Christopher Mellon
Christopher Mellon is a former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and a key figure in UAP disclosure advocacy.
Background
- Former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Intelligence
- Has leveraged his national security credentials and political connections to advance UAP transparency
Advocacy Work
- Traveled to Capitol Hill with lue-elizondo in March 2025 for closed-door meetings with lawmakers (per src-uap-legislation-disclosure-efforts-2025)
- Provided congressional briefings and legislative strategy guidance
- Participated in the May 1, 2025 Capitol Hill expert briefing alongside avi-loeb and tim-gallaudet — hosted by the uap-disclosure-fund and the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability (NOT a Senate PSI briefing); see src-uap-expert-briefing-2025-05.
- On-camera in the 2025 documentary the-age-of-disclosure: “This is the biggest discovery in human history” (src-age-of-disclosure-review-2025-03).
Key Arguments
- Argued that secrecy around uap-reverse-engineering programs is driven by the strategic value of potential technological breakthroughs, not concern about public panic
- Framed recovered UAP technology as fueling a “secretive arms race” among nations (per src-uap-reverse-engineering-claims-overview-2025)
- Claims a UAP-specific classification guide was created in late 2017 shortly after he provided three then-unclassified Navy UAP videos to the New York Times — retroactively reclassifying UAP material as national-security-sensitive (src-uap-expert-briefing-2025-05).
- Cited a 2023 Arizona test-range incident: F-35 pilots reported drones at 35,000 ft and 500 mph, vastly above typical hobby-drone operating envelope (src-uap-expert-briefing-2025-05).
- In Nov 2024 personal communication to tim-gallaudet, flagged a 2017 satellite-imagery UAP case never shared with Congress (src-gallaudet-house-testimony-2024-11).
Criticism of AARO
- Described aaro’s historical record report as “the most error-ridden government document he had encountered in decades of service” — cited in congressional record by anna-paulina-luna (src-aaro-shutdown-bill-2026)
Significance
Mellon’s former senior DoD position lends institutional credibility to disclosure efforts. He serves as a bridge between the intelligence community and Congress on UAP matters.
On the Trump Directive (March 2026)
Per src-trump-uap-files-delay-2026-03, Mellon confirmed to CNN that interagency meetings have begun to scope the release. He urged tempered expectations — the review is line-by-line, trained security officers are scarce, and the challenge is balancing transparency with protecting war-fighting capabilities.