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The_Info_Web/10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Ross Coulthart.md

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Ross Coulthart
Coulthart
Authors & Journalists
UFO
Person
UAP
Journalist
NewsNation
Australia
Australian investigative journalist and author of In Plain Sight (2021) who joined NewsNation as special correspondent on November 14, 2023 and reported on David Grusch, Jake Barber and Skywatcher.
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employed_by NewsNation special correspondent and investigative journalist, effective November 14, 2023 2023-11-14 1
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employed_by Nine Network reporter for 60 Minutes, per NewsNation's announcement 1
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employed_by Seven Network investigative reporter for Spotlight, most recent post before NewsNation, per NewsNation's announcement 1
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investigated David Grusch NewsNation reporting on Grusch from June 2023; the November 14, 2023 announcement says Coulthart will continue it 2023-06 2
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investigated Sky Watcher reported on its operations and disappearance, April 2025 to August 2026 2025-04 3
2026-10-03 2026-10-03

Ross Coulthart is an Australia journalist, documentary producer and author whom NewsNation, a cable network owned by Nexstar Media Group, signed as a special correspondent and investigative journalist on November 14, 2023.1 The announcement stated that he would "continue to provide reporting on UFO whistleblower David Grusch, along with the larger investigation into an alleged secret U.S. military operation that is believed to have been retrieving non-human intelligence spacecraft for years."1

Career before NewsNation

The Nexstar announcement lists, over "three decades in journalism," work at The Sydney Morning Herald, at Four Corners on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, at 60 Minutes (Australian TV program) on the Nine Network, most recently as investigative reporter for Spotlight (Australian TV program) on the Seven Network and before that as chief investigative reporter for the news program Sunday Night (Australian TV program). It states that he received five Walkley Awards including the Gold Walkley and a Logie Awards, that he co-authored six books including The Lost Diggers, Dead Man Running and Above the Law, that his biography of Charles Bean won the 2015 Prime Minister's Literary Awards for Australian History, and that he holds a law degree from Victoria University of Wellington and lives in Sydney.1 His book In Plain Sight (Coulthart book): An Investigation Into UFOs and Impossible Science is listed as his "latest book," and in 2022 he "began hosting the podcast Need to Know with fellow author, producer, and journalist Bryce Zabel."1 The announcement quoted NewsNation president of news Michael Corn: "We look forward to offering our viewers more of Ross' outstanding journalism."1 His first NewsNation project was "Unsolved: The JFK Assassination," a special timed to the 60th anniversary of the assassination of John F. Kennedy, scheduled for November 19, 2023.1 NewsNation was announced in May 2020 as the primetime national newscast of the cable channel WGN America with a September 1, 2020 target date; Nexstar chairman and chief executive Perry Sook said it would be "100 percent absent of bias."2

Grusch and the July 2023 hearing

NewsNation's article "We are not alone: The UFO whistleblower speaks" was entered into the record of the July 26, 2023 hearing of the Subcommittee on National Security, the Border, and Foreign Affairs of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform by Representative Anna Paulina Luna.3 NewsNation wrote in January 2025 that "In June 2023, NewsNation was the first television network to present an interview with Grusch," and that the account "has led to multiple Congressional hearings."45

Barber and Skywatcher

Coulthart conducted the January 2025 interviews with Jake Barber and introduced Barber to Garry Nolan in 2024, according to NewsNation's account of its own reporting.6 On Sunday, April 6, 2025 he told "NewsNation Prime," as reported on April 7, that Sky Watcher used an "electro-mechanical dog whistle," that "every time they use their dog whistle, it's worked 100% of the time in summoning the phenomenon," and that a video of nine shapes, including a "jellyfish-shaped" object, would follow "within a day."7 Appearing on "NewsNation Prime" on Sunday, February 23, 2025, as reported on February 24, he called the Department of Defense investigation of Barber "an incremental step forward" and said, "So far, I'm a little bit skeptical, but we'll wait and see."8

In an August 2026 column he wrote that "it appears Skywatcher has indeed been dissolved," that "multiple insiders told NewsNation" its team had been "working with and reporting to a number of government agencies, including NASA, the Department of Defense and several intelligence agencies, including the Central Intelligence Agency," and that "White House sources" told him Donald Trump "has personally authorized" a government program using Skywatcher's methods; he attributed each statement to unnamed sources.9 The column also states, again on the authority of unnamed sources, that Secretary of War Pete Hegseth "has been tasked with identifying these objects and capturing them for the president" and that the Office of the Director of National Intelligence is "also said to be involved."9 NewsNation published a related question-and-answer episode on August 7, 2026.10

Dispute with Luis Elizondo, 2026

On an episode of "Reality Check (NewsNation)" reported by NewsNation on June 30, 2026, Coulthart said "There are people who bitterly resent and don't think it's a good idea that Lue be appointed to a position of power in UAP transparency," and "I've spoken to people in the Legacy Program who knew Lue."11 Luis Elizondo told NewsNation's Chris Cuomo that he "didn't say I worked for the Legacy Program," that "I think Ross is an excellent investigative journalist," and that he did not know "where Ross is getting his information; I suspect he has sources."11 On July 29, 2026 NewsNation reported that an anonymous researcher known online as UAPGerb (named Sam in the article), speaking to Coulthart, had said Elizondo and others were part of a "controlled narrative," and that Elizondo, in a YouTube video, called the claims false and told Coulthart "for the love of God, be more careful with who you decide to have on your program."12

Footnotes

  1. Nexstar Media Group, "NewsNation Signs Award-Winning Journalist Ross Coulthart as a Special Correspondent for the Network," press release, November 14, 2023. https://www.nexstar.tv/newsnation-signs-ross-coulthart-as-special-correspondent/ ↩︎

  2. Robert Feder, "WGN America planning to launch 'News Nation' Sept. 1," Daily Herald, May 7, 2020. https://robertfeder.dailyherald.com/2020/05/07/robservations-wgn-america-planning-launch-news-nation-sept-1/. ↩︎

  3. U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on Oversight and Accountability, Subcommittee on National Security, the Border, and Foreign Affairs, hearing "Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena: Implications on National Security, Public Safety, and Government Transparency," July 26, 2023, Serial No. 118-53, list of submitted documents. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CHRG-118hhrg53022/html/CHRG-118hhrg53022.htm ↩︎

  4. NewsNation, "UAP whistleblower says UFO retrieval program exists," January 16, 2025. https://www.newsnationnow.com/space/ufo/uap-whistleblower-ufo-retrieval-program/ ↩︎

  5. NewsNation, "UAP whistleblower says UFO retrieval program exists: NewsNation exclusive," January 16, 2025. https://www.newsnationnow.com/space/ufo/uap-whistleblower-ufo-retrieval-program/ ; Ross Coulthart, "UAP recovery video shows 'egg-shaped' object: Exclusive," NewsNation, updated January 18, 2025. https://www.newsnationnow.com/space/ufo/uap-recovery-video-shows-egg-shaped-object-exclusive/ ↩︎

  6. NewsNation, "Whistleblower reveals UAP retrieval program; object caught on video," January 2025. https://www.newsnationnow.com/space/ufo/hfr-uap-recovery-video-egg-shaped-object-exclusive/ ↩︎

  7. Michael Ramsey, "Skywatcher video of 'summoned' UFOs coming soon: Ross Coulthart," NewsNation, updated April 7, 2025. https://www.newsnationnow.com/space/ufo/summoned-ufos-video-ross-coulthart/ ↩︎

  8. Michael Ramsey, "UFO whistleblower Jake Barber's claims being investigated by Pentagon," NewsNation, updated February 24, 2025. https://www.newsnationnow.com/space/ufo/pentagon-investigates-ufo-claims/ ↩︎

  9. Ross Coulthart, "Is the Trump administration running a covert UFO program?," NewsNation Reality Check, about August 2026. https://www.newsnationnow.com/podcasts-newsnation/reality-check/trump-administration-covert-ufo-program/amp/ ↩︎

  10. Ross Coulthart and Meagan Medick, "Ross Coulthart Q&A: Skywatcher didn't disappear, it went government," NewsNation, updated August 7, 2026. https://www.newsnationnow.com/space/ufo/ross-coulthart-qa-skywatcher-didnt-disappear-it-went-government/ ↩︎

  11. Alicia Sitz, "UAP whistleblower Luis Elizondo neither confirms nor denies he was part of government secrecy efforts," NewsNation, updated June 30, 2026. https://www.newsnationnow.com/space/ufo/luis-elizondo-denies-uap-secrecy-efforts/ ↩︎

  12. Steph Whiteside and Alicia Sitz, "Elizondo responds to researcher's 'controlled narrative' role rumors," NewsNation, updated July 29, 2026. https://www.newsnationnow.com/space/ufo/elizondo-uap-role-controlled-narrative/ ↩︎