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Christopher K. Mellon

Former US Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and Senate Intelligence Committee staffer who became a prominent advocate for government transparency on unidentified anomalous phenomena.

Department of Defense (Clinton and George W. Bush administrations); To the Stars Academy of Arts and Science · Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Intelligence; national security affairs adviser · Former government official, private advocate

Christopher K. Mellon is a former senior US government official who served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Intelligence under Presidents Clinton and George W. Bush.1 Prior to his Department of Defense (DoD) role, he worked on Capitol Hill, serving as a legislative assistant to Senator William Cohen and later as a staffer — and subsequently deputy staff director — of the Senate Intelligence Committee.2,3 In these capacities, his work required him to review top-secret Sensitive Compartmented Information projects inside Special Access Programs.4 As Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Intelligence, he oversaw all DoD intelligence activities and Special Access Programs.5 He had access to top-secret government programmes during his tenure.6

Mellon’s involvement with Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena began in earnest around 2017. According to Luis Elizondo, it was Jim Semivan, a mutual contact from the CIA, who informed Mellon about the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP) and directed him towards it.7 At the time, Mellon was serving as an unpaid consultant for the Office of Naval Intelligence.8 He visited Elizondo’s office at the Pentagon, and the two met in early 2017.9 After obtaining the necessary security clearances, Elizondo briefed Mellon for approximately three hours in a secure compartmented information facility (SCIF), sharing reports, photographs, data, and intelligence gathered on UAP efforts.10 Following the briefing, Mellon expressed frustration that, despite having spent years overseeing all Special Access Programs for the DoD, he had had no visibility into the UAP topic.11

In 2017, acting as a private citizen, Mellon met a journalist in a parking lot within the Washington DC Beltway and handed over a padded envelope containing compact discs encoded with three unclassified UAP videos — footage that subsequently appeared in The New York Times.12,13 This action formed part of a broader strategy developed with Elizondo and Jay Stratton to bring the UAP issue to public and congressional attention through the press.14 Shortly afterwards, Mellon joined Luis Elizondo and Harold E. Puthoff in To the Stars Academy of Arts and Science, a commercial venture, where he held the title of national security affairs adviser.15,16 The organisation also featured Steve Justice and Jim Semivan among its members. Mellon, along with Elizondo, Steve Justice, and Puthoff, departed To the Stars Academy in late 2020.17 During his time at the organisation, he published an opinion piece in The Washington Post on 2018-03-09 entitled “The Military Keeps Encountering UFOs. Why Doesn’t the Pentagon Care?"18

Following his departure from To the Stars Academy, Mellon continued to engage in congressional advocacy on UAP matters. He was instrumental in arranging classified briefings for members of Congress, with the first such briefing on retrievals of unexplained objects provided to staff of the Senate Armed Services Committee on 2019-10-21, and to Senate Intelligence Committee staff two days later.19 He proposed that Congress request an unclassified public report on UAP from the Director of National Intelligence.20 During the COVID-19 pandemic, Elizondo and Mellon worked together to insert legislative language requiring the Department of Defense (DoD) to produce a UAP report, and much of the wording in Senate Report 116-233 on UAP is attributed to Mellon.21,22 Mellon and Elizondo also participated in a 60 Minutes story on UAP alongside David Fravor and others.

Regarding the nature of observed UAP, Mellon has stated with a high degree of confidence that the phenomena observed are not US technology, drawing on his prior positions within the DoD.23 He has stated that the possibility of an alien origin must be entertained.24 In January 2023, he acknowledged having spoken with credible people who claim the United States has evidence of alien technology in its possession.25 He has also referenced material samples reportedly associated with UAP that are said to possess different isotopic ratios from anything normally found on Earth.26 Mellon has been critical of institutional responses to UAP, accusing the US Air Force of being notably unhelpful when he and Elizondo facilitated meetings between Navy pilots and congressional oversight committees,27 and stating that NORAD did not include thousands of uncorrelated radar tracks in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) report.28 His accounts of these efforts feature prominently in Luis Elizondo’s book Imminent: Inside the Pentagon’s Hunt for UFOs, for which Mellon wrote the foreword, dated 2024-05-16.

  1. Mellon served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Intelligence in the Clinton and George W. Bush administrations.
    “Christopher Mellon served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Intelligence for Presidents Clinton and George W. Bush”
    Navy Pilots Describe Encounters with UFOs (60 Minutes) 00:10:57.5
  2. Mellon served as deputy staff director of the Senate Intelligence Committee.
    “Being a former deputy staff director of the Senate Intelligence Committee himself”
    Imminent: Inside the Pentagon's Hunt for UFOs — Chapter 2 (image only) Chapter 23, paragraph 7
  3. Mellon served as a staffer to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and previously as a legislative assistant for Senator William Cohen.
    “A staffer to the powerful US Senate Select Committee on Intelligence in Washington DC, Mellon had previously worked as a legislative assistant for US Senator William Cohen, later to become Defence Secretary.”
    Ross Coulthart UAP Book - Prologue, Chapter 1 & Chapter 2 paragraph 27
  4. Mellon's Senate Intelligence Committee role required him to review top-secret Sensitive Compartmented Information projects inside Special Access Programs.
    “His role on the Senate Intelligence Committee staff required him to review top-secret Sensitive Compartmented Information (SCI) projects inside Special Access Programs (SAPs), most of which still remain classified.”
    Ross Coulthart UAP Book - Prologue, Chapter 1 & Chapter 2 paragraph 29
  5. Mellon oversaw all DoD intelligence activities and Special Access Programs in his role as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Intelligence.
    “He oversaw all Department of Defense intelligence activities and Special Access Programs (SAPs).”
    Imminent: Inside the Pentagon's Hunt for UFOs — Chapter 2 (image only) Chapter 18, paragraph 5
  6. Mellon had access to top-secret government programmes during his tenure.
    “had access to top-secret government programs”
    Navy Pilots Describe Encounters with UFOs (60 Minutes) 00:11:04.3
  7. Jim Semivan told Elizondo he was the person who had informed Mellon about AATIP and where to find the programme.
    “After Chris left, I heard from Jim Semivan, who revealed that he was the one who told Chris about AATIP and where to find us.”
    Imminent: Inside the Pentagon's Hunt for UFOs — Chapter 2 (image only) Chapter 18, paragraph 11
  8. In 2017 Mellon was an unpaid consultant for the Office of Naval Intelligence.
    “In 2017, at the time we met, I was an unpaid consultant for the Office of Naval Intelligence”
    Imminent: Inside the Pentagon's Hunt for UFOs — Chapter 2 (image only) Foreword, paragraph 6
  9. Mellon first met Elizondo at a closed-door Pentagon meeting early in 2017.
    “When I first met Lue at a closed-door Pentagon meeting early in 2017”
    Imminent: Inside the Pentagon's Hunt for UFOs — Chapter 2 (image only) Foreword, paragraph 2
  10. Elizondo briefed Mellon for approximately three hours in a SCIF conference room.
    “For the next three hours, I proceeded to share with Chris our reports, photographs, pictures, and data, and intel we had gathered on legacy efforts. Chris was transfixed by the large monitor as videos rolled along with pilot audio.”
    Imminent: Inside the Pentagon's Hunt for UFOs — Chapter 2 (image only) Chapter 18, paragraph 17
  11. After the briefing, Mellon expressed frustration that he had spent years overseeing all SAPs for the DoD but had zero visibility into the UAP topic.
    “He had spent years having oversight of all the SAPs for the DoD and he admitted to us that he had zero visibility into the UAP topic.”
    Imminent: Inside the Pentagon's Hunt for UFOs — Chapter 2 (image only) Chapter 18, paragraph 18
  12. Mellon, as a private citizen in 2017, met a journalist in a parking lot and handed over a padded envelope containing CDs encoded with three unclassified UAP videos.
    “Chris Mellon took to a parking lot somewhere inside the Beltway, where he met with a journalist he knew. Their conversation was brief, because everything they had to say to each other had already been said via mobile phones. Mellon handed over a padded envelope filled with CDs encoded with data. He had used his contacts at the Pentagon to get copies of the three unclassified UAP videos.”
    Imminent: Inside the Pentagon's Hunt for UFOs — Chapter 2 (image only) Chapter 20, paragraph 76
  13. Mellon emerged as the source who released the now famous UAP videos to The New York Times.
    “he emerged as the source who released to The New York Times those now famous videos”
    The UFO Phenomenon | Full Documentary 2021 | 7NEWS Spotlight 00:08:04
  14. Elizondo, Mellon, and Stratton concluded the only way to change the Pentagon's handling of UAP was to get Congress to force change, and the way to get Congress's attention was to involve the press.
    “Wargaming it with Jay and Chris Mellon, we realized that the only way to change the way the Pentagon was handling this was to get Congress to make them change. And as Mellon reminded us, the way to get Congress to pay attention was to take it to the streets and get the press involved.”
    Imminent: Inside the Pentagon's Hunt for UFOs — Chapter 2 (image only) Chapter 20, paragraph 30
  15. After leaving the Pentagon, Elizondo joined Puthoff and Mellon in a new commercial venture called To the Stars Academy of Arts and Science.
    “Mr. Elizondo has now joined Mr. Puthoff and another former Defense Department official, Christopher K. Mellon, who was a deputy assistant secretary of defense for intelligence, in a new commercial venture called To the Stars Academy of Arts and Science.”
    Glowing Auras and 'Black Money': The Pentagon's Mysterious U.F.O. Program (2017) paragraph 41
  16. Mellon held the title of national security affairs adviser at To the Stars Academy of Arts and Science.
    “Mellon, like Elizondo, works for To the Stars (his title, according to the company's website, is national security affairs adviser).”
    The Media Loves This UFO Expert Who Says He Worked for an Obscure Pentagon Program. Did He? paragraph 13
  17. In late 2020, TTSA imploded with the departure of Mellon, Elizondo, Justice, and subsequently Puthoff.
    “in late 2020, TTSA imploded. Speculation had mounted for months that former Defence Department mandarin Christopher Mellon and key figures Luis Elizondo and Steve Justice were leaving TTSA... Tom DeLonge several more months to formally admit to the Securities Exchange Commission not only their departure, but also, a week later, Dr Hal Puthoff's resignation as a director.”
    Ross Coulthart UAP Book - Prologue, Chapter 1 & Chapter 2 Chapter 16, paragraph 21
  18. Mellon published an opinion piece in The Washington Post on 9 March 2018 titled 'The Military Keeps Encountering UFOs. Why Doesn't the Pentagon Care?'
    “Christopher Mellon, 'The Military Keeps Encountering UFOs. Why Doesn't the Pentagon Care?', The Washington Post, 9 March 2018.”
    Ross Coulthart UAP Book - Prologue, Chapter 1 & Chapter 2 Chapter 16, endnote 23
  19. The first classified briefing facilitated by Mellon on retrievals of unexplained objects was provided to Senate Armed Services Committee staff on 2019-10-21, and to Senate Intelligence Committee staff two days later.
    “The first briefing he facilitated on retrievals of unexplained objects was provided to staff members of the Senate Armed Services Committee on Oct. 21, 2019, and to staff members of the Senate Intelligence Committee two days later”
    Intelligence Officials Say U.S. Has Retrieved Craft of Non-Human Origin paragraph 42
  20. Mellon proposed that an oversight committee request an unclassified public report on UAP from the Director of National Intelligence.
    “Chris… proposed a simple but brilliant solution: have one of the oversight committees request an unclassified public report on UAP from the Director of National Intelligence. The beauty of this approach was that it offered a way to elevate the UAP issue and burnish its legitimacy without requiring the expenditure of public funds.”
    Imminent: Inside the Pentagon's Hunt for UFOs — Chapter 2 (image only) Chapter 23, paragraph 16
  21. Elizondo and Mellon managed to insert language in the second COVID bill stipulating that the DoD had to release a UAP report by the following summer.
    “We did in fact manage to insert language in the second Covid bill stipulating that the DoD had to release a UAP report by the following summer.”
    Imminent: Inside the Pentagon's Hunt for UFOs — Chapter 2 (image only) Chapter 23, paragraph 30
  22. Much of the wording in Senate Report 116-233 on UAP came directly from Mellon.
    “If you look at what appears in Senate Report 116-233, you'll find that much of the wording came directly from Chris Mellon's pen.”
    Imminent: Inside the Pentagon's Hunt for UFOs — Chapter 2 (image only) Chapter 23, paragraph 30
  23. Mellon stated with a high degree of confidence that the UAPs observed are not US technology.
    “So it's not us, that's one thing we know. ... I could say that with a very high degree of confidence, in part because of the positions I held in the department, and I know the process.”
    Navy Pilots Describe Encounters with UFOs (60 Minutes) 00:11:08.4
  24. Mellon stated that the possibility that UAPs are alien must be entertained.
    “I think that we have to entertain that possibility.”
    The UFO Phenomenon | Full Documentary 2021 | 7NEWS Spotlight 00:09:34
  25. Mellon acknowledged in January 2023 that he had spoken with credible people who claim the US has evidence of alien technology in its possession.
    “former senior DOD official Christopher Mellon acknowledged in January 2023, 'I've spoken with several credible people who claim the US has evidence of alien technology in its possession.'”
    Ross Coulthart UAP Book - Prologue, Chapter 1 & Chapter 2 Chapter 25
  26. Mellon stated that some UAP-related material samples have different isotopic ratios than anything normally found on Earth.
    “'Some of these materials have different ratios than anything normally found on Earth, so it raises the question of whether someone was manipulating those in a lab somewhere on Earth at great expense, or whether these materials actually came from outside the solar system, formed in a different stellar explosion and different solar system.'”
    Ross Coulthart UAP Book - Prologue, Chapter 1 & Chapter 2 Chapter 18, paragraph 22
  27. Mellon accused the US Air Force of being notably unhelpful to inquiries on UAPs when he and Elizondo facilitated meetings between Navy pilots and congressional oversight committees.
    “Mellon went on to savage the US Air Force for being, 'notably unhelpful [his emphasis], if not hostile to inquiries on the subject,' when he and Luis Elizondo facilitated meetings between US Navy pilots and the congressional oversight committees.”
    Ross Coulthart UAP Book - Prologue, Chapter 1 & Chapter 2 Chapter 24, paragraph 24
  28. Mellon stated that NORAD did not include in the ODNI report any of the thousands of uncorrelated tracks its radars identify each year over North America.
    “It is my understanding that NORAD did not include in the ODNI report any of the thousands of 'Uncorrelated Tracks' that its radars identify each year over North America.”
    Ross Coulthart UAP Book - Prologue, Chapter 1 & Chapter 2 Chapter 24, paragraph 23

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