Brad Sorenson
Brad Sorenson is an American industrial designer and inventor who claims to have observed three classified Alien Reproduction Vehicles (ARVs), known as "Flux Liners," at a restricted aerospace exhibit at Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, California in November 1988. Sorenson's firsthand account forms the evidentiary backbone of the ARV disclosure story, and his detailed descriptions were translated into widely circulated technical illustrations by aerospace artist Mark McCandlish. On December 3, 1990, Sorenson gave a detailed interview to William B. Scott, senior engineering editor of Aviation Week and Space Technology — an interview that remained out of public circulation for decades and constitutes the only known instance of Sorenson speaking on the record about his experience outside of private conversations with McCandlish.
| Role | Industrial designer; firsthand ARV witness |
|---|
The 1988 Norton / Plant 42 Exhibit
Sorenson was originally slated to attend an air show at Norton Air Force Base on November 12, 1988, with McCandlish. After McCandlish dropped out, Sorenson attended with one of his own clients — described as a tall white man with glasses, an Italian-sounding name, wealthy, and a former Secretary of Defense or Under Secretary of Defense. McCandlish later identified this individual with high confidence as Frank Carlucci, who served as the 16th US Secretary of Defense from 1987 to 1989.
During the USAF Thunderbirds flyby at the main air show, Sorenson's client escorted him away from the crowd. Both boarded a military version of a Boeing 727 that flew north from Norton to Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale — approximately 30 miles southwest of Edwards Air Force Base. Sorenson was told by his client, upon entering the Palmdale hangar: "There are some aircraft on exhibit here that you're not cleared to see. Just enjoy the show, walk around, listen, take a look, but don't say anything to anybody."
The exhibit was a private briefing for approximately 30 senior individuals — men aged 45 to 60 — including California Senator Alan Cranston and Congressman George E. Brown Jr. The hangar interior resembled the deck of an aircraft carrier, with tightly packed aircraft including: the B-2 stealth bomber losing competitor, an advanced hovercraft with hidden thrust mechanisms, an unmanned pulse-detonation Aurora craft ("Lockheed Pulsar"), and — behind a large black curtain dividing the hangar — three disc-shaped ARV craft. The exhibit was designed to attract investor funding for black budget aerospace programs.
Description of the ARV Craft
Sorenson described three identical-in-design but differently sized saucer-shaped vehicles — nicknamed "daddy, mommy, and baby bear" — hovering off the floor without any visible means of support. Their approximate diameters were 20–24 feet, 60 feet, and 120–130 feet. He found the craft crudely built compared to the other aerospace hardware present: "They had been built by scientists who didn't know a hell of a lot about laying up composite materials or whatever." The crew compartment sphere appeared to have messy internal filaments, and the entire craft was coated in thick heavy lead paint. Panels had been removed to allow the interior to be inspected.
A three-star general addressed the group, describing the craft as "Alien Reproduction Vehicles," nicknames "Flux Liners," and stated they were capable of light speed or better. The briefers told attendees the craft used a new fuel source "that was everywhere in the universe," allowing travel at 500 times the speed of light and a practical operational speed of 5–8 times the speed of light while withstanding 85 Gs of acceleration. The craft generated no noise, had no moving parts, and emitted no exhaust.
An easel displayed cutaway blueprints of the craft, and a video monitor showed continuous footage of an ARV hovering over a dry lake bed, making three quick sideways hops before shooting vertically into the sky and vanishing in approximately half a second.
When asked about the origin of the craft, the exhibit staff stated: "While they tried to avoid it, they said something about 1947. They had some sort of a contact telling them that we had no right to use nuclear weapons... Back in 1947 we had just won the war, we felt pretty damned cavalier, and we attacked basically... they just tried to destroy all of their stuff and get away, and they didn't get all of it destroyed... they couldn't really make those things that they found work, so they had to build their own." Sorenson confirmed to interviewer Bill Scott: the craft represented a copy of recovered hardware, not a fundamental research breakthrough.
The Aurora Craft
Sorenson also confirmed the Aurora, described as a large, flattened black football-shaped unmanned craft approximately 100–110 feet in length. It used internal fuselage engines to achieve initial altitude and then external pulse detonation engines to accelerate to Mach 6–8. Officials stated the Aurora could "take out every city over a million in the Soviet Union within one hour and twenty minutes."
The 1990 Bill Scott Interview
On December 3, 1990, Sorenson gave an on-record interview to William B. Scott of Aviation Week and Space Technology. In this interview — which UAP Gerb has described as never before having been publicly discussed — Sorenson confirmed the air show, the Aurora, the B-2 losing competitor, and the ARV craft as hovering saucers with faster-than-light speed capabilities. He stated his motivation for giving the interview was patriotism and opposition to excessive military spending, describing the exhibit as seeking "appropriations of billions of dollars to develop new craft."
Bill Scott did not publish the ARV-related portions of the interview, later stating he had difficulty believing claims involving flying saucers capable of light speed that had been copied from other beings. However, a sketch believed to be drawn by Sorenson's hand, showing the exhibit layout, was included in the interview documents.
McCandlish's Illustrations
The week following his return from the exhibit, Sorenson met McCandlish for lunch, where he sketched the ARV and described its components in detail. When McCandlish sent him a copy of the completed blueprint in 1989, Sorenson told him: "This drawing is about as accurate as you can get. Every detail, every aspect of it is right on the money. It is so accurate in every way, this has to be probably one of the most dangerous illustrations you've ever done in your life. And if you're smart, you'll tear up the original, you'll throw it away, and you'll never talk about it again."
Post-Disclosure and Hostile Demeanor
After McCandlish publicly named Sorenson at the Disclosure Project's 2001 National Press Club event, Sorenson became hostile and radio silent. When contacted by UAP Gerb for this investigation, Sorenson's initial response was: "Mark McCandlish was a stupid dramatic selfish fool who died because he could not keep his mouth shut. Learn from this." He further stated he could not cover the topic without facing mortal peril, and advised UAP Gerb to say goodbye to his loved ones if he continued investigating the ARV story. When asked why McCandlish had been permitted to speak openly for 20 years before his death, Sorenson replied: "I protected him until I could not."
UAP Gerb has noted that Sorenson's threatening posture may, in part, be an attempt to warn off amateur investigators rather than a literal death threat — but acknowledges the real danger around ARV disclosure suggested by the deaths of McCandlish, James Allen, and others.