Michael Shermer Named to White House UAP Science Advisory Council

Santa Barbara, California, June 15, 2026—Skeptic magazine and The Skeptics Society are pleased to announce that publisher and founder Dr. Michael Shermer has been appointed to the newly formed UAP Science Advisory Council, formed at the request of the White House and in coordination with the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO), the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), the FBI, and other agencies.

The council brings together experts from a wide range of disciplines—including astrophysics, oceanography, molecular biology, anthropology, psychology, artificial intelligence, and instrumentation—to provide scientific guidance on the study of unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP).

Dr. Shermer will contribute his decades of experience in scientific skepticism, anomaly investigation, and public communication. As founder and publisher of Skeptic magazine, he has long advocated for careful, evidence-based inquiry into extraordinary claims and the importance of applying critical thinking and rigorous methodology to unresolved phenomena.

“Science advances by investigating anomalies with curiosity, skepticism, and methodological rigor,” said Shermer. “I am honored to serve alongside such an accomplished group of scientists and scholars in helping ensure that questions surrounding UAP are approached with the highest standards of scientific inquiry.”

Founded in 1992, Skeptic magazine and The Skeptics Society are dedicated to promoting science, reason, and critical thinking through publishing, education, original research, and public outreach.

Full list of appointees, alphabetized by last name:

• Dr. Richard Cloete — Galileo Project postdoctoral fellow trained at the University of Cambridge, specializing in AI-driven data analysis tools, appointed to the council to lead data analysis and AI methodology.
• Dr. Tim Gallaudet — oceanographer and former Acting NOAA Administrator and Rear Admiral, contributing oceanographic expertise to the council's analysis of maritime UAP encounters.
• Dr. Devesh Nandal — researcher in numerical analysis and astrophysics, recruited to apply computational modeling techniques to UAP phenomena.
• Prof. Garry Nolan — Stanford pathology professor and molecular biologist, co-founder of the Sol Foundation, bringing expertise in molecular biology and materials science to anomaly investigations.
• Dr. Omer Eldadi — specialist combining data management, AI, and human psychology, appointed to handle the council’s data infrastructure and the human-factors side of UAP reporting.
• Dr. Avi Loeb — Harvard theoretical physicist, founder of the Galileo Project, former chair of Harvard’s astronomy department, and bestselling author of Extraterrestrial.
• Dr. Regina Sarmiento — Galileo Project researcher whose work focuses on AI-assisted data analysis and management, joining the council to apply machine-learning techniques to UAP data.
• Dr. Michael Shermer — founder and publisher of Skeptic magazine, longtime science communicator known for applying critical-thinking and anomaly-investigation methods, including a public wager with Avi Loeb over alien-technology disclosure.
• Prof. Peter Skafish — cultural anthropologist and co-founder of the Sol Foundation with a PhD from UC Berkeley, author of Rough Metaphysics, bringing an anthropological lens to how humans might interpret nonhuman intelligence.
• Prof. Matthew Szydagis — physicist specializing in instrumentation and detector technology, appointed to lead instrumentation and data-collection methods for the council.
• Dr. Jennice Vilhauer — psychologist, developer of Future Directed Therapy and author of Think Forward to Thrive, joining to study the psychological impact of potential disclosure on the public.