UFO Investigations / Dangers of Disclosure

About the show

In the first half, guest host George Knapp spoke with James Lacatski, a former program manager of the Advanced Aerospace Weapons Systems Application Program (AAWSAP), about the largest government-funded UFO investigation in US history. The Defense Intelligence Agency approved AAWSAP in 2008, building on observations by officers who had documented "dramatic UFO incidents mostly involving military sites or sensitive national security facilities" beginning in 2006. Lacatski explained that the program expanded significantly beyond its predecessors, eventually employing dozens of full-time investigators—ex-military personnel, former law enforcement, scientists, and engineers—alongside hundreds of additional operatives through contractor partnerships.

Over 27 months of operation, AAWSAP allegedly assembled "the largest data warehouse of UFO cases in the world," compiled from approximately 30,000 pages of analyst notes, photographs, and field reports. Lacatski emphasized that the work remained classified: "None of this material has been leaked, none of it released by the government." Among the most notable cases that AAWSAP investigated was the 2004 Tic Tac incident. Lacatski stated unequivocally: "It's not us, this is not technology that exists on Earth that we know of."

The program's scope extended far beyond conventional aircraft sightings. It also investigated phenomena ranging from poltergeist activity and "hitchhiker" effects (paranormal activity following witnesses home) to what Lacatski called "encounters with the dead." A significant portion of Lacatski's account focused on Skinwalker Ranch. He recounted an encounter during his first ten minutes at the property: "I'm sitting in the living room of the ranch manager's house... and there's something floating in the kitchen that was quite unexpected."

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In the second half, filmmaker Michael Lazovsky discussed his new film Sleeping Dog, which documents the career of journalist Jeremy Corbell and the inherent risks he's faced while reporting on UFOs. Lazovsky, a horror filmmaker by trade, explained how he applied the tension-building techniques of his genre to document Corbell's life. He spent months sifting through hundreds of hours of archival footage of the late John Lear, whom Corbell spent years documenting. Corbell himself also joined the conversation, sharing the personal risk involved in his brand of journalism.

Lazovsky recounted moments of genuine fear while filming Corbell, particularly when he witnessed high-level intelligence engagement. "I had to pull out my phone... and he recorded an entire message as to what would happen in the case of his passing," Lazovsky said. "That was a turning point for me, where I felt like this stuff was serious and real." Corbell echoed this sentiment, describing the "hall of mirrors" that whistleblowers and journalists navigate. He criticized the CIA for allegedly spying on UAP whistleblowers, a claim he said was confirmed under oath in Congress. "It's really easy for people to call us CIA disinformation agents and to dehumanize what it takes to do the reporting that we do," Corbell remarked.

On the day of the premiere, the US government dropped a massive cache of UAP files, including seven of the eight videos featured in the film. Corbell noted the irony of the government officially releasing footage they had previously refused to comment on. "Everything has been provoked," he stated.

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