Richard Dolan: USOs, PURSUE Files & Where UFO Disclosure Goes Next

Summary

UFO historian Richard Dolan returns to discuss volume two of his history of unidentified submerged objects (USOs), arguing that the 1970s was by far the most active decade for water-based UFO encounters. He walks through dramatic cases, including a glowing sphere disabling systems on the USS John F. Kennedy, Soviet divers allegedly meeting nine-foot beings in Lake Baikal, and a mysterious figure who reportedly walked through a bulkhead on the USS Saratoga to warn of an engine-room fuel leak. Dolan also weighs in on the PURSUE file releases, the Wall Street Journal's UFO hazing story, whistleblower waivers, and why he thinks a major data leak is more likely than official disclosure.

Key takeaways

• 1Dolan collected roughly 700 USO cases and found the 1970s had the most encounters and the most electromagnetic interference with civilian and military witnesses.
• 2July 2, 1971: communications specialist James Kopf says a glowing pulsating sphere hovered over the USS John F. Kennedy north of Puerto Rico, scrambling teletypes, compasses and radar, and two F-4 Phantoms could not start.
• 3May 1, 1975: a large disc with portholes allegedly rose from the Mediterranean, circled the USS Franklin D. Roosevelt and submerged, reportedly seen by 90+ crew. The account was written under the pseudonym F.B. Newman, which Dolan traced to aviation writer Robert F. Dorr.
• 4Soviet submariners reported 'Kvakeri' (croakers), frog-like underwater acoustic signals that followed nuclear submarines. Dolan says a secret naval investigation ended in the early 1980s without an explanation.
• 5Summer 1982 Lake Baikal story: Soviet military divers reportedly met 9–10 ft beings in silvery suits, and three divers allegedly died after an unknown force pushed them to the surface. Sources cited are Vladimir Azhazha and Paul Stonehill.
• 61984 Lummi Island, Puget Sound: a flaming object reportedly made a U-turn before crashing into the water, and divers later claimed to stand on a gold-colored humming saucer. Researcher Matthew Thune reconstructed the case, and Bruce Maccabee linked it to a craft allegedly arriving at Wright-Patterson.
• 7May 1987, USS Saratoga in the Bermuda Triangle: an A-7 Corsair allegedly failed while approaching a zigzagging light, and its pilot ejected. An F-14 was then outpaced, and a man in gray coveralls reportedly walked through a bulkhead to warn of a major fuel leak.
• 8PURSUE Tranche 6 included 1952 Edward Ruppelt audio and the 37 AAWSAP/DIRD scientific papers, including Hal Puthoff's paper on space-time metric engineering.
• 9Dolan calls the June 2025 Wall Street Journal UFO-hazing articles a 'psyop' aimed at members of Congress weighing the UAP Disclosure Act. He also co-wrote 'A.D. After Disclosure' with Bryce Zabel (2010).

Glossary terms

Source

Transcript excerpt

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Excerpt from Somewhere in the Skies, Sep 28, 2026. Rights remain with the original creators. Hear the full episode at the source.