Eric Wayne Davis

Eric Wayne Davis is an American astrophysicist and propulsion researcher who has spent three decades at the intersection of advanced aerospace science and government-connected UFO research. He holds a PhD in astrophysics from the University of Arizona (1991) and has worked at or consulted for the Air Force Research Laboratory, The Aerospace Corporation, NASA, and the private research lab EarthTech International founded by physicist Hal Puthoff. He is a Full Member of the International Academy of Astronautics, a Fellow of the British Interplanetary Society, and a Lifetime Associate Fellow of the AIAA.

Davis is one of a very small number of credentialed scientists who has publicly stated – repeatedly and unequivocally – that he gained program-level confirmation of a U.S. crash-retrieval and reverse-engineering effort involving non-human technology. His claims are directly at odds with the Pentagon’s official position. They are also among the most specific and technically grounded assertions in the UFO space, which is precisely what makes them significant – and controversial.

Career Timeline

Year	Role	Organization
1983	B.S. Physics & Mathematics	University of Arizona
1991	Ph.D. Astrophysics	University of Arizona
1996–2002	Director of Aerospace Physics & Astrophysics Research	National Institute for Discovery Science (NIDS)
2002–2010	Contract Principal Investigator, Advanced Concepts Office	Air Force Research Laboratory, Edwards AFB
2004–2019	Chief Science Officer & Senior Research Physicist	EarthTech International / Institute for Advanced Studies at Austin
2008–2012	Subcontractor / Researcher	AAWSAP/AATIP (DIA program via Bigelow Aerospace Advanced Space Studies)
2019–2024	Senior Project Engineer	The Aerospace Corporation
2024–present	Chief Scientist	Cohere Technology Group
2024–present	Research Professor	University at Albany

Role in UAP Disclosure

NIDS, Bigelow, and the Path In

Davis’s entry into the UFO field came through Robert Bigelow’s National Institute for Discovery Science, where he was hired in July 1996 as director of aerospace physics and astrophysics research. NIDS investigated anomalous phenomena with a scientific framework, and Davis worked alongside colleagues including Colm Kelleher, George Knapp, and retired Army Colonel John Alexander. The NIDS years gave Davis both a research mandate and a network that would later connect him to government programs.

After NIDS, Davis worked at the Air Force Research Laboratory’s Advanced Concepts Office at Edwards AFB as a contract principal investigator, while simultaneously joining Hal Puthoff’s EarthTech International in Austin. He spent fifteen years at EarthTech, where his published research covered traversable wormholes, negative energy, faster-than-light propulsion concepts, beamed energy propulsion, and directed energy weapons.

AAWSAP, AATIP, and the UAP Task Force

When the Defense Intelligence Agency established the Advanced Aerospace Weapon System Applications Program (AAWSAP) in 2008 – the $22 million effort contracted to Bigelow Aerospace Advanced Space Studies – Davis was among the researchers involved. He later participated in the work informally called AATIP and consulted with the UAP Task Force led by Jay Stratton beginning in 2020.

Davis has described using his security clearances, DIA authorization, and program access to reach individuals at a “programmatic level” within the alleged crash-retrieval effort. He says he could not access craft, materials, or the direct workers – but he reached the leadership and got confirmation that the program was real.

The AARO historical report confirms the basic architecture Davis describes – AAWSAP’s establishment, the Bigelow contract, Senator Harry Reid’s failed bid for SAP protection. What it does not confirm is Davis’s conclusion about crash retrieval.

The Wilson-Davis Memo

Davis is one of two people named in the most controversial document in modern UFO history: the Wilson-Davis memo, a set of notes purportedly from a 2002 meeting between Davis and Vice Admiral Thomas Wilson, then-director of the DIA. In the notes, Wilson reportedly describes being denied access to a crash-retrieval program run by a defense contractor.

The document surfaced publicly through the estate of astronaut Edgar Mitchell. Congressional testimony has cited its provenance. No government body has formally authenticated its contents.

In his March 2026 appearance on American Alchemy with Jesse Michels, Davis made his clearest public statement: “They’re real. They’re legit. They’re 100% accurate.” He also indicated a handwritten original version exists.

Roswell and Crash Retrieval

Davis has publicly stated his conviction level on the 1947 Roswell incident at “100%,” specifying the crash occurred at the Foster Ranch near Corona, New Mexico – not in Roswell itself. He has said the recovered material was “adjudicated to be not of human origin or construct.”

This is directly contradicted by both the USAF’s 1994 and 1997 Roswell reports (which attributed the debris to a Project Mogul balloon array) and AARO’s 2024 historical review, which found no evidence of recovered extraterrestrial technology.

The Missing Physicists Problem

In the same March 2026 interview, Davis confirmed a detail that Eric Weinstein turned into the interview’s central argument: that none of David Grusch’s approximately 40 firsthand witnesses were theoretical or applied physicists. The alleged crash-retrieval programs, Davis said, were staffed entirely by engineers and material scientists, with no theoretical physics capability.

Davis described asking a senior aerospace executive directly: “Where are your physicists?” The answer: “We don’t have any. We never did.”

Weinstein called this “the most important detail in the entire story” – arguing that attempting to reverse-engineer technology that defies the laws of physics without physicists would be either institutional malpractice or evidence that the program does not exist as described.

Named Officials

Davis has publicly identified several individuals in connection with the alleged program:

• Glenn Gaffney – former CIA Director of Science and Technology, whom Davis identified as a portfolio owner of the crash-retrieval program. Public biographies confirm Gaffney’s identity and CIA seniority, though not the UAP-specific role Davis attributes to him.
• James Ryder – former Vice President and General Manager of Lockheed Martin Space Systems’ Advanced Technology Center in Palo Alto. Davis identified Ryder in connection with a proposed UAP material divestment plan. Lockheed Martin records confirm Ryder’s identity and role, though not the crash-retrieval connection.

Notable Statements

“It’s 100%. And it wasn’t in Roswell, New Mexico. It was on the Foster Ranch in Corona, New Mexico.” – American Alchemy with Jesse Michels, March 8, 2026

“We didn’t have theoretical physicist that we could put on this. We’re strictly limited in the number of people on the bigot list.” – American Alchemy with Jesse Michels, March 8, 2026

“They’re real. They’re legit. They’re 100% accurate.” – on the Wilson-Davis memo, American Alchemy with Jesse Michels, March 8, 2026

“It is a crash retrieval. Non-human intelligence, non-human technology.” – American Alchemy with Jesse Michels, March 8, 2026

Key Publications & Appearances

Date	Title / Appearance	Outlet
1991	PhD dissertation: Astrophysics	University of Arizona
2004	Teleportation Physics Study (AFRL report)	Air Force Research Laboratory
2009	Co-author, AAWSAP Defense Intelligence Reference Documents (DIRDs)	DIA / Bigelow Aerospace Advanced Space Studies
2020	New York Times – No Longer in Shadows, Pentagon’s U.F.O. Unit Will Make Some Findings Public	The New York Times
2023	Featured in Age of Disclosure documentary	Various platforms
March 8, 2026	American Alchemy – Eric Weinstein Demands UFO Secrets From Pentagon Scientist	Jesse Michels / Apple Podcasts

Sources

1. Apple Podcasts – Eric Weinstein Demands UFO Secrets From Pentagon Scientist (March 8, 2026)
2. EarthTech International – Publications: Eric W. Davis
3. EarthTech International – Principal Team
4. SPIE – Dr. Eric W. Davis
5. Disclosure Foundation – Eric Davis
6. AARO Historical Report Vol. 1 (March 2024)
7. Wilson-Davis Notes (DocumentCloud)
8. Shellenberger Congressional Testimony (November 2024)
9. NobleReach – Glenn Gaffney
10. Lockheed Martin – James Ryder / DARPA F6 Contract
11. AP – Pentagon study finds no sign of alien life