BDM International
BDM International was an American defense research and consulting contractor that played a significant role in multiple classified government programs during the Cold War and post-Cold War era. The company was eventually acquired by TRW and subsequently absorbed into Northrop Grumman. BDM is notable in UAP research for its connections to the classified "Advanced Theoretical Physics Conference" and its contract work on deep underground facility systems.
| Type | private/defense contractor |
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Advanced Theoretical Physics Conference (1985)
BDM International hosted the classified "Advanced Theoretical Physics Conference" at a secure facility in McLean, Virginia from May 20–25, 1985. The conference — whose notes were released by attendee Oke Shannon, formerly manager for special projects at Los Alamos National Laboratory — discussed multiple aspects of UFOs, including legacy programs and a "major engineering project" under Bobby Ray Inman. The conference used Department of Energy security controls, suggesting that classification under the nuclear materials framework was used to secure UAP-related information.
Key figures connected to this conference include:
- Albert Stubblebine — Vice President of BDM at the time, and former Commanding General of Army INSCOM
- John B. Alexander — credited with spearheading the working group that organized the conference, had reported directly to Stubblebine at INSCOM from 1982–1983
ICBM Deep Basing and Tunnel Research
In 1985, BDM was awarded a contract to conduct an "intercontinental ballistic missile deep basing communication study." This contract for underground missile system communications overlaps temporally with the Advanced Theoretical Physics Conference and Stubblebine's tenure at BDM. UAP Gerb notes the potential intersection of this ICBM deep basing work with UFO legacy program underground facilities.
High-Speed Ground Transportation Research
TRW — later absorbed by Northrop Grumman along with BDM — had been involved in underground transportation studies since at least 1968, including a 1967 study titled "Abstracts of Concepts of High-Speed Ground Transportation Systems" and a 1970 study titled "State-of-the-Art Tube Vehicle System" discussing tube systems and tunnels up to 3,000 feet underground with trains traveling at 450 mph.
Acquisition and Legacy
BDM was acquired by TRW, which was itself later purchased by Northrop Grumman. UAP Gerb identifies this acquisition chain as significant: key personnel and program knowledge from BDM's classified work would have transitioned into TRW and then Northrop Grumman, contributing to what UAP Gerb characterizes as Northrop Grumman's central role in current UFO legacy programs.
Rear Admiral Sumner Shapiro and the ET Vehicles Disclosure
Rear Admiral Sumner Shapiro — former Director of Naval Intelligence — served as a BDM International board member. In 1989, Shapiro told NASA mission specialist Robert Oechsler (an introduction arranged by Bobby Ray Inman, then SAIC board member and former NSA Director) that factions within the US possessed extraterrestrial vehicles and that he had personally studied one at close quarters. Shapiro described teams disassembling the craft, packing them up, and shipping them to different facilities, noting the craft featured unique interlocking components requiring disassembly in an exact sequence.
The presence of a Director of Naval Intelligence on BDM's board at the time of this disclosure connects BDM institutionally to the highest levels of US Naval intelligence awareness of non-human technology. UAP Gerb notes that Northrop Grumman maintains a major corporate presence near BDM's former headquarters in Tyson Corner, Virginia.