Ultraterrestrial hypothesis paper

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Contents 7
Ultraterrestrial hypothesis paper
Hal Puthoff
Hal Puthoff Photo: CIA · Public domain · via Wikimedia Commons
Date31 July 2022
TopicsBeings & bodies (topic)
PeopleHarold Puthoff, John Keel, Jacques Vallée
TestimonyShellenberger testimony, p. 207
Year2022 in UFO history
Timeline2022 on the UAP Timeline
Sources4

In 2022 physicist Hal Puthoff published "Ultraterrestrial Models" in the Journal of Cosmology, a paper reviewing possible explanations for UAP, including the "ultraterrestrial" idea that they might come from an advanced intelligence hidden on Earth rather than from other planets.[1][2]

The paper

Illustration of an open book about flying saucers
Illustration: an open book about flying saucers. An artist's impression drawn for this site, not a photograph of the event.

The paper, released around July 2022 and published in volume 29 of the Journal of Cosmology, surveys several frameworks: the extraterrestrial hypothesis, hidden "breakaway" human civilisations, time travellers, extradimensional beings and intelligences native to Earth. Puthoff argued that the evidence is so diverse and contradictory that no single explanation can yet be chosen, and that each alternative is hard to assess scientifically because it conflicts with current fundamental physics.[1][2][3]

Background

John Keel image from first edition of Jadoo
John Keel image from first edition of Jadoo Photo: Jacket design not credited · Public domain · via Wikimedia Commons

The ultraterrestrial idea has a long history in UFO thought, associated with writers such as John Keel and Jacques Vallée, who argued that UFOs might be part of a phenomenon that has always been on Earth. Puthoff's interest in UAP dates from his remote-viewing work at the Stanford Research Institute in the 1970s through the Pentagon-funded AAWSAP program and To the Stars Academy.[4]

Influence

Illustration of lights in formation over the landscape
Illustration: lights in formation over the landscape. An artist's impression drawn for this site, not a photograph of the event.

In 2024 a group of academics led by Tim Lomas published a paper on the related "cryptoterrestrial hypothesis" — that some UAP might reflect a concealed terrestrial civilisation — which cited Puthoff's paper as a source for the broader ultraterrestrial category.[3]

Assessment

Illustration of official papers and files
Illustration: official papers and files. An artist's impression drawn for this site, not a photograph of the event.

Puthoff's paper is a speculative review, not a report of new evidence.[1][2]

People and topics

Jacques Vallée 2024
Jacques Vallée 2024 Photo: Cmichel67 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · via Wikimedia Commons
  • Harold Puthoff — Physicist who co-founded the SRI remote-viewing research and later worked on AAWSAP and To The Stars Academy.
  • Ultraterrestrial hypothesis — The idea that UAP come from an unknown intelligence on Earth.
  • Unidentified anomalous phenomena — The U.S. government's current term for unidentified objects in the air, in space and underwater.
  • Unidentified flying object — An object in the sky that can't be identified; the older term for UAP.
  • John Keel — Writer and author of The Mothman Prophecies who popularized the Men in Black.
  • Jacques Vallée — Computer scientist and astronomer, author of the Forbidden Science journals and a central figure in UFO research.
  • SRI International — The research institute where the government's remote-viewing studies began.
  • AAWSAP — The Defense Intelligence Agency's UAP research program of 2008–2010, carried out by Bigelow Aerospace Advanced Space Studies.
  • To The Stars Academy — The company founded by Tom DeLonge in 2017 that released the Navy UAP videos.

On the Timeline

Illustration of wreckage at a crash site
Illustration: wreckage at a crash site. An artist's impression drawn for this site, not a photograph of the event.

See every 2022 event on the UAP Timeline →

References

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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