Mark McCandlish
Mark McCandlish (1952–2021) was an American aerospace and aeronautical concept illustrator who devoted much of his career to documenting and publicly disclosing the existence of alleged Alien Reproduction Vehicles (ARVs). McCandlish's client list included the US Air Force, Rockwell International, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and respected publications including Aviation Week and Space Technology and Popular Science. He is best known for producing the widely circulated technical cutaway blueprint of the disc-shaped ARV "Flux Liner," based on firsthand testimony from industrial designer Brad Sorenson, who claimed to have witnessed three such craft at a classified exhibit near Norton Air Force Base in November 1988. McCandlish was found dead on April 13, 2021, from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound — a death that remains controversial, given his scheduled testimony before the US Senate on UAP matters in June 2021.
| Role | Aerospace illustrator and ARV researcher |
|---|
Early Career and ARV Discovery
McCandlish worked as a contract illustrator for major defense aerospace clients beginning in the late 1970s and 1980s. An early brush with classified aerospace programs occurred when he was commissioned by Lockheed Martin Skunk Works personnel to illustrate a jet design for a Department of Defense pitch. During that meeting, Skunk Works personnel accidentally let slip that aircraft components would tear apart at Mach 17 (approximately 13,000 mph) — a speed roughly double that of the world's fastest manned aircraft, the SR-71 Blackbird (Mach 3.3). McCandlish later described this incident as his first indication that classified programs operated far beyond publicly acknowledged aeronautical capabilities.
In fall 1988, McCandlish planned to attend an air show at Norton Air Force Base in San Bernardino, California. He dropped out at the last moment to complete a design contract for Popular Science, leaving his friend and fellow designer Brad Sorenson to attend in his place. The following week, Sorenson called McCandlish clearly shaken, saying he had witnessed something he "probably shouldn't have seen." At a subsequent lunch meeting, Sorenson described in detail a classified exhibit at Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, California — approximately 30 miles southwest of Edwards Air Force Base — featuring three disc-shaped craft referred to as Alien Reproduction Vehicles, or "Flux Liners."
The Flux Liner Blueprint
Beginning in March 1989, McCandlish translated Sorenson's verbal and sketch descriptions into precise technical blueprint drawings of the ARV. The resulting cutaway illustration depicted a smooth, dome-topped disc with concentric capacitor plate rings, a central energy column, a crew compartment with ejection seats (off-the-shelf F-4 Phantom components), a synthetic vision system using paired optical cameras and stereoscopic goggles, and a ball-trackball pilot control system. McCandlish's analysis concluded the ARV was essentially a large Tesla coil engineered to negate gravity and inertia, drawing energy from Zero Point Energy — quantum fluctuations embedded throughout spacetime.
McCandlish stressed the ARV's crude construction relative to reported UAP sightings: it featured thick lead paint coating (apparently for x-ray radiation shielding), smudged surfaces, chipped paint, messy internal filaments, and off-the-shelf life support and navigation components. He described it as a "Model T of anti-gravity vehicles" — a human attempt to reproduce technology recovered from non-human craft, built by engineers who did not fully understand the underlying propulsion principles.
Brad Sorenson told McCandlish that his drawing was so accurate it was "probably one of the most dangerous illustrations you've ever done in your life."
Additional Witnesses and Corroboration
McCandlish sought out other ARV witnesses and received accounts from multiple sources. A key corroborating witness was a man identified as Colin (or Kent) Selin, who told McCandlish he had inadvertently observed a Flux Liner ARV at Edwards Air Force Base in 1973 while working as a crew chief for experimental aircraft. Selin described the craft in detail, adding features Brad Sorenson was not aware of — particularly relating to the configuration and operation of the vehicle. McCandlish drew parallels between this sighting and cases in Leonard Stringfield's unpublished crash retrieval files, which included a Class A witness who observed a large disc-shaped craft with a transparent dome within open hangars at Edwards in the 1960s.
In 2001, McCandlish obtained two photographs taken in 1967 by USAF Captain Harvey Williams while flying a C-47 at 12,000 feet approximately 25 miles southwest of Provo, Utah (within 100 miles of Dugway Proving Ground). McCandlish argued these images matched the ARV in proportions and physical features, including the synthetic vision system bubbles on the exterior of the craft.
Public Disclosure and Consequences
McCandlish made his most prominent public appearance at Steven Greer's 2001 National Press Club panel — part of the Disclosure Project — where he presented his ARV line art and testified about the Flux Liner. The Disclosure Project also pressured McCandlish to publicly name Brad Sorenson, a decision he later deeply regretted, as it brought unwanted attention and career damage to Sorenson.
Following his 2001 appearance, McCandlish reported signs of surveillance, received threatening phone calls, lost all his defense industry clients, and had money and vehicles seized by the IRS. He described lying awake at night with a loaded .9mm handgun under his pillow, wondering why he hadn't yet been killed. Despite these pressures, he continued presenting research including a 2015 lecture on interstellar travel at the Secret Space Program Conference, where he argued that back-engineered off-world technology had enabled private corporations and state actors to construct a hidden space program and a "Breakaway Civilization."
Death
On April 13, 2021, at age 69, McCandlish was found dead in his home from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. That day, he had spoken to his friend Rick Price, telling him he would call later, and to his girlfriend, telling her he would speak to her when he arrived at her animal shelter — neither conversation showing any indication of suicidal intent. Researcher Robert D. Morning Star stated that McCandlish had been in contact with Senator Marco Rubio and was scheduled to testify before Senate elements on UAP matters in June 2021. Brad Sorenson told UAP Gerb: "Mark McCandlish was a stupid dramatic selfish fool who died because he could not keep his mouth shut. Learn from this."
The suspicious deaths of other figures in the ARV research community — including filmmaker James Allen, who died from alleged radioisotope poisoning approximately one month before his ARV documentary was set to release — have led researchers to argue that McCandlish's death fits a pattern of foul play targeting those involved in ARV disclosure.
Related Figures and Context
McCandlish also discussed the work of other alleged ARV-related researchers in his later years, including Edgar Fouché's claims about the triangular TR-3B craft, Gary McKinnon's alleged discovery of non-terrestrial USAF personnel records, and the activities of the alleged 412th Reverse Engineering Group at Edwards and Nellis Air Force Bases. He believed there were 10 to 15 craft incorporating non-human intelligence technology to varying degrees, including the Flux Liner, the Aurora, and the TR-3B.