Avi Loeb to lead White House UFO advisory council

Avi Loeb was appointed in June to lead a new White House UAP Science Advisory Council, putting one of Harvard’s most visible and polarizing astronomers at the center of a federal review of unexplained aerial sightings. The panel is meant to examine the origins of mysterious orbs and other objects reported by military personnel, a mandate that sits between national security and the long-running public fascination with extraterrestrial claims.

Loeb built his reputation in mainstream academia before becoming a lightning rod for provocative ideas. He is a Harvard cosmologist and astronomer who studied black holes and led Harvard’s astronomy department until 2020. Harvard’s profile also lists him as chair of the UAP Science Advisory Council to the White House, Pentagon, FBI and intelligence agencies, and says he directs the Galileo Project, his effort to bring more systematic observation to unexplained phenomena.

Loeb said he was tasked by the White House, the Pentagon’s All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the FBI and the broader intelligence community to assemble the council. He has described the work as a scientific “detective story,” framing the effort as a data problem rather than a search for sensational answers. That posture matters because the council arrives amid intense scrutiny over how the government handles UAP claims and how much of the evidence should be made public.

The broader disclosure push comes directly from President Donald Trump. The Department of War said it is overseeing government-wide efforts to review, identify, declassify and publicly release unresolved UAP-related records and historical documents in response to Trump’s directive for transparency. That places Loeb’s council inside a larger federal process that already involves military, intelligence and records-review machinery.

The membership details remain only partly clear, but reporting on the effort has described the team as including more than a dozen scientists and UFO activists. Retired Rear Adm. Tim Gallaudet and entrepreneur Ben Lamm have also been linked to the broader advisory effort. That mix of credentialed researchers and disclosure advocates underscores the central tension around the council: whether the government is building a serious scientific review, or adding another layer between raw UAP data and the public.