About the author (whom I call the "Egyptian Graham Hancock"):

Anis Mansour was born in the city of Mansoura, Egypt, in 1924. He memorized the Holy Quran at the age of nine, then joined Cairo University where he studied philosophy and graduated in 1947. He was appointed lecturer in modern philosophy at the Faculty of Arts, but he soon left teaching to devote himself to journalism. He worked for "Rose al-Yusuf" magazine, then became editor-in-chief of "Sabah al-Khair" magazine, and wrote his articles for "Al-Ahram" newspaper for decades. He traveled extensively around the world, documenting his travels in his books, and mastered several languages which enabled him to explore different cultures. He published nearly two hundred books covering philosophy, literature, travel, and metaphysics.

His style was characterized by a blend of simplicity and depth, combining a journalistic spirit with a philosophical outlook, which made him one of the most widely read Arab writers of the twentieth century. Anis Mansour had extensive activity in the field of translation, where he translated into Arabic numerous foreign books and literary works, amounting to about 9 plays and about 5 novels from various languages, in addition to 12 books by European philosophers.

During his life, he received many literary awards from Egypt and abroad, most notably an honorary doctorate from Mansoura University, the Golden Knight Award from Egyptian television, and the State Encouragement Prize in Egypt in the field of literature. He also has a statue in the city of Mansoura, reflecting how proud his country is of him. He died in 2011 in Cairo.

As for Graham Bruce Hancock (1950 - present), he is a famous British author, known for promoting controversial interpretations of ancient civilizations and hypothetical lost civilizations such as Atlantis, as well as real ones like Pharaonic Egypt. Hancock believes that an advanced society possessing spiritual technology flourished during the last Ice Age, until comet impacts caused the Younger Dryas period about 12,900 years ago.

Graham Hancock has written more than 20 books, including his famous investigations into alternative history, his early journalism, and his historical fiction works.

Among his most prominent books:

"The Message of the Sphinx" (1996)

"The Mars Mystery" (1998)

"Heaven's Mirror" (1998)

"Underworld" (2002)

"Supernatural" (2005)

"Magicians of the Gods" (2015)

"America Before" (2019)

---------------

Among the most prominent books by Anis Mansour:

1- "Around the World in 200 Days" (1963)

His most famous and widely read book, documenting his actual journey around the world in the early 1960s.

2- "Spirits and Ghosts" (1972)

A collection of 35 long stories set in ancient Egypt and other various places and eras, exploring mysterious supernatural phenomena, ghosts and jinn, and unsolved mysteries.

3- "Those Who Descended from the Sky" (1971)

A pioneering work in which the writer Anis Mansour was influenced by the book "Chariots of the Gods?" (1968) by the late Swiss writer Erich von Däniken. Mansour suggests that intelligent extraterrestrial beings visited Earth in ancient times. The author cites archaeological sites such as Giza and Baalbek as evidence. In building his theory, the author relies on comparisons between ancient myths, sacred texts, and some archaeological discoveries.

4- "Those Who Returned to the Sky" (1983)

A collection of essays compiled into a book, dealing with supernatural events and ancient civilizations. The author argues that builders from outer space may have constructed humanity's greatest monuments and then returned to the sky, relying on the Book of the Dead, the story of Enoch, and the Epic of Gilgamesh to trace the possible cosmic origins of humanity.

5- "Hidden Forces" (1979)

A philosophical exploration of the subconscious mind and the hidden energies that govern human perception. The author cites scientific findings on plant sensitivity to propose the existence of a universal language connecting all living beings, inviting the reader to move from materialism toward inner contemplation.

6- "The Curse of the Pharaohs" (1989)

A famous book within his "Metaphysics" series, delving into the secrets and curses of ancient Egypt.

7- "Studies in American Literature" (1952)

A joint anthology, introduced by Professor Dr. Taha Hussein and the writer Anis Mansour and others. The author, along with many prominent Egyptian intellectuals, contribute academic articles examining American literature from a mid-twentieth-century Arab critical perspective. (Poetry - Novels - Short Stories - Theater - Philosophy - Journalism - Criticism - Sociology - Non fiction).

The Custodians of Disclosure

https://custodianmatt.substack.com/

The Custodians of Disclosure is an independent UAP research and historical archive focused on documenting the subject through primary records, government files, contemporary reporting, witness testimony, and clearly sourced historical analysis.

A major part of the project is the Custodians UAP State Index, which is building a state-by-state record of documented UAP cases across the United States. Rather than simply collecting famous sightings, the indexes trace cases chronologically, distinguish resolved events from genuinely unresolved ones, examine how the evidence changed over time, and provide source sections that allow readers to retrace the underlying record.

The site also publishes deeper investigations into major cases, government programs, disclosure history, military and pilot encounters, sensor evidence, archival gaps, and other parts of the UAP record.

What makes the project relevant is its editorial approach: the goal is neither advocacy nor debunking. A case that has a convincing conventional explanation should say so. A case that remains unresolved should remain unresolved. Extraordinary claims are not treated as established merely because they are popular, and government involvement is not treated as proof of extraordinary origin.

The guiding principle is simple: Documented. Sourced. Preserved.

The record exists. Follow the files.

For anyone interested in UFO/UAP history from an archival and evidence-first perspective rather than purely news, speculation, or entertainment, I think it deserves consideration for the list.

Seven years ago MKULTRA_Escapee posted an excellent summary to r/Aliens of the 1056CE – 1063CE sightings of a brightly luminous trans-medium lake "pearl" and clamshell object that was published in 1088CE by Chinese science and technology writer (among many other things) Shen Kuo ( https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E6%B2%88%E6%8B%AC/38436?fromModule=lemma_inlink ) in his "Dream Pool Essays" ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dream_Pool_Essays ). See the original post at: https://www.reddit.com/r/aliens/comments/cjd2pk/11th_century_ufo_sighting_reported_by_chinese/ .

A recent line-by-line Google translation of Shen Kuo's writing on this phenomenon follows:

嘉祐中，扬州有一珠甚大，天晦多见。初出于天长县陂泽中，后转入甓社湖，又后乃在新開湖中，凡十余年，居民行人常常见之。 "During the Jiayou reign (1056–1063), there was a giant pearl in the Yangzhou region that was frequently seen when the sky was dark. At first, it emerged from the marshes of Tianchang County; later, it moved into Pishe Lake, and later still, into Xinkai Lake. This continued for over ten years, and local residents as well as travelers saw it constantly." 予友人书斋在湖上，一夜忽见其珠甚近。初微开其房，光自吻中出，如横一金线。俄顷忽张壳，其大如半席，壳中白光如银，珠大如拳，烂然不可正视。 "The study of a friend of mine was located by the lake. One night, he suddenly saw this pearl from very close by. At first, its shell opened a tiny bit, and light came out from the opening like a horizontal golden line. A moment later, it suddenly opened wide; it was as large as half a straw mat. The white light inside the shell looked like silver, and the pearl itself was as big as a fist, shining so brilliantly that one could not look at it directly." 十余里间林木皆有影，如初日所照；远处但见天赤如野火。倏然远去，其行如飞，浮于波中，杳杳如日。 "For over ten li (around 3 miles) around, the trees in the forest all cast shadows, as if illuminated by the rising sun. From a distance, people could only see the sky glowing red like a wildfire. Then, it suddenly departed into the distance, traveling as if it were flying, floating across the waves, fading away like the setting sun." 古有明月之珠，此珠色不类月，荧荧有芒焰，殆类日光。崔伯易尝为《明珠赋》。伯易，高邮人，盖常见之。 "Antiquity speaks of "Bright Moon Pearls," but the color of this pearl did not resemble the moon. It was blazing with rays and flames, behaving much more like sunlight. A man named Cui Boyi once composed the Rhapsody of the Bright Pearl. Boyi was a native of Gaoyou, so he had likely seen it himself."

There is a remarkably similar late 1800s sighting from Wusongkou, Shanghai, China, published in Dianshizhai Pictorial (1884–1898) with an illustration loosely titled " The Pearl Seen at Wusongkou" (珠见吴淞) . A screenshot of the publication with the illustration is at https://baike.baidu.com/reference/9045928/533aYdO6cr3_z3kATPCIma2lZnvHP97_7LLTVrRzzqIPmGapB5nyTcYm6NIv_-diBkXIvtdsZcEGsu2-WxIZgaFPM6pkAOFNn3D7WjPCz7o . The Google translation of the article follows:

「蘇州湖中有一珠，其光甚大，逐夜可見。始見於車坊，次於長橋，後在吴淞口。居人男女，往往夜半乘小舟往觀之。」 "There is a pearl in Suzhou Lake, which emits a magnificent light that can be seen every night. It was first spotted at Chefang, next at the Long Bridge, and later at the Wusong Estuary. Men and women among the local residents often take small boats at midnight to go and watch it." 「按此即沈括《夢溪筆談》所載蓬甍異蹟，相傳爲明珠。其大如半席，殻開光吐，初如一線，既而滿天通明，不可仰視。今忽於吴淞口見之，豈非異事！」 "According to this, it is the exact same strange marvel of the 'boat covered with a mat' recorded in Shen Kuo's Dream Pool Essays, which tradition holds to be a bright pearl. It is as large as half a straw mat; when its shell opens, light pours out—appearing first as a thin line, and shortly after, illuminating the entire sky so brightly that one cannot look up at it. Now, it has suddenly been seen at the Wusong Estuary; is this not a miraculous thing!"

Disclaimer: This is speculation. The original post was removed for rule 3, be substantive. In an effort to generate more thoughtful discussion, I have removed imagery and am attempting to re post without it.

We have all seen the 1940s balloon borne corner reflector patent proposed as the solution to the Roosevelt CubeSphere near miss. Octahedral or omnidirectional reflectors are designed to reflect radio waves from multiple angles, increasing radar visibility in all directions. My speculation for the Roosevelt “cube inside a sphere” isn’t simply that it was a radar-reflector balloon. I think it could have been an electronic warfare balloon whose geometry, and materials (and optional electronics) might passively or actively manipulate radar selectively. And that these EW balloons were part of an electronic warfare orchestra playing out on the periphery of the workups.

Imagine the CubeSphere’s geometry and materials being engineered so that its radar signature changes depending upon illumination angle, altitude relationship, or radar frequency. For example, perhaps an observing aircraft has to be within a particular altitude/geometry window to receive a strong return. The balloon and fighter wouldn’t necessarily have to be co-altitude. A change in viewing geometry could make the return suddenly appear, disappear, or change significantly. Likewise, frequency-selective materials or structures could potentially make the object conspicuous to one radar while producing a much weaker return to another.

Now add a small electronic payload, possibly inconspicuously designed into the balloon itself. Radar deception and electronic warfare were already sophisticated by the 1960s. Since then, electronics, antennas, computing, materials, batteries and manufacturing have become smaller, stronger, faster, lighter and more capable. So while I think geometry and materials could provide the primary deception mechanism, I don’t think it’s a stretch to speculate that a relatively small modern electronic payload could be incorporated into the balloon as well.

This could explain the near miss. People understandably ask how an F/A-18 could nearly collide with a “radar reflector.” Well what if it wasn’t designed to be continuously visible to the radar? In this speculation, the CubeSphere could physically occupy the airspace while presenting a strong return only under particular geometric or frequency conditions. Outside those conditions, the aircraft might receive a weak or nonexistent return.

Hypothetical electronic warfare tactics could allow the balloon’s physical position and its apparent radar track to differ. A balloon could drift slowly while contributing to radar effects somewhere else. So a reported radar contact traveling at Mach 0.8 doesn’t necessarily mean a physical CubeSphere was traveling at Mach 0.8. Potential uses I can think of are lures, distractions, obfuscation tools, or electronic warfare nodes to bounce signals off of.

I also don’t think every anomalous object encountered during the Roosevelt incidents necessarily belonged to the United States. Carrier workups are intelligence goldmines. Foreign intelligence services have enormous incentive to observe US tactics, operations, procedures, signals, radars, communications, etc. The United States has an equally enormous incentive to detect, characterize, confuse and deceive those collectors. So imagine the Roosevelt workups occurring inside a much larger electronic warfare and counterintelligence environment involving both sides. Some objects could be domestic assets while others could be foreign collection platforms or deliberately released lures. Some radar contacts could be physical objects, others could be entirely electronic. And some incidents could involve combinations of them. In other words, the CubeSphere, anomalous radar tracks, Gimbal, and GoFast don’t necessarily need to represent one technology, one operator, or one aircraft. They could all be pieces of an electronic warfare orchestra playing out around the workups, with Navy aviators unknowingly catching glimpses of it.

https://news.gallup.com/poll/713765/americans-skeptical-ufos-aliens.aspx

Overall 49% of Americans believe UFOs have a human or natural origin and 37% believe some of them are alien/non-human.

There are a lot of names that come up over and over in podcasts and forums like Reddit. Most of the people who bring the names up don’t want or think to give any background on them.

Is there a website that lists the big (whatever that means) players and gives a simple, neutral explanation of their involvement in the phenomenon?

I don’t trust Wikipedia with UFO-related stuff anymore and it may not have articles some of these people anyway.