To the Stars
To the Stars is a San Diego-based entertainment, science and aerospace company known for media projects and research into unidentified aerial phenomena and speculative technologies.
Last updated August 31, 2026
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Overview
To the Stars Inc. is an American public benefit corporation combining entertainment, publishing, science and aerospace activities. It was established in 2017 by musician and entrepreneur Tom DeLonge, physicist and parapsychology researcher Harold E. Puthoff, and author and former intelligence professional Jim Semivan. The company initially operated under the name To the Stars Academy of Arts & Sciences and later adopted the shorter To the Stars identity in 2022. The business grew out of DeLonge’s earlier To the Stars entertainment company, which had been announced in 2014 as a vehicle for music, books, film and television. That earlier operation was folded into the 2017 corporation, creating a structure that connected entertainment properties with scientific and aerospace initiatives. Its entertainment arm has released or supported music recordings, novels, graphic novels, children’s books, documentaries, television programs and films. Recurring properties include Sekret Machines, Poet Anderson, Strange Times and Cathedrals of Glass. The company’s best-known early television project was Unidentified: Inside America’s UFO Investigation, a History Channel series focused on reported UFO encounters and government investigations. It later produced Monsters of California, DeLonge’s feature directorial debut. To the Stars’ science and aerospace work has concentrated on subjects described by the company as being at the outer boundaries of science. These have included unidentified aerial phenomena, advanced propulsion, metamaterials, electromagnetic systems, quantum communications and related concepts. The company’s public profile increased substantially after former intelligence officer Luis Elizondo became associated with it and helped publicize military UFO videos and congressional interest in encounters involving U.S. Navy aircraft. Three videos connected with the USS Nimitz and USS Theodore Roosevelt incidents were later acknowledged by the Navy as authentic recordings; the Department of Defense formally released the footage in 2020. The company also created the ADAM Research Project, later associated with the public-facing VAULT initiative. ADAM examined materials that the company described as potentially exotic or recovered from alleged anomalous sources. To the Stars acknowledged that the provenance and extraordinary claims surrounding those samples required independent verification. Critics and materials specialists disputed the suggestion that the samples were extraterrestrial or scientifically unprecedented. In 2019, To the Stars announced a cooperative research and development agreement with the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command. The proposed work covered inertial mass reduction, metamaterials, electromagnetic waveguides, quantum technologies, communications and beamed-energy propulsion. The agreement brought the company into contact with defense research while leaving it publicly associated with UFO investigation and entertainment. Its business model has therefore remained unusually hybrid: part media studio and publisher, part speculative research venture, and part public advocate for government transparency concerning UAP reports.
History
To the Stars began in 2014 as an entertainment venture associated with Tom DeLonge. Its first releases included Angels & Airwaves’ album The Dream Walker and DeLonge’s solo collection To the Stars... Demos, Odds and Ends. The venture soon expanded into publishing, issuing fiction, graphic novels and children’s books dealing with supernatural themes, science fiction and UFO mythology. Many projects were developed with established publishing partners, including Simon & Schuster. In 2017, DeLonge joined Harold E. Puthoff and Jim Semivan to establish To the Stars Academy of Arts & Sciences as a public benefit corporation. The new company acquired the earlier entertainment business and presented itself as a combination of entertainment, science and aerospace divisions. It pursued public investment through a Regulation A+ offering announced in September 2017. Later SEC-based reporting described relatively modest share sales and a significant deficit, leading some observers to question whether the company could sustain its ambitious research and media plans. The entertainment division developed several interconnected intellectual properties. The Sekret Machines franchise combined novels with nonfiction books about government secrecy, warfare and alleged anomalous phenomena. Poet Anderson and Strange Times targeted younger audiences, while Cathedrals of Glass explored space-oriented science fiction. The company also supported animation and screen projects, including Poet Anderson: The Dream Walker. Its major television breakthrough came with Unidentified: Inside America’s UFO Investigation, which premiered in 2019 and ran into 2020. The company’s public identity increasingly centered on UFO and UAP investigation. Luis Elizondo, a former U.S. intelligence official, became associated with To the Stars and helped bring attention to military footage and the former Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program. The company’s VAULT project was presented as a system for collecting, analyzing and authenticating reports and records concerning anomalous aerial events. To the Stars and its associates also engaged with pilots, former officials and members of Congress, contributing to classified congressional briefings concerning reported encounters involving Navy aircraft. Another major research initiative was ADAM, short for Acquisition & Data Analysis of Materials. To the Stars acquired samples that had been described by others as unusual or possibly linked to alleged UFO events. The company emphasized the need for independent testing, but outside scientists and commentators challenged claims that the samples were extraterrestrial or scientifically unexplained. The dispute illustrated the tension between the company’s public enthusiasm for unconventional hypotheses and the evidentiary standards expected in mainstream materials science. In October 2019, To the Stars announced a five-year cooperative research and development agreement with the U.S. Army’s Combat Capabilities Development Command. The stated areas included inertial mass reduction, structural and electromagnetic metamaterials, quantum communications and beamed-energy propulsion. The agreement gave the company a potential defense-technology pathway, although the Army stated that public funds would not be provided directly and that its interest depended on scientific evaluation and possible military utility. The organization shortened its name to To the Stars in 2022. Its subsequent entertainment work included Monsters of California, released in 2023 and directed by DeLonge. Additional projects announced or under development have included the animated series Breaking Bear, a Strange Times television adaptation, and screen projects based on Sekret Machines. The company continues to occupy an unusual position between media production, speculative research, UAP advocacy and defense-oriented technology exploration.
- 2023
Monsters of California released
[1]The company released Tom DeLonge’s feature directorial debut.
- 2022
Rebrand to To the Stars
[1]The company adopted the shorter To the Stars name.
- 2020
Navy footage formally released by the Department of Defense
[1]The Department of Defense released three videos connected with Navy UAP encounters.
- 2019
Unidentified premieres
[1]The History Channel began airing Unidentified: Inside America’s UFO Investigation.
- 2019
ADAM research project announced
[1]The company announced efforts to acquire and analyze materials it regarded as potentially anomalous.
- 2019
U.S. Army research agreement announced
[1]To the Stars announced a cooperative research agreement with the Army’s Combat Capabilities Development Command.
- 2017
Public benefit corporation established
[1]To the Stars Academy of Arts & Sciences was founded by Tom DeLonge, Harold E. Puthoff and Jim Semivan, incorporating the earlier entertainment operation.
- 2017
Regulation A+ offering begins
[1]The company began offering securities to the public under Regulation A+.
- 2014
Entertainment venture announced
[1]Tom DeLonge announced the original To the Stars entertainment company as a platform for music, publishing and screen projects.
Products and positioning
A cross-disciplinary entertainment and research brand that connects popular culture, UFO/UAP investigation, speculative science and aerospace innovation.
Books and screen franchise · 2016
Sekret Machines
A fiction and nonfiction franchise combining science-fiction storytelling with books about alleged government secrecy, anomalous phenomena and warfare. The fiction books were written by Tom DeLonge and A. J. Hartley, while the companion Gods, Man & War volumes were developed with Peter Levenda. To the Stars has also announced documentary and feature-screen projects based on the property.
Young-adult fiction and animation · 2014
Poet Anderson
A young-adult and multimedia property created around a dream-traveling protagonist. The publishing line includes novels by Tom DeLonge and Suzanne Young, and the company supported the animated short Poet Anderson: The Dream Walker as part of its early screen strategy.
Young-adult adventure fiction · 2015
Strange Times
A young-adult adventure series created by Tom DeLonge and Geoff Herbach. Its stories use supernatural mystery and small-town adventure elements, and To the Stars has pursued a television adaptation of the property.
Science-fiction novels · 2017
Cathedrals of Glass
A space-oriented fiction series by A. J. Hartley, published through To the Stars. The series includes A Planet of Blood and Ice and Valkrys Wakes and forms part of the company’s broader science-fiction publishing catalogue.
Television series · 2019
Unidentified: Inside America's UFO Investigation
A documentary-style television series that examined reported UFO encounters, military witnesses and government investigations. It became To the Stars’ most prominent early television project and helped establish the company as a public participant in UAP discourse.
Feature film · 2023
Monsters of California
A science-fiction adventure feature produced by To the Stars and directed by Tom DeLonge. Released in 2023, it reflects the company’s continuing effort to develop entertainment based on paranormal, extraterrestrial and speculative themes.
UAP information platform
VAULT
The Virtual Analytics UAP Learning Tool is a public-facing project intended to collect, organize and assess reports and records concerning unidentified aerial phenomena. Its public identity is tied to the company’s effort to connect documentary evidence, witness accounts and government records.
Materials and aerospace research · 2019
ADAM Research Project
A research initiative focused on acquiring and testing materials described by the company as potentially exotic, alongside broader work on metamaterials, propulsion and related aerospace concepts. To the Stars has stated that extraordinary claims about the samples require independent scientific confirmation.
Controversies
2019
Dispute over alleged exotic materials
Scientists and commentators challenged claims that materials examined through the ADAM project were extraterrestrial or scientifically unprecedented. The company itself described the samples’ chain of custody as incomplete and said further independent testing was necessary.
2018
Financial sustainability criticism
Journalistic coverage using SEC filing information questioned the company’s financial sustainability after reporting limited securities sales and a large deficit. The criticism concerned the business model rather than a confirmed finding of wrongdoing.
Marketing campaigns
- 2019UAP transparency and Navy footage campaign
United States
To the Stars associates worked with pilots, former officials and congressional stakeholders to publicize military UAP encounters and encourage government disclosure.
Outcome. The Navy confirmed the authenticity of three videos in 2019, and the Department of Defense formally released them in 2020.
- 2017Regulation A+ public investment campaign
United States
To the Stars invited public investment in the newly formed company through a Regulation A+ offering, presenting entertainment and frontier-science research as complementary business divisions.
Outcome. The offering attracted substantial public attention, but later reporting based on SEC filings indicated that only a comparatively small portion of the proposed offering had been sold by October 2018.
Brand decisions
2022
Rebrand the organization as To the StarsStrategyBackground
The longer Academy of Arts & Sciences name had become less prominent than the company’s established entertainment identity.
Action taken
The organization adopted To the Stars as its simpler public name.
Aftermath
The rebrand preserved the entertainment, science and aerospace scope while creating a more concise consumer-facing identity.
2019
Enter a cooperative research agreement with the U.S. ArmyOtherBackground
The company’s ADAM and aerospace work created a possible route into defense-oriented technology development.
Action taken
To the Stars announced a five-year cooperative research and development agreement covering metamaterials, propulsion, quantum communications and related technologies.
Aftermath
The agreement increased the company’s defense-research profile, although Army representatives emphasized that public funding would not be provided directly and that technical claims required evaluation.
2017
Combine entertainment with science and aerospaceStrategyBackground
The founders sought to build a company that could finance and communicate unconventional scientific and aerospace work through music, publishing, film and television.
Action taken
The earlier To the Stars entertainment company was incorporated into the new public benefit corporation, To the Stars Academy of Arts & Sciences.
Aftermath
The combined structure gave the organization a distinctive but controversial identity spanning media, UAP advocacy and speculative technology research.
Recent events
- Unconfirmed
To the Stars Academy signs research partnership with U.S. Army[3]
Reported:
To the Stars Academy of Arts and Sciences signed a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement with the U.S. Army's Combat Capabilities Development Command. The arrangement covers sharing research findings and studying technologies for potential applications in Army ground vehicles.
Sources4 sources
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