Ben Rich
Ben Rich (1925–1995) was an American aerospace engineer who served as the second director of Lockheed's Advanced Development Programs (Skunk Works) from 1975 to 1991, succeeding the legendary Kelly Johnson. Known as the "father of stealth" for his leadership of the F-117A Nighthawk program, Rich is among the most controversial figures in UAP research due to alleged statements suggesting Lockheed had achieved interstellar travel capabilities and possessed knowledge of extraterrestrial technology.
| Role | Director of Lockheed Skunk Works (1975–1991); 'father of stealth' |
|---|
Alleged 1993 UCLA Lecture
At a lecture at UCLA in 1993, Ben Rich allegedly made extraordinary statements about advanced aerospace capabilities. According to aerospace engineer Tom Keller, who published a 2010 MUFON article confirming his attendance, Rich stated: "We already have the means to travel among the stars, but these technologies are locked up in black projects, and it would take an act of God to ever get them out to benefit humanity. Anything you can imagine, we already know how to do."
Rich concluded the lecture with a slide showing a black disc zipping into outer space, stating: "We now have the technology to take ET home." The audience reportedly broke into laughter, not grasping the literal implication of his statement.
John Haren, former MUFON director and nuclear engineer who also attended as a UCLA alum, confirmed the lecture occurred and Rich made these statements. Haren recalls a post-lecture Q&A where approximately 20-25 attendees gathered around Rich for further questions. When asked "How does this getting ET home work?", Rich deflected initially, then asked an engineer in the group: "Do you think it's possible to travel to the stars?" When the engineer responded it would take a long time, Rich replied: "No, it wouldn't. We found an error in the equations and we now know how to travel to the stars and it won't take us a lifetime to do it."
Haren reports Rich shared three major revelations in the informal post-lecture discussion:
- Interstellar travel has already been figured out — "it's known"
- There was an error in fundamental physics equations (Haren suspects Maxwell's equations for electromagnetic theory)
- When Haren blurted out "I don't know, all points in time and space are connected" in response to Rich asking "How does ESP work?", Rich looked him in the eye and said: "That's how it works."
Corroboration by James Goodall
Aviation journalist James Goodall, a close friend of Rich, provided additional corroboration. In a conversation with Jesse Michaels, Goodall stated that Rich told him: "We have things out there that are literally out of this world. Better than Star Trek or anything you can see in the movies."
Before Rich's death, during a hospital visit, Rich told Goodall: "Jim, we have things out in the desert that is 50 years beyond what you can comprehend. If you've seen movies like Star Trek or Star Wars, we've been there, done that, or decided it wasn't worth the effort." However, Rich specified the advanced technology was "not at Area 51. It's out in the desert there" — potentially referencing Helendale, Tehachapi, or other Lockheed test ranges.
ESP and Consciousness Connection
Rich's alleged comments connecting ESP (extrasensory perception) to advanced physics and interstellar travel are particularly notable. The claim that "all points in time and space are connected" as the mechanism for ESP suggests Rich understood consciousness or non-local phenomena as integral to advanced propulsion or communication systems.
This theme echoes in the later career of James T. Ryder, Lockheed Martin VP who attempted the Kona Blue material transfer. Ryder's 2018 Lucis Trust lectures explored ESP, consciousness, and UAP phenomena. Ryder stated: "If you wanted to study certain kinds of things related to what's called ESP in the United States until very recently, you had to hide it very carefully because you were crazy and the government didn't want people to think they're supporting crazy stuff. But if you wanted to do the work in Russia, go right ahead. Fine. Here's your money."
Rich's comments also parallel alleged statements by Eric A. Walker, self-admitted UFO crash retrieval scientist, who told researcher Henry Azadehdel: "How good is your sixth sense? How much do you know about ESP? Unless you know about it and how to use it, you would not be taken in. Only a few know about it."
TR-3B and XF-131 Connections
In the context of the TR-3B, when Edgar Fouché asked whether Kelly Johnson had been the senior project designer for the triangular alien reproduction vehicle, his source responded that it would have been Ben Rich. The four engineers who described the XF-131 Super Sentinel to Bill McDonald included two who claimed to have worked for Rich at Skunk Works in Glendale, California, operating the radar cross-section range at Helendale.
Controversy and Skepticism
Rich's alleged statements are not without controversy. Jan Harzan (also spelled Tarzan), the former MUFON director who corroborated the UCLA lecture, was later charged with disturbing crimes involving a minor, potentially undermining his credibility as a witness. Additionally, Rich made these statements (if authentic) at a public university lecture rather than in a secure briefing, raising questions about whether they were hyperbole, misdirection, or genuine disclosure.
However, the consistency of the accounts from multiple independent witnesses (Keller, Haren, Goodall), combined with Rich's unique position as Skunk Works director overseeing the most classified aerospace programs in US history, lends weight to the possibility that he possessed direct knowledge of reverse-engineered non-human technology.