Who Is Jake Barber? The Pilot Behind the UFO Retrieval Claims
Jake Barber is a helicopter pilot who says he transported strange objects from a desert test range. One of his claims concerns a smooth, egg-shaped load about 20 feet long. He says officials later told him it was nonhuman.
Barber went public in January 2025. By November 2026, his story had also led to a job in Congress. Representative Eric Burlison's spokesman, Nate Lucas, confirmed that Barber had joined the lawmaker's staff to help with UAP work.
UAP stands for unidentified anomalous phenomena, a term for unexplained objects and events. According to PARADIGM's report, Barber replaced David Grusch, who left around Labor Day. At publication, Barber had not given public testimony under oath.
From Aircraft Mechanic to an Egg in a Sling
NewsNation reporter Ross Coulthart introduced Barber to viewers in January 2025. The network said it had checked records confirming that he served as an Air Force aerospace mechanic in the late 1990s. His later helicopter work was a separate part of his career.
Barber described lifting a pale, egg-shaped object at a desert test range. He said it had no visible seams or engine. The claim that it was nonhuman came from what he said officials later told him.
NewsNation also showed footage presented as an egg-shaped load hanging beneath a helicopter. The broadcast did not disclose where it came from or where it was going. It also did not firmly establish that Barber was the pilot on that particular flight.
Jake Barber Describes His UFO Retrieval Claim
The footage and Barber's account therefore need to be checked separately. Showing them together can make the connection seem settled, even when details linking the flight to the witness are missing. The shape of a load also does not establish where it was made.
Coulthart had explored UFO claims in his book In Plain Sight. The listed edition came out before Barber's public account. It provides background on the reporter's work, rather than evidence about Barber's flights.
- Follow Ross Coulthart's investigation beyond short interviews and headlines
- Explore the witnesses and secrecy claims behind the modern disclosure debate
- Compare a journalist's account with the cases and questions raised in the article
A Different Load, a Stranger Experience
Later that January, Barber gave Jesse Michels a longer interview. He described a California desert location he called “the range,” without clearly identifying the workplace.
He also described a different load: a disc about 25 to 30 feet across, divided into eight sections.
Barber said its cargo readout included the word “biologics.” The term can refer broadly to material from living things. He also said he had never seen an alien body. The label alone does not establish what the cargo contained.
During the disc flight, Barber said he began crying. He interpreted the experience as psychic or spiritual. That account concerned the disc recovery, rather than the egg-shaped object.
Our guide to “biologics” in UFO claims explains how the term is used in the wider debate.
When Michels asked how he knew the egg was nonhuman, Barber gave several reasons. His team had not recognized it. He pointed to statements from UAP Task Force figures and later events he described as summoning UFOs, meaning calling them into view.
Those were experiences and conversations he used to support his belief. He did not describe a materials test he had performed on the egg. He also told Michels that he did not know where it was now.
The Egg, the Disc, and Barber’s Longer Account
The Pentagon Gives an Answer
In February 2025, Christopher Sharp of Liberation Times asked the Pentagon about Barber's allegations. Defense Department spokeswoman Susan Gough replied in a statement published on February 22.
“AARO is aware of Barber's claims and is investigating them,” she said in the report. AARO stands for All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office. It is the Pentagon office that examines UAP reports.
The statement confirmed an investigation. It did not announce a finding about Barber's claims.
Sharp also asked whether Barber was one of the firsthand witnesses AARO director Jon Kosloski had mentioned at a November 2024 hearing. Gough would neither confirm nor deny it. Her answer did not identify Barber as one of those witnesses.
Barber told Sharp that his group's early dealings with AARO had gone well and that it was gathering data for analysis. That was Barber's account of the contact; Gough's statement was limited to acknowledging the investigation.
Luis Elizondo's Imminent: Inside the Pentagon's Hunt for UFOs gives his account of the wider UAP debate. It does not provide records of Barber's flights.
- Read Luis Elizondo's account of his involvement in the Pentagon's UAP work
- Explore the institutional tensions behind the push for greater disclosure
- Compare a former official's perspective with hearings, interviews, and public statements
A Private Project and a Public Office
Barber is also connected with Skywatcher, a private UFO project. Its FAQ describes the company as independent. It says it does not act on the government's behalf or carry government messages. As of November 2026, it also says it does not claim to possess recovered materials.
Barber's congressional appointment creates a separate public role. A job in a lawmaker's office could help him pursue questions about UAP, but the appointment does not verify his earlier account of unusual cargo.
The David Grusch story explains the claims made by his predecessor. For Barber's account, records tied to the flights would be a useful next step. They could help establish what was carried, who was involved and where the objects went afterward.
David Grusch UFO Claims: Non-Human Craft, Biologics, and Congress
What Did David Grusch Mean by 'Biologics'?