--- alias: - Jake Barber - Jacob Barber - Jacob "Jake" Barber - Jake Barber (whistleblower) category: UFO & Anomalous Phenomena created: 2026-10-03 relations: - fn: 1 role: airman and aerospace mechanic in the late 1990s, per NewsNation's review of his records start: 1990s type: employed_by with: '[[United States Air Force]]' - fn: 2 role: founder, per NewsNation start: 2024-11 type: founded with: '[[Sky Watcher]]' - fn: 3 role: NewsNation reported on February 24, 2025 that the department confirmed it was investigating his claims start: 2025-02-24 type: subject_of with: '[[Department of Defense]]' - fn: 1 role: NewsNation reported it confirmed that Barber met staffers for Senator Rubio in fall 2024 start: 2024-09 type: briefed with: '[[Marco Rubio]]' summary: Former Air Force airman and self-described contractor helicopter pilot who told NewsNation in January 2025 that he recovered non-human craft for a covert program, and who founded the Skywatcher group. tags: - Person - UAP - Whistleblower - AirForce - Contractor - Psionics updated: 2026-10-03 --- Jacob "Jake" Barber is a former [United States Air Force](/organizations/us-air-force/) airman who told NewsNation in January 2025 that he had spent about 30 years working "in both an official and unofficial capacity for the [United States](/places/united-states/) government and its partners in the intelligence community," that he had been contracted as a helicopter pilot on a team that retrieved crashed aircraft at "an undisclosed testing facility in the desert," and that some of what the team recovered was of non-human origin.[^1] He is the founder of [Sky Watcher](/organizations/sky-watcher/).[^2] ### Service record as reported NewsNation reporter [Ross Coulthart](/people/ross-coulthart/) stated that the network "checked Barber's records and confirmed that he was an airman in the [U.S. Air Force](/organizations/us-air-force/) who worked as an aerospace mechanic in the late 1990s," and wrote that he "was also recruited into Air Force Special Operations, known as 'combat control.'"[^1] The report credits him with a NATO top-secret clearance from service in Bosnia and an award for heroism, and says NewsNation "spoke with three former special operations soldiers who corroborated Barber's credentials," one of whom, Col. John Blitch, NewsNation wrote, "believes Barber's claim wholeheartedly."[^1] Don Paul Bales, described as a Special Forces veteran who worked on Barber's team, was also quoted.[^1] In the broadcast Barber said that after [September 11, 2001](/events/september-11-attacks/) "I left the Air Force and was sent out to [California](/places/california/) at that time to begin establishing my cover basis as an independent contractor."[^1] NewsNation reported on February 24, 2025 that Barber "went on to work in a nonofficial capacity for the [Defense Department](/organizations/department-of-defense/) and the intelligence community."[^4] Barber has not named the contracting company; he said that he reached its head of security in spring 2024 and was "basically told to 'forget it,'" in NewsNation's wording.[^1] ### Claims made to NewsNation, January 2025 Barber told Coulthart that on one night operation, flying under night vision goggles with a 150 to 200 foot line, he saw "a white egg" of "metallic, pearly white" surface "about the size of an SUV," with "no engine" and "no thermal signature," and that "ranking members of the [UAP Task Force](/organizations/uap-task-force/)" had confirmed to him "over the last couple of years" that "what we were working with that night was, in fact, NHI (nonhuman intelligence)."[^1] He also said he "was never told the craft wasn't human," in NewsNation's paraphrase, and was certain on the basis of "the reaction of my leadership structure."[^1] He described a second object type, "a flying disc with what looked like eight delineated sections," which he called an "eightgon."[^1] He said that as he approached one site he felt "an intense hybrid of sadness and happiness and beauty and song," "a very feminine energy," and "a frequency that I was connected with."[^1] He said the operation had been requested by a unit he called "the Psionics," people with a "predisposition for extratemporal abilities and sensitivities," and that "in the program, there was certainly a desire to explore the idea that perhaps UAP could be summoned, could be communicated with, could be controlled and could be persuaded to land."[^1] Bales told NewsNation "I've had the pleasure of meeting multiple psionic assets."[^1] Barber said his team "transported what we called 'mystery boxes' all the time," was authorized to use "lethal force" to protect shipments, and became ill after one mission: "I lost every hair on my body," "I also lost the skin on my arms," and "I ended up developing a severe heart murmur."[^1] [Garry Nolan](/people/garry-nolan/) of [Stanford University](/organizations/stanford-university/), whom Coulthart had introduced to Barber in 2024, reviewed "decades of Barber's medical records" and said "the acute injuries were obviously severe" and that "the first thing that came to mind was (Barber) was exposed to some kind of radiation."[^1] Barber also described a later assignment to recover "high-value targets" that were Panasonic Toughbooks holding "sensor data, video that was illegally captured," found with the hard drives missing and then located "in a sealed steel container 25 feet underwater," followed by an operation where "it was clear that shots had been fired," after which he believed his former employer, "or someone pretending to be them," intended to kill him.[^1] He said he and his team went to [Washington, D.C.](/places/washington-dc/) in spring 2024, met the company's director of security, and later met staffers for Senator [Marco Rubio](/people/marco-rubio/) in fall 2024, which NewsNation "confirmed."[^1] Barber said, "I feel I was able to fill in gaps that have been there for a long time that no other whistleblower has been able to do."[^1] NewsNation separately obtained and aired video it described as showing "a view from the belly of a helicopter retrieving one of those mysterious eggs"; the network wrote that it "was told that the video was sent to the organization responsible for monitoring UAPs."[^5] Defense Department spokesperson Sue Gough stated that the department "has not discovered any verifiable information to substantiate claims that any programs regarding the possession or reverse-engineering of extraterrestrial materials have existed."[^6] The [All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office](/organizations/all-domain-anomaly-resolution-office/) (AARO) told NewsNation it was "aware of the claim."[^6] On February 24, 2025 NewsNation reported that the department confirmed it was investigating, and Coulthart said that AARO director Jon Kosloski "has indicated his office is talking with whistleblowers like Barber" while cautioning he was limited in what he could say.[^4] Jason Colavito wrote on January 19, 2025 that "many said" the video appeared to show an aerostat or balloon tethered to a helicopter, and that the [Pentagon](/organizations/pentagon/) had told Steven Greenstreet of the New York Post that AARO was aware of the video and "did not assess anything non-human about it."[^3] Barber, in Colavito's account, rests his claims on the UAP Task Force that preceded AARO.[^3] ### Later statements On January 24, 2025 Barber told Coulthart's "Reality Check," as quoted by the writer Jimmy of UAP Files, "I believe the US Government, in the next 12 months, will use me and my team as a peaceful non-judgmental path forward to disclosure."[^7] The Skywatcher team's August 2024 operation, as Barber described it to NewsNation, ended with a "psionic" saying "Get me out of here" and the overwatch, Fred Baker, seeing "a classic lenticular-shape disk."[^1] Colavito's blog reported on January 19, 2025 that Greenstreet had reported that Barber "launched his own UFO organization, Skywatcher, in November."[^3] Skywatcher later released two videos and stopped posting in December 2025; Coulthart reported in 2026 that Skywatcher "appears" to have been dissolved and that its experts were working with the Defense Department at White Sands Missile Range, on the basis of unnamed sources.[^8] [^1]: Ross Coulthart, "Whistleblower reveals UAP retrieval program; object caught on video" (full special article), NewsNation, updated January 27, 2025. https://www.newsnationnow.com/space/ufo/hfr-uap-recovery-video-egg-shaped-object-exclusive/ . Sole source for the passages so cited, which are Barber's own statements and NewsNation's account of its verification. [^2]: Michael Ramsey, "Skywatcher video of 'summoned' UFOs coming soon: Ross Coulthart," NewsNation, updated April 7, 2025. https://www.newsnationnow.com/space/ufo/summoned-ufos-video-ross-coulthart/ [^3]: Jason Colavito, "In Brief: NewsNation Offers a New UFO 'Crash Retrieval' Story," January 19, 2025. https://www.jasoncolavito.com/blog/in-brief-newsnation-offers-a-new-ufo-crash-retrieval-story . Colavito reports Greenstreet's New York Post reporting at second hand; the Post article was not located. Sole source for the passages so cited. [^4]: Michael Ramsey, "UFO whistleblower Jake Barber's claims being investigated by Pentagon," NewsNation, updated February 24, 2025. https://www.newsnationnow.com/space/ufo/pentagon-investigates-ufo-claims/ [^5]: Ross Coulthart, "UAP recovery video shows 'egg-shaped' object: Exclusive," NewsNation, updated January 18, 2025. https://www.newsnationnow.com/space/ufo/uap-recovery-video-shows-egg-shaped-object-exclusive/ [^6]: "UAP whistleblower says UFO retrieval program exists: NewsNation exclusive," NewsNation, January 16, 2025. https://www.newsnationnow.com/space/ufo/uap-whistleblower-ufo-retrieval-program/ [^7]: Jimmy, "Skywatcher: The Disclosure Team That Disappeared - I Tracked Their Helicopter," UAP Files, August 12, 2026. https://uapf.substack.com/p/skywatcher-the-disclosure-team-that . Sole source for the quotation as dated. [^8]: Ross Coulthart, "Is the Trump administration running a covert UFO program?," NewsNation Reality Check, about August 2026. https://www.newsnationnow.com/podcasts-newsnation/reality-check/trump-administration-covert-ufo-program/amp/