The U.S. Military Is Looking At Ways to Get Weapons from What Looks Like Sci-Fi
A Popular Mechanics article published on Friday reported that scientists believe “they can explain dark matter by positing a particle that links to a fifth dimension.”
While the conception of a “warped extra dimension” dates back to a physics model first explored in the late 1990s, research from 2021 “is the first to cohesively use the theory to explain the long-lasting dark matter problem within particle physics.”
What exactly does that mean?
Image: Creative Commons.
According to Popular Mechanics, “our knowledge of the physical universe relies on the idea of dark matter, which takes up the vast majority of matter in the universe. Dark matter is a kind of pinch hitter that helps scientists explain how gravity works, because a lot of features would dissolve or fall apart without an ‘x factor’ of dark matter. Even so, dark matter doesn’t disrupt the particles we do see and ‘feel,’ meaning it must have other special properties as well.”
What do the scientists see in that?
“We argue that extensions of the SM with a warped extra dimension, together with a new -odd scalar singlet, provide a natural explanation not only for the hierarchy problem but also for the nature of fermion bulk masses and the observed dark matter relic abundance,” the scientists write in the 2021 study. “In particular, the Kaluza-Klein excitations of the new scalar particle, which is required to naturally obtain fermion bulk masses through Yukawa-like interactions, can be the leading portal to any fermion propagating into the bulk of the extra dimension and playing the role of dark matter.”
One obvious question is what the military applications of this research might be, and whether it ties into what the Pentagon may know about the paranormal.
The Pentagon and the Paranormal
In 2018, The War Zone wrote about what it described as “real Pentagon reports on warp drive, extra dimensions, anti-gravity, and more”—all of them from the Defense Intelligence Agency.
“The modern understanding of the Pentagon’s relationship with unexplained flying phenomena has become remarkably more pointed in the last six months since the Advanced Aviation Threat Identification Program was uncovered,” TWZ wrote in that story, which was published during the first Trump administration.
“Its disclosure came in between our own exclusive reporting on two very strange and well-documented encounters with strange aircraft operating in U.S. airspace. Now, new documents are coming to light that show the Department of Defense’s own spy agency was also interested in subjects that border on science fiction and. … even the paranormal, including warp drive, extra-dimensional manipulation, dark energy, and other highly exotic forms of space travel.”
USS Excelsior with Captain Sulu commanding from Star Trek IV. Screenshot.
A TV station in Las Vegas reported on these documents, which a journalist named Corey Goode summarized after their disclosure in 2017. The New York Times also wrote about the reports in late 2017.
A company called Bigelow Aerospace—led by Robert Bigelow, described as a “former real estate developer turned inflatable space station entrepreneur”—was at the forefront of this research, which was backed by the late Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV), the longtime Senate Majority Leader.
“The program, which eventually cost $22 million and ran roughly between 2008 and 2012, began after Bigelow won the contract, apparently to investigate UFO sightings, along with pretty much everything else that goes along with the topic for better or worse, on behalf of the military,” TWZ reported. “These studies are so loaded with information,” Senator Reid said, according to the Las Vegas TV report.. “One thing we learned is over the decades a lot of things happen there’s no explanation for. Well, there are now.”
What did these studies determine about extra dimensions?
“The idea that a sufficiently advanced technology may interact with, and acquire direct control over, the higher dimensions is a tantalizing possibility, and one that is most certainly worthy of deeper investigation,” one of the resulting reports said. “Of course, this may not be actualized until many years in the future, but consider the many spectacular physical phenomena that are believed to be true at this early point in the 21st century.”
About AARO
In 2022, the Pentagon established a new office called the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO), the successor to the previous Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force (UAPTF).
In 2024, AARO released its Report on the Historical Record of U.S. Government Involvement with Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP), in which it stated that AARO had “found no evidence that any USG [U.S. government] investigation, academic-sponsored research, or official review panel has confirmed that any sighting of a UAP represented extraterrestrial technology.”
Earlier this year, President Donald Trump ordered the declassification of UFO-related government files. Vice President J.D. Vance, in an interview last week, declared that he wants to “get to the bottom of the UFO files” during his time in office.
The Avrocar was the result of a Canadian effort to develop a supersonic, vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) fighter-bomber in the early 1950s. However, its circular shape gave it the appearance of a “flying saucer” out of science fiction movies of the period.
“I’m obsessed with this,” Vance told the podcaster, Benny Johnson. “I’ve already had a couple of times where I’m like, all right, we’re going to Area 51, we’re going out to New Mexico. We’re going to sort of get to the bottom of this. And then the timing of the trip just didn’t work out. But trust me, anybody who’s curious about this, I’m more curious than anybody. And I’ve got three years of the very tippy top of the classification. I’m going to get to the bottom of it.” He also shared his belief that the unidentified objects may be “demons.”
Meanwhile, Defense Scoop reported in mid-May that AARO quietly held a workshop last August to “help shape the future of UAP research.” The invitation-only confab, in Washington, was attended by about 40 people, including “government, academic, and independent researchers.”
“Recognizing that input from the scientific and academic community is critical to its work, AARO hopes to convene future workshops and collaborative opportunities, as needed, to foster an interdisciplinary community for UAP analysis,” Pentagon spokesperson Sue Gough told Defense Scoop.
AARO published a white paper about the conference.
“Understanding the nature of Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP) has emerged in recent years as a pressing area of inquiry in need of rigorous scientific approaches, as well as crossdisciplinary, cross-sector and international collaboration,” the white paper said. “Analyzing reports of UAP-related sightings and experiences presents unique challenges due to the large-scale, heterogeneous, and qualitative nature of the reports originating from military and civilian sources.”
About the Author: Stephen Silver
Stephen Silver is an award-winning journalist, essayist, and film critic, and contributor to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Broad Street Review, and Splice Today. The co-founder of the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle, Stephen lives in suburban Philadelphia with his wife and two sons. For over a decade, Stephen has authored thousands of articles that focus on politics, national security, technology, and the economy. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) at @StephenSilver, and subscribe to his Substack newsletter.
