The Micah Hanks Program

On June 24, 1947, pilot Kenneth Arnold was flying over Mount Rainier Washington when he observed a group of unusual flying objects that he could not identify. Sharing news of his sighting when he landed shortly afterward, Arnold's account soon made it into American newspapers, and even came to the attention of the United States government. In short, the era of the "Flying Saucer" had begun, giving...

Widespread interest in unidentified aerial phenomena, as well as their possible nature and origins, has surged since 2017. World governments, scientists, and civilian organizations have all begun to weigh in on the matter, with the latest effort being announced by NASA, which plans to conduct its own study of the phenomena beginning in late 2022.  However, with the question over UAP and their orig...

The Uintah Basin is one of Utah's most diversely scenic regions. Nestled in the northeastern corner of the state, it is also the location of one of the most infamous alleged hotspots for UFO sightings, cattle mutilations, and other unexplained phenomena in the world: Skinwalker Ranch.  This week on The Micah Hanks Program, we look at the history of the Uintah Basin dating back to prehistoric times...

Since the late 1940s, sightings of unidentified flying objects have made headlines across America and other parts of the world. While a seemingly global phenomenon, the collection of data on the UFO subject has benefited greatly from serious investigators who have narrowed the focus of their efforts to specific regions or areas of study.  Pennsylvania's Stan Gordon is perhaps one of the best-known...

In recent days, a historic Congressional hearing was held before the House Intelligence Counterterrorism, Counterintelligence, and Counterproliferation Subcommittee. The topic of interest: unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP), and the Pentagon's Airborne Object Identification Management and Synchronization Group (AOIMSG). "UAPs are unexplained. It's true, but they are real," said Representative And...

In 2004, a high-profile UFO incident involving the USS Nimitz  occurred off the California coast. It now represents one of the most widely recognized cases of its kind in the modern debate over unidentified aerial phenomena... but now we know it was not the only military UFO encounter to have occurred that year. Returning to the program this week is filmmaker Dave Beaty, whose reporting for  The D...

Since 2017, many surprising developments have occurred within the study of UFOs, or what the U.S. government and many scientists now prefer to call UAP. But how much has really changed since the UFO mystery began decades ago, and what have we learned in recent years about the phenomenon?  Joining us to discuss all this and more is journalist Alejandro Rojas, who shares his insights on the current...

During the 1980s, several members of the UFO research community were targeted as part of one or more disinformation campaigns that aimed to plant false information. Ranging from stories of UFO crashes and cattle mutilations, to underground bases at places like Dulce, New Mexico, and even an ongoing war with hostile extraterrestrials, several ideas were successfully presented to UFO researchers whi...

In the summer of 1947, news broke that a crashed flying saucer had been recovered by the U.S. Air Force on a remote ranch in New Mexico. Then, just one day later, the story was withdrawn, and the object was said to have merely been a weather balloon. Decades later the story would resurface, giving rise to one of the greatest controversies in the history of UFOs: the Roswell Incident.  Joining us t...

Since the early 2000s, several high-profile incidents involving Navy and other military encounters with unidentified aircraft have occurred. While some of the strange objects seem very out of this world, others sound far more like drone or similar unmanned aircraft with possibly very down-to-earth origins... and yet the ultimate source of these "mystery drones" and other unusual aircraft remains u...

Throughout human history, stories have been shared that involve unusual occurrences and meetings with other forms of intelligence. According to many ancient traditions, these beings are recognized by such names as angels, demons, deities, or gods; but what is the real source behind such supernatural beliefs?  Joining us this week is Dr. Gregory L. Little, a longtime researcher into areas that incl...

It represents one of history and archaeology's greatest mysteries: how did the ancient Egyptians build the pyramids? While much is known about the construction of these impressive ancient monuments, lingering questions have led some researchers in esoteric directions while searching for clues about these wonders of the ancient world.  This week, we go in pursuit of "anomalous archaeology", and the...

Last summer, just days before a controversial report on unidentified aerial phenomena appeared online at the website of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, Congress received a classified briefing on some of the details that were  not  included in the public report. That version of the UAP Task Force's "Preliminary Assessment" remained unrevealed to the public... until now.  John G...

Since the late 1940s, unidentified aerial phenomena reported in our skies have remained an issue on the public mind, and an occasional focus of various government agencies. As significant as the UFO problem is, of equal concern to many is the transparency government agencies display about their involvement with the phenomenon and its study.  This week, we begin with a report on UAP developments in...

During World War I, a Canadian soldier named Will Bird was serving in Europe when he recovered a remarkable artifact from a crater left by explosives that removed the earth at Amiens, France. The recovery of the mysterious weapon, dating back to the time of Julius Caesar, was only one of the mysterious occurrences that Bird would experience during the war.  Joining us to discuss Bird's story, as w...

Since the early years of the modern UFO enigma, sightings of strange aircraft of unknown origins have been reported in countries throughout the world. Less common than the sightings of UFO craft themselves are the reports of credible observations of the occupants of these strange machines, which throughout the range of collected reports often share one thing in common: the UFO occupants appear to...

On the night of December 29, 1980, Betty Cash, her friend Vicky Landrum, and Vicky's grandson Colby were traveling home from dinner when they observed a bright light above the highway ahead of them in the distance. What happened over the course of the next half hour would forever change their lives, and remains one of the most widely-discussed UFO incidents of all time.  However, a number of troub...

For more than 70 years, unidentified aerial phenomena have been observed over the United States, and since the end of World War II, several U.S. Presidents have publicly addressed the issue of these aerial mysteries, and how our military addresses the problem.  Joining us on this President's Day edition of  The Micah Hanks Program  is Bryce Zabel, a past CNN correspondent and well-known television...

In 1953, an unidentified flying object was spotted on radar as it passed over the Great Lakes. Lt. Felix Moncla and his radar observer were scrambled to investigate the mystery aircraft in an all-weather, twin-engine Northrop F-89 Scorpion... and vanished as they closed in on the UFO. Neither the pilot, his radar observer, nor their aircraft was ever located.  The strange disappearance of Felix Mo...

Since the end of Project Blue Book, the longest-running systematic government study of UFOs, the United States Air Force has kept the study of unidentified aerial phenomena at arm's length. However, as intelligence agencies and other branches of the military were asked to supply information to the UAP Task Force in advance of the June 2021 ODNI report, how much information - if any - was supplied...

In June 2021, a widely-anticipated report on unidentified aerial phenomena was delivered to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, which resulted in widespread discussion about these unusual objects in our skies. What are they, where are they from, and what do intelligence officials know about them?  Joining us this week to discuss all of these possibilities is Cristina Gomez, who ho...

In 1951, a series of strange UFO sightings occurred over the United States where USAF pilots, radar operators, and others attempted to establish the identities of unidentified aircraft. Relying on what was at the time still classified Cold War-era technology, in one striking incident in the summer of that year a group of radar operators in Washington almost succeeded.  This week on The Micah Hanks...

In 1980, Paul Bennewitz was convinced that he was about to crack open the entire UFO mystery... and as his paranoia over what he believed were alien signals he had intercepted near Kirtland Air Force Base increased, his mental health continued to decline.  The strange tale of Paul Bennewitz is only one of the areas that researcher Greg Bishop has explored in books like Project Beta: The Story of P...

Throughout history, accounts of people's encounters and interactions with "others" have been recorded in folklore from around the world. Do these narratives always convey pure mythology, or do some of these accounts suggest something deeper, which could in some ways even be related to phenomena like UAP?  Joining us this week to discuss this concept is researcher Joshua Cutchin, author of books th...

On August 21, 1955, one of the most unusual events in early UFO history took place near the small town of Kelly outside Hopkinsville, Kentucky. Over the course of several hours that evening, families in the community claimed they were "attacked" by strange little men they believed to have come from a flying saucer they observed.  Although Project Blue Book never officially investigated the case, w...