Micah Hanks
Micah Hanks is a journalist and editor at the-debrief, where he covers UAP, intelligence, and frontier-science topics. His framing tends toward critical-engaged: takes disclosure efforts seriously, but assesses substance against prior FOIA holdings and primary-source baselines.
Coverage in this vault
- src-debrief-aaro-course-correcting-2024-11 — Intelligence Brief column (Nov 21, 2024) arguing AARO under jon-kosloski is “course correcting” after the sean-kirkpatrick era. Earliest Hanks byline in this vault; sets the editorial baseline against which his later May 2026 pursue analysis can be read.
- src-debrief-pursue-launch-2026-05 — Same-day analysis of pursue Phase 1 (May 8, 2026). Hanks’s bottom line: PURSUE Release 01 is largely a centralized repository of previously-partial records with limited genuinely new insight; updated fbi-case-file-62-hq-83894 adds pages and reduces redactions vs. the FBI Vault edition. Surfaces anna-paulina-luna’s “great first step” reaction and her signal that a second tranche containing previously demanded video may land within weeks (src-luna-46-uap-videos-demand-2026-03).
- src-debrief-pursue-next-batch-preview-2026-05 — May 21, 2026 preview of imminent PURSUE Release 02. Hanks walks through up to 46 aaro-held UAP videos slated for release — named clips (Iran formation 2022, Syrian instant-acceleration, Wiley 2X Zinc USO, sphere/Tic Tac/fast-mover cases) plus AARO-resolved cases (eglin-afb-diamond-formation-2023 with mick-west’s lighting-balloon critique; lake-huron-shootdown-2023 with aesir11 callsign and sean-kirkpatrick’s CNA hobbyist-balloon framing). Surfaces the May 15 2026 Luna–Kosloski–Burlison joint review.
- src-debrief-pursue-release-04-2026-07 — July 10, 2026: Hanks’s first genuine Release 04 reporting (resolving a prior search mix-up with the May 21 Release 02 preview). Walks through STS-80/Columbia 1996 photos, a Middle East 2023 “areas of contrast” clip, a Western U.S. 2020 clip superficially likened to the Tic Tac video, Eastern U.S. 2019 “unlike anything” testimony, and an Atlantic 2020 balloon-like object. Cumulative verdict across all four PURSUE releases: no clear evidence of advanced-tech UAP.
- Serving as M.C. for the SCU Conference 2026 (Toronto, July 24-26) — see src-scu-conference-2026-2026-03.
Related
- the-debrief
- joseph-trevithick · leonard-david (peer UAP/space-beat bylines)
- pursue