In this first 2025 episode of "UFO? UAP? WTF?," host Jason McClellan discusses the state and future of UFO and UAP research as we enter 2025. Jason reflects on 2024, highlighting increased government involvement and ongoing challenges in the field. He addresses misconceptions, the impact of technology on evidence authenticity, and the role of media. He encourages individual research, skepticism, and critical thinking, providing recommendations for navigating the complex landscape of UFO studies.

2025 has arrived. Will this be another year full

of UFO sightings, bold claims, and congressional activity that

generate countless UFO related headlines all around the world?

Spoiler alert. Of course it will. Is it UFO or UAP?

The government's confusing me. The experts make it complicated.

Lack of advances has me shaded UFO. I don't know. You ain't me.

Yeah, I guess so. Searching for answers.

Where to begin? Round and round in circles again.

Thunderstruck by confusion is a fact or fiction. Conclusion.

USA. You and me. Which is right idiomatically.

Just my left hand stuff. Scratch my head and say I want to

fuck you. And I want you and me. It's also confusing to me.

Be a frustrated damn, I love thundering,

insane thoughts. What the fuck? Hello citizens and welcome to

UFO UAP. WTF? I'm your host, Jason McClellan,

and together we'll be exploring the fascinating, enigmatic,

and frustrating subject of UFOs. I'm recording this episode at

the beginning of January 2025, and as I like to do every year, we're

kicking off 2025 with an episode. Looking forward to the year ahead

and what we might have in store for us regarding the UFO subject.

2024 was a pretty wild year for UFOs, but the longer you follow the UFO

subject, the clearer it becomes that every year is a wild year for UFOs.

Contrary to the lingering misperception,

UFOs are extremely common. People from all walks of life see

UFOs every day all around the world, and mainstream media outlets

from all over the world cover UFO related Stories Every day.

I think we can safely assume that this will continue to be

the case this year. Many celebrated 2024 as a big

win for UFOs. Interest in the UFO subject

continued at the congressional level as the United States

government took center stage in driving the UFO conversation.

Multiple congressional UFO hearings took place.

Official government UFO reports were published,

and I think it's safe to say that the government will continue to play

a leading role in the discourse associated with UFOs in 2025.

We know that more congressional hearings are planned for this year.

We also know that there are congressionally mandated UFO reports

that will be published by the Pentagon's UFO project, the all

Domain Anomaly Resolution office. And we know that several initiatives,

organizations and individuals are loudly and proudly working to

lobby and influence politicians and members of Congress to

control UFO narratives. So expect lots of headlines this

year related to government, UFO efforts and politicians

publicly discussing the UFO topic. This will also most certainly

prompt a dizzying swing from many in the UFO community,

gushing over any official government statements or any comments from

politicians that are pro UFO, then pivoting to vilifying the government

and politicians when statements and comments are comments are made

that don't conform to UFO law. The same people who are the

champions of UFO disclosure become disinformation agents and

part of the grand government cover up very quickly.

For those who are looking to have personal beliefs bolstered rather

than objectively searching for truth. Again, this is very standard in

the UFO community. This year will be no different

in that regard. Personalities and influencers

have always played a large role in driving stories and shaping

narratives in any industry. This is certainly the case with UFOs,

and we'll see plenty of that this year.

And we can't have personalities and influencers in the UFO

community without predictions. Every year there are countless

UFO related predictions made by UFO personalities.

These typically involve impending government disclosure, whistleblowers

making bombshell admissions and paradigm shifting UFO events,

and perhaps unsurprisingly, people who have made such failed

predictions in the past are the most likely to repeat this kind of

unfortunate behavior again this year. Why do I label predictions as

unfortunate behavior? Well, to be fair, there's nothing

wrong with having some fun and making guesses about what might

happen this year related to UFOs. That's, in essence,

what we're doing with this episode. Making assumptions about what

the year has in store for us. Our assumptions are clearly

identified as assumptions and are based on data and previously

demonstrated behaviors. UFO predictions differ a bit

because of how they are presented. These typically come from

personalities who assert or imply their predictions are based on secret

insider knowledge they've acquired, and these individuals typically

have an established track record of pushing hype and sensationalism

to garner personal attention and to bolster their perceived

knowledge and celebrity status. And yes, of course,

there are plenty of innocent, harmless UFO predictions made by

lots of people every year. There's room for that in UFO

discourse. Lots of people in the UFO world

get upset when UFOs are presented as anything other than extremely

serious. UFOs aren't fun. They aren't a laughing matter.

I don't share that view, but I do believe that when some

of the loudest voices in the UFO community proclaim and promote

predictions and do so knowing they are intentionally giving false hope

to people desperate for answers. That's a big problem. It's shady.

It's dishonest. It's unethical. And it's one of those things

that keeps the UFO stigma alive. UFO predictions have always been

one of my pet peeves in this field. If you can't tell.

As we continue to advance technologically, and as we see

artificial intelligence integrated into every aspect of our lives,

it seems like we should be in a golden era for UFO research.

With the tools at our disposal, this year should be the best

year ever for UFO research. But realistically,

2025 might be the complete opposite. Evidence has always been an

enduring issue with UFO research. There's no shortage of UFO photos and

videos, but even since the early days of the modern UFO era, the provenance

and legitimacy of these photos and videos has been problematic.

From snapping photos of hubcaps tossed in the air to recording

film of garbage can lids suspended from tree branches.

Hoaxes and pranks have always been obstacles to UFO research, but so

have innocent misunderstandings of the inherent issues with imaging.

Reflections, double exposures, lens flaring, and countless other

imaging issues have resulted in countless UFO sighting reports.

These problems, compounded with the arrival of digital imaging,

and now that artificial intelligence provides anybody

with the capability to generate images and videos by simply typing

what they want to be created. The evidentiary value of UFO photos

and videos is at an all time low. It's already nearly impossible to

distinguish between legitimately photographed or recorded footage

from AI generated content, and I can guarantee this is going to negatively

impact UFO research this year. We're sure to see an explosion

of fake photos and videos that make their way into headlines.

And plenty of people will eat them up blindly,

believing their authenticity. This problem has the potential to

be compounded because many media outlets have started relying on AI

to generate their news stories. If you're not already aware,

AI is notoriously bad at accuracy and has even been caught lying

and fabricating details. News in general is going to get

extremely messy. So far, we've managed to make

the likelihood of any meaningful progress in UFO research this

year look pretty bleak. But the issues we've highlighted

today are good to be aware of. As we move into 2025 and you

survey and assess UFO information. UFOs are hard. They really are.

And a big part of what makes them so hard is how we talk about UFOs.

It's easy to get caught up in hype. It's easy to be wowed by important

sounding people talking about UFOs. The year just started and we're

already seeing headlines about more alleged UFO whistleblowers.

But most of the time, these individuals are simply

sharing their beliefs based on limited information, taken out

of context and almost always driven by assumption, not fact.

We always have to remember that when it comes to UFOs,

it can be incredibly difficult to discern what the truth actually is.

It doesn't matter who you are. This includes members of Congress.

People, regardless of titles or professions, are still human,

and humans are incredibly flawed, easily wowed, and eager to believe.

And this is all understandable because of how UFOs are

routinely discussed. We routinely hear questions

posed like, what are UFOs? Are UFOs a threat?

And is the government covering up UFOs?

The core problem with these is that there is no singular or

unified UFO phenomenon. This basic notion right here is

perhaps the most significant contributing factor to keeping

UFO research in the same spot it's been for decades.

This is why historical government UFO projects have reached similar

conclusions. Yeah, UFOs are real. Most are eventually identified

as mundane objects, and some remain unidentified.

And you can keep studying all you want, but you won't discover any

overarching answer to explain UFOs because as we just discussed,

all UFOs are different and have to be investigated independently.

This is why previous government UFO programs have terminated,

because they realize that it's not worth the time and resources

to continue studying a phenomenon that isn't a phenomenon.

Ultimately, though, here's the big takeaway for us today

you don't need UFO personalities. You don't need the government.

You have everything you need to research UFOs on your own.

UFO research is an individual pursuit.

We all assess information and evidence for ourselves, and then

make up our own minds about how, if at all, that information will

influence or affect our personal beliefs. And UFOs are everywhere.

As I said at the top of the show And as I frequently say, UFOs are

seen every day all around the world by people from all walks of life.

Just go outside and look up. I've seen countless UFOs,

many of which I was able to identify. And about a dozen or so.

I've never been able to resolve. But UFOs are everywhere.

They aren't controlled by UFO personalities.

They aren't controlled by the government.

If you want to research UFOs, go for it.

As we look ahead to the new year of UFOs, I'll leave you with this.

One of my favorite space journalists, Leonard David,

recently published a story on Space.com titled understanding UFOs.

What Has to Happen in 2025 to Move the UAP Story forward?

It's an interesting read that includes thoughts from a few UFO

researchers. I'll provide a link to it in the

show notes for this episode, so you can check that out on your

own time if you're interested. But that, my friends,

concludes our episode for today. As you pursue your UFO research,

do what works for you. But consider my five recommendations

to guide your UFO research quest. Always treat the UFO subject with the

cautious and responsible skepticism it deserves. Question everything.

Have the courage to form your own opinions.

Keep truth as the focus of your quest, even if the truth conflicts

with your opinions, and be open to modifying those opinions as

you consider new information. And finally, don't be a dick if

you haven't seen it yet. We just revamped our weekly UFO

newsletter for the new year. This free weekly newsletter covers

the latest UFO related news, research, events and more.

You can subscribe at UFO, UAP, WTF? Com. I'm Jason McClellan.

Thanks for hanging out today. Join me again next time as we try to

figure out together what the fuck is up with these UFOs? USA you and me.

Which is right idiomatically just my left nightstand.

Scratch my head and say what the fuck? UFO or UAP?

It's all so confusing to me. Be up a screen and down my luck.

Wondering insane thoughts. What the fuck?