Jay Stratton Claims Roswell's Balloon Story Was a Cover-up and UFOs Are Drawn to Nuclear Energy

Former US intelligence official Jay Stratton has alleged that non-human bodies were recovered near Roswell, New Mexico, in 1947 and concealed behind a balloon explanation.

His claims resurfaced on Tuesday, 20 October, along with his account of using nuclear energy to attract unidentified objects. Neither allegation has been independently verified.

The allegation appeared in Stratton's memoir, Out of the Shadows: Revealing the Truth About Non-Human Intelligent Life, published on 13 October.

He previously directed the Pentagon's Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force and served at the Defense Intelligence Agency. His experience lends weight to the story, though it cannot replace evidence.

Jay Stratton Challenges the Official Account of Roswell

Debris recovered from a ranch near Roswell in July 1947 became the centre of one of America's most enduring UFO disputes.

The US Army Air Forces initially announced the recovery of a flying disc, before describing the material as balloon equipment.

Stratton offers a different version. He writes that a source described the recovery of a crashed craft and occupants who were not human. According to the account, some died on impact, while others briefly survived. The claim rests on testimony that readers cannot independently test.

He also recounts allegations that intelligence personnel suffered serious psychological distress after encountering the supposed wreckage and bodies. The reports include no independently verified medical records, witness statements, or physical remains to support those assertions.

A documented explanation accounts for the debris. A 1994 US Air Force investigation traced it to Project Mogul, a classified research programme that used high-altitude balloons to gather information relevant to Soviet nuclear activity.

The Air Force revisited accounts of supposed bodies in a 1997 report. It concluded that later memories conflated the Roswell story with test-dummy drops and separate military accidents in later years. That explanation directly contradicts Stratton's account of recovered non-human occupants.

The Pentagon's All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office, known as AARO, reviewed the history again in 2024. It found no records demonstrating that the government recovered aliens or extraterrestrial material at Roswell.

Jay Stratton's Nuclear Submarine Plan Raises Another Question

Stratton traces his involvement in UAP investigations to footage he says he viewed in 2005 while working at the Defense Intelligence Agency.

In a radio interview on 18 October, he described a black triangular object near a nuclear missile silo. He believed known aerospace technology could not explain its movements.

But the reporting reviewed did not include classified footage available for independent examination. Its apparent speed, shape and origin therefore remain matters of Stratton's description, rather than independently established findings.

He says repeated reports near nuclear facilities prompted a theory that UAPs were drawn to nuclear energy. His memoir describes investigators considering a submarine as a lure in waters associated with previous sightings.

'Our bait could be a nuclear submarine,' Stratton writes in an excerpt reported by Popular Mechanics. He says the intention was to use the reactor's nuclear signature to bring an object close enough to observe or potentially recover.

The distinction matters. A proposed strategy does not establish that an operation was carried out, much less that an object approached. In the October radio interview, Stratton went further and claimed to have used nuclear sources to lure UAPs. No independently accessible operational record or instrument data substantiates that outcome.

Stratton also describes strange lights near his family's home and the personal strain of pursuing these investigations. Those experiences remain personal recollections, not evidence of an extraterrestrial presence.

AARO's 2024 historical review examined allegations of secret programmes alongside the Roswell debris. Its then-acting director, Tim Phillips, said the office found 'no verifiable evidence' that any UAP sighting represented extraterrestrial activity.

The agency acknowledged that some reports remained unresolved. However, its investigators found no verifiable evidence that the US government or private industry had obtained extraterrestrial technology. Stratton has not yet publicly presented independently testable evidence to support his competing Roswell and nuclear-attraction claims.