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Private Organization | The National Institute for Discovery Science (NIDS) was a privately funded research organization founded by billionaire Robert Bigelow in 1995. | 1995 | 2004 | Las Vegas, Nevada, USA | 2026-10-09 |
The National Institute for Discovery Science (NIDS) was a privately funded research organization founded by billionaire Robert Bigelow in 1995. The organization was dedicated to the scientific study of Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP) and other paranormal phenomena.1
George Knapp wrote in a 2023 statement to Congress that Bigelow created NIDS in 1996 with a science advisory board of PhD-level academics, two former astronauts and scientists who had worked for or consulted with military and intelligence agencies, and that Senator Harry Reid attended one of the first board meetings after Knapp arranged an introduction.2
Research and Investigations
NIDS conducted research into a wide range of anomalous phenomena, including UAP sightings, cattle mutilations, and other paranormal events. The organization was known for its scientific approach to these topics, and it employed a team of scientists and researchers to investigate cases and analyze data.1
One of the most well-known projects undertaken by NIDS was the investigation of Skinwalker Ranch, a property in Utah with a long history of strange and often terrifying phenomena. NIDS conducted a multi-year investigation of the ranch, documenting a wide range of anomalous activity.1
Science Advisory Board and staff
The institute's personnel page as captured on December 6, 2000 listed a Science Advisory Board of Warren Burggren (chairman), Douglas P. Ferraro, Albert A. Harrison, Edgar Mitchell, Melvin Morse, Martin Piltch, Hal Puthoff, Theodore Rockwell, John F. Schuessler, Jessica Utts, Jacques Vallee and Jim Whinnery. The staff list named Robert Bigelow as president and founder, Colm Kelleher as deputy administrator (molecular biology and biochemistry), John B. Alexander as "Discrete Project Scout," Eric W. Davis (aerospace physics and astrophysics), George E. Onet (veterinary pathology) and Marcel Kuijsten (communications officer and webmaster).3
Press Report of April 1997
The Deseret News reporter Zack Van Eyck wrote in April 1997 (reprinted in The Uintah Basin Standard on April 29) that research scientists who had taken control of a 480-acre Uintah County, Utah ranch near Randlett, Utah the previous fall remained there although they had not seen the phenomena that its former owners, Terry Sherman and Gwen Sherman Sherman, described. A spokesman for the Las Vegas-based institute said the researchers had yet to see flying craft, cattle mutilations or the "balls of light" that the Shermans said killed dogs. John B. Alexander, identified as the institute's director for scientific liaison, was quoted: "There have been some minor observations, but nothing you would stand behind." The story described Bigelow as a Las Vegas real estate magnate who founded the institute and who bought the ranch in September 1996, three months after the Shermans first told their account publicly in the Deseret News; it said two scientists and a veterinarian had set up an observation post, that the institute had not released details to other UFO researchers who were frustrated by that, and that Alexander said findings would be posted on the institute's web page (accessnv.com/nids).4
Connection to AATIP
The work of NIDS was a precursor to the research conducted by the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP). When Robert Bigelow's company, Bigelow Aerospace Advanced Space Studies (BAASS), was awarded the contract for the AATIP program, the research that had been started by NIDS was continued and expanded upon under the auspices of the government program.1
Footnotes
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Elizondo, Luis. Imminent. William Morrow, 2024. ↩︎
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George Knapp, "Statement to Congress," July 26, 2023 hearing record, https://docs.house.gov/meetings/GO/GO06/20230726/116282/HHRG-118-GO06-20230726-SD004.pdf ↩︎
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National Institute for Discovery Science, "Personnel," capture of December 6, 2000, https://web.archive.org/web/20001206032200/http://www.nidsci.org/personnel.html ↩︎
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Zack Van Eyck, "No UFOs or ETs have dropped in at spooky ranch," The Uintah Basin Standard (Roosevelt, Utah; reprinted from the Deseret News), April 29, 1997, p. 2, https://www.newspapers.com/image/725294178/. ↩︎