Why I Think Jay Stratton's CBS Interview Doesn't Add Up on UFO Evidence

Jay Stratton is promoting his book, Out of the Shadows, and on CBS News he told the interviewer that the government has the proof of non-human intelligence. In my opinion, that isn't true. His own book describes evidence from his house, and much of what he said in that interview either contradicts itself or rests on things he can't possibly know.

Stratton's description of his own role is something I'd like to see paperwork for

The CBS interviewer noted that the book took 10 months to get cleared for publication and asked why he wrote it. Stratton answered that he was speaking "as the most senior US official to ever investigate UAP and non-human intelligence," and that he felt a responsibility to come forward because "the world deserves to know the truth."

Something has always bothered me about that statement. He wasn't tasked by the government to study non-human intelligent life. He wasn't tasked to study aliens. He was looking at UAPs, things people didn't understand. To be honest, I'm not even sure what he was tasked with. I'd like to see some paperwork, because we're taking his word for it, and at this point Jay Stratton's word holds very little value to me.

Stratton claims his DIA program uncovered the Legacy Program, but where's the evidence?

The interviewer asked about a passage in the book where a respected colleague pulled Stratton into his office and warned that he was "poking a hornet's nest" and didn't want to get stung. Stratton said that when he created a program at the Defense Intelligence Agency, his team uncovered a deeply hidden program called the Legacy Program. He said it's made up of organizations such as the CIA, the Air Force, the Department of Energy and defense contractors, which have for decades been retrieving and reverse engineering craft of non-human origin. He tied the warning to protecting an 80 year monopoly on that secret.

I'd never heard this before. It's a bombshell, a made up one like all of them. I use the word bombshell because these guys make claims one after another that, if true, would change humanity forever, and they say them like it's nothing. If his program uncovered the legacy program, then disclosure is solved. So why didn't those documents get released in the tranches? Stratton is advising on the tranches, and files from his program have come out. Where's the evidence? I think it's because it isn't true.

Stratton says things without evidence, and we're supposed to take his word because he's a government official. So the government has been lying to us, and now a government official tells us the truth, and we're supposed to believe that. That doesn't make sense to me.

The claim that 15 Pentagon officials are read in can't be known

Another claim being made comes from someone who says he asked a Pentagon official who had eyes on some of these special access programs how many people at the Pentagon have intimate knowledge of the legacy program. The answer he says he got was 15 officials, and he said he fully concurs with that assessment, adding that the official would know because he was involved in the allocation of funds to special access programs.

How does this person know how many people in the Pentagon are fully read into crash retrieval? It's impossible for him to know. He may disagree and say he knows, but he can't prove it 100%, because he's a mouthpiece for sources. That's what it has become with podcasters, reporters, journalists and YouTubers who have sources: they repeat what they're told, like an AI you type a phrase into.

It also conflicts with other claims. Only 15 people being read in wouldn't make any sense if Stratton and OAP uncovered the legacy program back in 2008. These statements all conflict with each other once you start adding them up. They're all supposed to be credible, so something's not right, probably because they're lying. The question then is whether they're lying because something is true, or because they're hiding something else.

Maybe the alien story is a distraction

Is this all a distraction? That idea came up in a conversation on Joe Rogan's podcast a few months ago with a friend of his. The point made in that discussion was that they keep many balls in the air so people can't fight everything at once, asking whether people care more about the Epstein files or UFO disclosure, and that it seemed "pretty nefarious" that groups could be distracted with aliens or with a fight that was coming up.

Maybe it is. Maybe they're using aliens to distract us from the real thing. People aren't talking about the Iran war anymore or other government policies. They're focused on aliens and asking the government to please give them the truth.

Meanwhile, Stratton puts out a book saying his life is in danger, and even writes that he'll face repercussions for publishing it. Yet he's on every major news outlet, has a number one book and has a new television series coming out. Those are some lucrative repercussions. I have no problem with making money off this; I do it myself. Just be transparent. Why can't he say that, based on his research and investigations, this is what he thinks is going on? Instead he says he knows, 100% definitively, which is impossible.

"It was my job to know" is the answer that makes people think it's a hoax

Asked what he'd say to people who think this is all a hoax, or that the craft are China or Russia spying, Stratton said it was his job to know. He said he was responsible at the DIA for emerging and disruptive threats, had insight into the most classified programs going out 20, 30 and 40 years, and was an expert on Russia, China, Iran and other adversaries. He described a colleague bringing him imagery of a triangle craft flying over a missile silo in a way he couldn't explain as an aerospace engineer, effectively defying gravity. He checked whether it was ours or someone else's, found it wasn't, looked across the government for a UFO program, found none, and created one at the DIA.

That response is exactly why people think it's a hoax. He's saying he was in a position to know every project the US government was working on. That's not true, and no one person knows all of that. If he can't guarantee it isn't American technology, how can he verify every other country's, not only what they have now but what they'll have 50 years from now? He moved straight to aliens from something impossible for him to know. That does not convince me this isn't a hoax.

No offense, but that's ignorant, and he doesn't seem like an ignorant guy. So my opinion is he's lying about that. Or he's exaggerating, or he's quite delusional, or maybe more ignorant than I thought. I don't know. Government is made up of human beings, and human beings, myself included, can be ignorant, crazy or delusional, even in high positions with high clearances. And Stratton wasn't the only one with that kind of access. Why aren't the others talking about aliens?

Avi Loeb points to the same contradictions I see

I'm not the only one saying this. Asked how much weight to put on Stratton's claims, Avi Loeb said that "without evidence they don't carry much weight." He pointed to an internal contradiction: Stratton says there's a race between the United States, Russia and China to reverse engineer alien technology, while also arguing that the president is being shielded from the truth. Loeb said he can't imagine a race between nations without the president's knowledge, and that "makes very little sense to me." He added that he had not seen any evidence indicating beyond doubt that we're dealing with alien visitation.

If China's leadership knows and Russia's leadership knows but America's doesn't, then we're not in the race at all. We're on the sidelines. Claims made with no evidence can be dismissed with no evidence. What is a scientist supposed to do with a story? Nothing.

We're in the age of stories, not the age of proof

Stratton was part of The Age of Disclosure, and I think they way overstepped. We're in the age of stories. We need to move to the age of proof, and then we can get to the age of disclosure. These people bypassed proof, telling us it's safe and tucked away, and then they change the subject.

Just because the government may be lying about UFOs and aliens doesn't mean UFOs and aliens don't exist. In my opinion, the phenomenon is separate from the government push for disclosure. There are many paths: government disclosure, citizen disclosure, scientific and academic disclosure, and alien disclosure, where they reveal themselves. Government disclosure is the hardest. Going up against the most powerful nation in history to make it reveal a secret it spent 80 years covering up is a foolish route if it's true. Do you think the phenomenon only appears behind classified papers? Alien disclosure is out of our hands, and that's catastrophic disclosure, which I wouldn't mind. We should be focused on citizen and scientific disclosure.

Stratton says he's had many experiences at his house, happening weekly with his family. Great. Set up sensors and cameras, collect the data, and we can prove it now. Why doesn't that happen?

Stratton tells the public to push for the evidence instead of releasing it himself

Asked what the truth is, Stratton said we're not the only intelligent life, that we don't know the intent of the non-human intelligence here, that there is ongoing UAP activity over sensitive military and nuclear sites, and that on top of that, UAP poses a significant safety of flight concern for military and civilian aviation. He said the president released a directive in February 2026 to declassify all UAP information, that the president is working hard and "the system is blocking him," and he urged people to contact their representatives because "the proof is there."

So it's up to us? How about you do it? All the people putting out books and TV shows and getting lucrative deals are the ones making the claims. Instead of press tours, why aren't they working to get the evidence out? Stratton has allegedly been advising; why isn't he providing the proof?

A celebrity endorsement and a book tour instead of testimony

Oz the Mentalist posted an endorsement, thanking Dan Farah for sending the book, recommending The Age of Disclosure, and saying he stayed up until 1:20 a.m. and "could not put this book down." I found it funny that the guy who literally lies for a living is promoting Stratton's book. From how social media and marketing work, I think it's clearly a paid promotion. This is the man who guessed Joe Rogan's PIN on his podcast.

I bought the book. My problem is where's the evidence? I'm fine with stories that come with evidence. Maybe Stratton is paying for the sins of everyone who came before him with only stories. People are tired of it. Only a few people can make a lot of money on this, and I think he's taking advantage of that. David Grusch said he wasn't a priority. Stratton hasn't testified before Congress in an open hearing. I think that's because his book hadn't come out, and I bet more stories will surface for round two and the TV show. If you want me to take it as truth, I need more.

"The government has the proof" contradicts his own book

Asked whether he has his own evidence, Stratton said: "The government has the proof." He called what is coming out now "the wave tops," said officials are taking a careful approach to protect national security, sensors and capabilities, and cited a 2003 study commissioned under President Bush that brought in experts in religion, economics, physics and engineering to ask whether America was ready. He said they decided it wasn't then, but he feels Americans can handle the truth now.

That's not true. In my opinion, he lied. In his book he says he has doorbell camera style imagery from his house of an orb flying down from the sky and dissipating into the ground. He says his son was attacked by orbs, that he saw a nine foot being at his house, and that his family is constantly dealing with the phenomenon. How is that not evidence? Anyone who reads the book will notice it doesn't make sense.

The study is hypothetical and doesn't mean anything; studies are done on all kinds of things, including zombie attacks. David Grusch used the same study, also mentioned by Hal Puthoff, asking why it would exist if it weren't true. That's the point: it's about situations that could happen, not ones that have. It's the same thinking as Stratton saying he checked every country and every person on the planet, so it must be aliens. I'm glad Avi Loeb and others are standing up to this. The more people get involved, the more will demand proof. Even Dr. Phil says people are telling him about bodies, but until he sees it, he doesn't believe it. That's where people are going to be: show me the aliens.