrived.
- MUFON–BAASS contract (17 October 2008) — MUFON forms a technical team that signs a contract with Bigelow's company.
- Zurich AAWSAP meeting (24 November 2008) — Vallée meets possible AAWSAP partners in Zurich.
- Brandon Fugal's conviction (27 October 2022) — Skinwalker Ranch owner Brandon Fugal says senior figures convinced him reverse engineering is real.
References
- Robert Bigelow — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
- "Glowing Auras and 'Black Money': The Pentagon's Mysterious U.F.O. Program", The New York Times (16 Dec 2017) · nytimes.com · archived copy
- David M. Ewalt, "Cosmic Landlord", Forbes (2011) · forbes.com · archived copy
- "Bigelow's second orbital module launches into space", Space.com (28 Jun 2007) · space.com · archived copy
- "NASA Cargo Headed to Space Station Includes Habitat Prototype", NASA (8 Apr 2016) · nasa.gov · archived copy
- "Bigelow Aerospace lays off entire workforce", SpaceNews (23 Mar 2020) · spacenews.com · archived copy
- Zack Van Eyck, "Frequent Fliers?", Deseret News (30 Jun 1996) · deseret.com · archived copy
- Ralph Blumenthal, "Can Robert Bigelow (and the Rest of Us) Survive Death?", The New York Times (21 Jan 2021) · nytimes.com · archived copy
- "Hotelier Robert Bigelow gives Trump $1 million for legal fees", Reuters (30 Jan 2024) · reuters.com · 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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