From the tip of Pier 2 at Fort Mason Center in San Francisco, California, Alcatraz Island looms off in the distance toward the west. From the same location, the iconic Golden Gate Bridge can be seen with little more than a glance to the East, and one could easily feel that amid such imagery, a UAP sighting–or perhaps even an unidentified submerged object (USO) appearing from out of the coastal California waters–could happen at almost any moment.
Unfortunately, that coveted experience of observing unusual aerial or “transmedium” phenomena didn’t happen for conferencegoers attending the 2024 Sol Foundation Symposium the weekend of November 22-23, 2024.
Approaching the entrance, a sign reading “SOL” appeared high above, and entering through the glass doors revealed a vast space with white walls and high ceilings. An aura of sophistication and futuristic technology washed over the attendees as we entered: the intersection between exploration of the unknown and the professional world of academia, a new frontier for higher learning, and sharing ideas about UAP and edge science.
Entering the theater, the Sol Foundation logo appeared projected onto a screen above two royal blue lounge chairs on the stage, signaling the conversational nature of the presentations to follow. Meanwhile, guests comfortably sank into the venue’s theatre-style seating, eager to learn and explore–both inwardly and outwardly.
The Sol Foundation was launched in 2023 by sociocultural anthropologist Peter Skafish, its current executive director, Stanford Professor, and inventor Garry Nolan, Sol’s executive director of the board, and Jonathan Berte, founder and chief visionary officer of Robovision and also a member of the Sol Board of Directors. Dedicated to pioneering research into unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP), the Sol Foundation explores the potentially profound implications the subject may have on fields ranging from science and culture to global politics. As governments increasingly recognize UAP, the foundation has worked to assemble a diverse team of experts from various fields, including the natural sciences, social sciences, humanities, engineering, and technology, to conduct rigorous research and guide future UAP studies.
This year’s symposium began with an opening by host Maura Mindrila, Director of Strategy at the Sol Foundation, who invited co-founders Peter Skafish and Garry Nolan on stage to share a few words at the event’s commencement, kicking off two days of learning and seeking, as well as connecting and sharing.
Academics and leaders from various industries worldwide specializing in public education, research, policy, science, and technology gathered to share their findings and ideas. Each event day featured sessions on themes including “Understanding the Enigma: The Role of Philosophical Investigation” and “Toward a Science of UAP.” At the same time, presentations with forward-looking titles like “At the Threshold of a New Future?” focused on UAP-related technology and investments.
“Our event last year surprised people because we struck an elevated and sober tone while remaining true to the issues,” Skafish told The Debrief in an email. “This year, we looked at some of the conditions surrounding the UAP advocacy—a divisive election season and the likely failure of the UAP Disclosure Act—and we decided that we’d need to hold another symposium to assemble stakeholders and representatives from other organizations to help renew their momentum.”
“Given the overwhelmingly positive feedback we received about the event, I sense that we helped people find some focus and inspiration to continue their work.”
Speakers at this year’s event included Colonel Karl E. Nell, a retired senior military officer and corporate strategist, theoretical and applied physicist Dr. Eric Davis, Dr. Stephen Finley, Chair of African and African American Studies at Louisiana State University, and Rear Admiral (ret.) Dr. Tim Gallaudet, former administrator of the National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration, among others.
During the event’s first session, “The Challenges with to Government and UAP,” led by investigative journalist Leslie Kean and featuring former fighter pilot Ryan Graves, who discussed advancements in machine learning through his work as the co-founder of Americans for Safe Aerospace.
Graves said he has been working with others to “develop certain advanced artificial intelligence algorithms that we’re able to incorporate into what we call event-driven cameras.”
“This technology allows us to put together a very sophisticated detection and tracking system that is very applicable for the detection of high-speed moving objects, especially in space,” Graves said. We won’t have a full operational capability in June of 26 but will be flight testing in space the full system.”
Shifting to political developments, Graves reflected on his testimony before Congress alongside UAP whistleblower David Grusch and retired naval pilot Commander David Fravor last summer. Asked by Kean whether his testimony led to more UAP reports, Graves said “absolutely,” adding that he has seen “an increase as the stigma has been reduced.”
Graves also noted that UAP cases filed through NASA’s Aviation Safety Reporting System, which allows pilots and others to report potential aviation-related hazards anonymously, have also appeared to have risen since then, indicating that some pilots may have begun to feel more comfortable coming forward about their sightings.
Graves also recalled his recent experience at a naval aviator conference, noting that “at least three-quarters of the room had seen something.” Graves estimates that around half of the broader aviation community might have encountered unexplained phenomena. While many pilots remain hesitant to report what they’ve seen, significant headway toward eliminating stigmas has been made.
“The stigma has been reduced,” Graves said. “The education, I think, is what’s lacking at this point to get everyone kind of better read into what to look for and to understand that this is a real issue that they need to take seriously.”
Eric Davis, widely known for the controversial Wilson-Davis Memo, was also speaking at Sol alongside Kirk McConnell, a retired staff member with the Senate Armed Services Committee, the Senate Intelligence Committee, the House Intelligence Committee, and the Select Committee on U.S. National Security and Military/Commercial Concerns with the People’s Republic of China.
McConnell highlighted the constitutional tension between Congress’s oversight responsibilities and the President’s asserted plenary authority over national security information. He described the legislative branch’s critical role in raising armed forces, declaring war, and appropriating taxpayer funds for national security while criticizing the executive branch’s potential withholding of information on significant phenomena as “constitutionally offensive.”
During the session, McConnell also noted that while the President has a constitutional argument for resisting disclosure—citing inherent authority as Commander in Chief—this secrecy could stem from concerns about public panic or a loss of faith in human dominance if revelations about advanced civilizations came to light.
“If the President decides that information is so sensitive that it should not be reported to Congress, the President’s lawyers are convinced that there is a constitutional basis for not sharing it with Congress,” McConnell said.
Other lectures centered on research and innovation, complemented by fireside chats featuring Garry Nolan and retired Colonel Karl E. Nell, who was back for his second round at Sol after being a top keynote speaker at the inaugural symposium in 2023. Nolan and Nell, in this conversational discussion, explored the intersections of hard and soft sciences. They deconstructed the UAP/NHI Hilbert Problems and proposed a way forward—a conceptual framework for addressing the unresolved and complex challenges in the study of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAPs) and Non-Human Intelligence (NHI).
The conclusion of this year’s symposium took the discussion in a different direction by focusing on funding and investment models for frontier science. A successful entrepreneur and venture capitalist, Rizwan Virk opened his lecture by breaking down funding investment models and illustrating how entrepreneurs can leverage various funding sources to build an innovative research ecosystem.
“The presentation was a summary of the white paper that I’ve been writing for the Sol Foundation on the same subject, so the white paper will go into more details when it’s released in the next month or so,” Virk said in an email to The Debrief.
“I believe private investment has a role to play in both research and UAP-related technology ventures. There are foundations that fund research in various areas – I think the problem with ‘edge’ science, or ‘frontier tech’ as I called it, is that it requires a combination of scientific and engineering research to figure out what’s going on,” Virk said.
“The stigma surrounding the subject has made it difficult for private investors to know who to invest in and who is legitimate for research,” Virk added.
Virk told The Debrief that UAP research has traditionally struggled for many reasons, although one key issue has been sporadic funding. He says examples include wealthy individuals who will invest in a few projects but withdraw when results fall short. To address this, a dedicated UAP research foundation could fill the gap by serving two key roles: acting as a clearinghouse that connects research projects with investors and establishing a fund to support scientific studies.
Virk says this structure could attract private investors interested in advancing UAP research without expecting financial returns, similar to how foundations fund university-based scientific innovation.
Throughout his presentation, Virk contrasted deep technology with frontier technology in research and development, unpacking each category by risk, product or sales potential, risk factors, and expected payout or market entry timelines. By outlining these differences, Virk highlighted how frontier tech is more expensive and has a longer exit timeline before products reach the market, resulting in delayed payouts compared to deep tech or “shallow” tech companies like Instagram, Tesla, or SpaceX.
However, this doesn’t mean that frontier tech and science should not be considered a valid investor’s strategy. Of all the funding models presented by Virk, the Innovation Prizes (UPRIZE) Social Innovation Challenge stood out as the most effective strategy for UAP and edge science investors and entrepreneurs to explore.
“The award-based funding was one of four pieces of funding that I think will help build an ecosystem,” Virk explained in an email to The Debrief. “Some of these are more short-term, and some are more long-term. Two of them were about grant funding (UAP Research, UPRIZE, or awards-based funding), while two others, ‘Frontier Tech incubator’ and VC Funds, were about equity investment for profit. I think the first two are needed more in the short term.”
For Virk, the benefit of awards-based funding is that it allows for the establishment of a prize at virtually any time, even if the technology or research won’t be available for many years.
“Those who invest in the fund (i.e., give money for the prize) get it back if the goals aren’t met. Meanwhile, the prize serves as a catalyst for additional funding,” Virk told The Debrief. “So, as I mentioned, with the Google Lunar X Prize, Google put in $30 million for the prizes, but over $100 million was invested in the companies trying to win the prize.”
Virk explains that this approach reduces the funding burden, allowing the prize fund to grow over time. It also helps address skepticism from potential donors who might contribute if they believed UAP research was credible but remain doubtful due to mainstream scientific skepticism.
“2024 was a packed year for us,” Skafish told The Debrief following the conclusion of this year’s symposium. “Our focus on research, policy, and technology remains the same, but we’ve had to intensify our efforts due to the increased awareness of the reality of the UAP presence in the US government and the general public.”
“We’re also about to execute our different research projects, so we’ll be more publicly active after a period of quiet, behind-the-scenes work,” Skafish concluded.
With the conclusion of the 2024 event, the Sol Foundation has cemented itself as the premiere symposium addressing the UAP issue. The event helps foster an environment that allows the public to learn more about UAP and provides fertile ground for civilian researchers, academics, and investors to exchange ideas safely, all of which are plans that will create fundamental, lasting change for years to come.
For Skafish and his colleagues, helping foster this synergy is fundamental to the Sol Foundation’s long-term goals. While the current pace of the organization’s efforts may seem gradual to some, the Sol Foundation team recognizes its work as a significant acceleration of progress, especially when taken in the broader historical context of UAP studies.
“Sol has a broad mission that cuts across academia, government, civil society, and tech,” Skafish says, “so what others may take for the slow pace of disclosure is for us a rapid historical event that demands that we grow quickly.”
The Debrief would like to thank our hotel sponsor, Hyatt Centric Fisherman’s Wharf San Francisco, for the convenient accommodations near Fort Mason Center in San Francisco.
Chrissy Newton is a PR professional and founder of VOCAB Communications. She currently appears on The Discovery Channel and Max and hosts the Rebelliously Curious podcast, which can be found on The Debrief’s YouTube Channel on all audio podcast streaming platforms. Follow her on X: @ChrissyNewton and at chrissynewton.com.