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What Happened to Skywatcher, the Project That Claimed It Could Call UFOs?

The films and website remain available, but the project’s calling claims still need repeatable tests that other people can check.
By Morgan Carter · Updated
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Skywatcher is a private UFO project with an unusual claim: people might be able to call unidentified objects into view. Its films show attempts using machines and what participants describe as mental or psychic abilities.

By November 2026, the films and website were still available. PARADIGM reported a quieter period of public activity. No publicly disclosed result had independently confirmed that the calling methods worked. That left a project people could still follow, with its main claim still unproved.

The Journey Begins With a Big Promise

Skywatcher's official media page introduces Part I: The Journey Begins. Some people in the film describe alleged UFO recovery work. Others say they can summon the objects. The producer then describes an attempted demonstration.

The goal is to do more than tell viewers about an earlier sighting. The participants try to make an object appear while people are watching.

The films call attempts using equipment machine calling. They call the claimed mental or psychic method psionic calling. These are the team's descriptions of what it is trying to do. The edited demonstration does not provide a controlled test of whether either method caused an object to appear.

Inside Skywatcher’s First Attempt

Skywatcher’s own first film introduces the team, recovery allegations and an attempt to summon UAP; its presentation does not independently validate the claims.

Ross Coulthart's In Plain Sight covers earlier UFO reporting. It offers background on the subject, rather than a record of Skywatcher's later results.

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A Second Film Starts Naming Things

Skywatcher released Part II: Mapping the Unknown on its official YouTube channel on April 7, 2025.

The film's summary introduces technology lead James Fowler and names Garry Nolan, Alex Klokus and Matt Pines among the people who took part in the field work.

The project also published a guide with nine categories of objects. It groups them by appearance and reported behavior, using names such as Manta Ray, Jellyfish and Egg.

These names describe how an object looks or is reported to act. They do not identify what it is made of or where it came from. The guide calls the categories early, exploratory ideas that could change with more information.

Skywatcher Explains Its UFO Categories

The official second episode presents machine calling, psionic calling and the team’s proposed nine-class system.

The Egg Comes With Missing Pieces

The Egg entry shows how limited that information can be. Skywatcher says it is based on one poor-quality recording. The object's size and flight behavior are unknown, and there is no radar track.

Without a known size or a measured path, researchers have little to compare with possible explanations. Calling the object an Egg makes the entry easy to find, but it does not fill those gaps.

A reader who remembers only the name could miss those limits. The useful questions are in the missing details: how large was the object, where was it and how did it move?

A Team Page and a Different Public Pitch

Skywatcher's About page still listed Jacob “Jake” Barber, Fowler, Klokus and Nolan in November 2026. It also named Dan Flechsenhaar, Joseph DiNoto, Fred Baker and Don Paul Bales.

The page describes an approach based on asking what is being observed and what data would support an explanation. For an entry like the Egg, that would mean getting a clearer recording, establishing the object's size and measuring its movement.

The homepage also advertises work in gathering information about objects in the air and supporting air defense. It describes equipment for studying light, image analysis, tracking, and measurements of motion and electric and magnetic activity.

The company says private partnerships and consulting help fund the work. It plans public reports, briefings and selected releases of information.

That description is broader than the films' claim about calling UFOs. The available website shows a continuing public presence, but it does not show what work the team is doing in the field at any given time.

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Barber's Trail Leads to Congress

A November 6 PARADIGM report described a new role for Jake Barber. A spokesperson confirmed that he had joined Representative Eric Burlison's office for work on UAP, a term for unexplained objects and events. He replaced David Grusch.

The report described Skywatcher as publicly quiet after its 2025 activity. It did not establish that the project had closed.

The David Grusch claims guide explains that congressional background. Barber's appointment can be confirmed while questions about Skywatcher's activity remain unanswered. A quiet public period alone does not show hidden success, interference or failure.

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What Happens After the Camera Sees Something?

NASA's 2023 UAP study called for several instruments checked for accuracy, along with background information about each sighting. It did not test Skywatcher. Its findings explain why a striking image becomes more useful when measurements come with it.

The calling claim needs an additional check. An object appearing after an attempt does not establish that the attempt caused it to appear.

Researchers would need to compare what happens when the claimed method is used with what happens when it is absent. Other people should also be able to repeat the test. That would help show whether the caller changed the outcome.

Skywatcher's films show attempts to test an unusual idea. Its own guide also records missing information. Better measurements and repeatable tests are what could turn those attempts into results other people can check.