Pharrell Williams is new Louis Vuitton creative director of menswear

Pharrell Williams has been named creative director of Louis Vuitton menswear, according to the fashion house.

Louis Vuitton announced Williams's new role in a news release Tuesday, calling the producer and mogul "a visionary" and a "global icon" who has poured his creative spark into many facets for more than two decades.

Williams will be taking the position that once belonged to designer Virgil Abloh, who died Nov. 28, 2021, after silently battling cancer. Williams' first collection under Louis Vuitton will be revealed in June during men's fashion week in Paris.

The Billionaire Boys Club designer has worked with Louis Vuitton on collaborations in 2004 and 2008 with his 1.1 millionaire sunglasses, which Abloh pulled from the archives during his first collection for Louis Vuitton.

"The way in which (Pharrell) breaks boundaries across the various worlds he explores aligns with Louis Vuitton’s status as a Cultural Maison, reinforcing its values of innovation, pioneer spirit and entrepreneurship," Tuesday's release said.

Williams announced his new position with a photo of himself wrapped in a Louis Vuitton blanket that he posted to Instagram.

Despite being known for producing megahits such as "Happy," "Frontin' " and "Blurred Lines," Williams has a rich history with fashion collaborations, having worked with Moncler, Adidas and Chanel.

Williams now takes the torch from Abloh, who was the first Black designer to hold a creative director position at Louis Vuitton. Williams was a close friend of the late creative.

Mourning his death in 2021, Williams wrote on Twitter: "My heart is broken Virgil you were a kind, generous, thoughtful creative genius your work as a human and your work as a spiritual being will live forever Sending love and light to your wife, children, family and day ones you’re with the Master now, shine."

"I am glad to welcome Pharrell back home," Louis Vuitton Chairman and CEO Pietro Becarri wrote. "His creative vision beyond fashion will undoubtedly lead Louis Vuitton towards a new and very exciting chapter."

The Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — Paris-based fashion house Louis Vuitton has named Kanye West collaborator Virgil Abloh as its new menswear designer.

The 37-year-old is founder of the Off-White label and will become, alongside Balmain's Olivier Rousteing, one of only two people of color in charge of a major fashion house. He replaces Kim Jones, who left in January to become men's wear designer for Christian Dior.

In a statement, Abloh said "I find the heritage and creative integrity of the House are key inspirations and will look to reference them both while drawing parallels to modern times."

Louis Vuitton CEO Michael Burke Monday praised Abloh's "innate creativity and disruptive approach (that) have made him so relevant, not just in the world of fashion but in popular culture today."

The company says Abloh's first show will take place during men's fashion week in Paris in June.

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Virgil Abloh dies: Louis Vuitton director, Off-White CEO fought cancer

Virgil Abloh, the artistic director for Louis Vuitton menswear and the founder and CEO of fashion house Off-White, has died after a private battle with a "rare, aggressive form of cancer," according to social-media posts from the brands. He was 41.

Abloh, a fashion trailblazer and frequent celebrity collaborator, died Sunday after fighting cardiac angiosarcoma, which blocks blood flow to the heart, according to a post shared to his verified Instagram account. Louis Vuitton and Off-White also confirmed his death on their accounts.

"He chose to endure his battle privately since his diagnosis in 2019, undergoing numerous challenging treatments, all while helming several significant institutions that span fashion, art, and culture," Abloh's Instagram read.

He was a pioneer in the fashion world, serving as the first Black artistic director to lead Louis Vuitton menswear, just one of two people of color in charge of a major fashion house (along with Balmain's Olivier Rousteing) at the time of his appointment in 2018. The same year, he was named a Time 100 Most Influential People honoree.

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'A once in a generation creative mind': Kanye West, more stars mourn designer Virgil Abloh

"Part of my equation is to inspire the next generation and to help them think outside the box," Abloh told Interview magazine in 2018. "When I was growing up, I didn’t know that I could be showing in Paris, because I didn’t see anyone doing that who looked like me. Even when I just walked into a luxury store, people would look at me like I didn’t belong there."

"Through it all, his work ethic, infinite curiosity, and optimism never wavered," the post on his Instagram account read. "Virgil was driven by his dedication to his craft and to his mission to open doors for others and create pathways for greater equality in art and design. He often said, 'Everything I do is for the 17-year-old version of myself,' believing deeply in the power of art to inspire future generations."

BTS hits the runway: The K-Pop kings model new looks in Louis Vuitton's latest menswear show in Seoul

Born in Illinois to Ghanaian immigrant parents, Abloh went on to get a civil engineering degree from University of Wisconsin–Madison and a masters in architecture from the Illinois Institute of Technology, the latter of which also sparked his interest in the fashion industry. He would go on to intern at Fendi with Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, which sparked a longtime collaboration with the rapper.

Abloh was behind several of Ye's notable album covers, including 2010's "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy," 2011's "Watch the Throne" with Jay-Z and 2013's "Yeezus." The rapper was in attendance for Abloh's first Louis Vuitton show at Paris Fashion Week in 2019, where the two were photographed warmly embracing afterward.

His work with Ye served as a blueprint for future border-crossing collaborations that married high and low. With Nike, he partnered his Off-White label for a line of frenzy-inducing sneakers remixed with a variety of styles and Helvetica fonts. Abloh also designed furniture for IKEA, refillable bottles for Evian and Big Mac cartons for McDonald's. His work was exhibited at the Louvre, the Gagosian and the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago.

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Abloh, who moonlighted as a DJ, often stressed how vital music was to his creative process.

"I can’t work in my studio without music. I don’t like silence," he told Interview. "I’m listening to John Coltrane. I’m listening to Miles Davis. But I’m also listening to whatever new rap is coming out that week. I have teams in Milan, Italy, London and America, so as long as I have a fully charged iPhone, I feel like I can change the world."

As a DJ, Abloh gained wide recognition. He played international gigs including at the nightclub Hï Ibiza in Spain, was booked for 2019's Tomorrowland music festival in Germany and held a DJ residency at Wynn Las Vegas's XS Nightclub that same year.

Abloh made several recent public appearances, including at the Met Gala in September and the Fashion Trust Arabia Prize Gala on Nov. 3.

In 2018, as Abloh prepared for his debut menswear show, he told GQ, "I now have a platform to change the industry."

"We’re designers, so we can start a trend, we can highlight issues, we can make a lot of people focus on something or we can cause a lot of people to focus on ourselves," Abloh said. "I’m not interested in (the latter). I’m interested in using my platform as one of a very small group of African-American males to design a house, to sort of show people in a poetic way.

He is survived by his wife, Shannon Abloh; his children, Lowe and Grey Abloh; his sister, Edwina Abloh; his parents, Nee and Eunice Abloh, and "numerous dear friends and colleagues," according to his Instagram account.

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Contributing: The Associated Press

BTS models in Louis Vuitton's menswear show as fashion ...

BTS has taken over the music world, topping the charts and breaking records. Now, the South Korean group is making waves in the fashion world, too.

The K-pop icons participated in Louis Vuitton's fall/winter "Spin-Off" collection show in Seoul Wednesday. The looks, created by Men's Creative Director Virgil Abloh, consist of 34 new designs that expand on the earlier 2021 men's fall/winter collection, released in January.

The group's seven members — RM, Jin, Suga, J-Hope, Jimin, V and Jungkook — wore seven looks from the collection, as the "Butter" band strutted in vivid greens, eye-catching reds, airplane-embellished suits and metallic brief cases.

BTS modeled the looks in a "moving-image performance," according to the show notes. The digital fashion video, directed by Jeon Go-woon, "stages a conversation between space, movement, and global connectivity central to our moment in time, and explores the city of Seoul through the lens of diversity," the show notes said.

Face of fashion:Virgil Abloh named Louis Vuitton's menswear designer

The show featured a skyscraper in an industrial warehouse, made of metal framing with red staircases adorning the sides. BTS modeled the latest releases while walking around and within the structure, which was topped with neon lights and included a floating blimp that read "Hope."

In 2020, Abloh created "The Voyage" format that the BTS show followed, where the fashion house's collections and shows travel to different areas with adaptations central to destinations around the brand's global community, "meeting clients in their own parts of the world."

The Seoul show used Korean music artists, a Korean director and included a tracklist curated and featuring Korean singers and producers like CIFIKA, Kate Kim and NET GALA.

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Louis Vuitton announced in April the Korean pop stars would be joining the brand as ambassadors.

"@bts_bighit are recognized for their uplifting messages that impart a positive influence," the brand tweeted at the time.

Before the announcements, BTS was seen wearing custom Louis Vuitton for their Grammys red carpet look during the 2021 award show.

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BTS made history as the first Korean pop group to be nominated at the Grammy Awards for best pop duo/group performance. In February they spoke to USA TODAY about their historic nomination for their chart-topping English-language hit, "Dynamite."

“We're still figuring out what to make of it. But we do know this is a great honor and we're deeply thankful. We're trying our best to deliver a great performance to return all the support we received from our fans," group member Jimin said via an interpreter.

A-listers head to boardroom as 'creative directors'

Arienne Thompson

USA TODAY

Beyonce has her fingerprints all over Pepsi%27s latest ad campaign

%22Everyone%27s out there endorsing something%2C and this %28trend%29 makes it a little bit more authentic%22

A well-connected%2C A-list star can bring a specific value to a company

Beyoncé is flying straight from the BeyHive to the boardroom with a fancy new title in her pocket.

Not content being just a singer/dancer/actress/filmmaker/wife/mother, the pop star is adding creative director to her list of duties.

This morning, Pepsi rolled out the pop supernova's latest ad in its global campaign, which the soft-drink brand says she helped conceive and produce, pitching in for storyboarding, wardrobe, consultations with the director and tagline creation.

Yes, she is gearing up for her Mrs. Carter Show world tour, which kicks off later this month, but the latest entry on Beyoncé's résumé is part of a new trend that's giving major stars a major title.

In March, Conde Nast appointed longtime Vogue editor in chief Anna Wintour as its "artistic director." Meanwhile, Diet Coke unveiled its playful ad campaign featuring new creative director Marc Jacobs, who in between running his two eponymous fashion lines and Louis Vuitton, designed an entire suite of cans for the beverage company.

Celebrity creative directors are not just being plucked from the style world, though.

In December, Pepsi announced Beyoncé as its new creative "partner and brand ambassador," and just weeks later fellow A-listers Justin Timberlake, Rihanna and Alicia Keys were tapped by Budweiser, MAC Cosmetics and BlackBerry, respectively, for their own creative directorships.

But, is this latest trend in celebrity-fueled marketing just an advertising gimmick used to get around the word "endorsement"? Or are stars truly dedicated to being in the office, giving input and helping to advance a brand's product innovation?

"Everyone's out there endorsing something, and this (trend) makes it a little bit more authentic," says Miro Copic, a marketing professor at San Diego State University. "Where it will really work is when a celebrity will make an interesting or good contribution; it adds value to the brand. It's a secondary association that will create positive imagery around the brand."

Wintour is a veteran journalist, and her contributions as artistic director to the company that owns and publishes her magazine fall well within her realm of expertise. But, when consumers hear about Timberlake aligning himself with Bud Light Platinum or Keys taking on the role of "global creative director" for BlackBerry, are they more likely to reach for their wallets, or scratch their heads?

Ultimately, the move to hire stars as more than just pretty faces is contingent upon consumers buying into the notion that the partnership is authentic, sensible and credible, says Kimberly Hairston, a brand architect and senior beauty executive who has worked for Coca-Cola, Unilever and L'Oreal.

"I've read some of the blogs and people have kind of said, 'What?! Alicia Keys? BlackBerry?' Just because you love technology doesn't necessarily make you an expert," Hairston says. "I'm not sure if (she's) bringing, besides awareness, credibility to position a brand and really move the brand forward."

However, Keys tells USA TODAY via e-mail that accepting the BlackBerry title was about connecting her fans to the latest technology.

"As an artist, I am looking to connect to others, to inspire them, to move them, through our common connections. To do this, it's vital for me to stay ahead of the technological curve," she writes. "I wanted to further explore the potential of working with a technology company to deepen those connections, and where possible use my unique experience and platform to influence and inspire creativity. That's where we align — finding ways to connect with audiences everywhere and embracing the changes and technology that make this possible."

Credibility aside, even if the connection between celebrity and brand is not obvious on the surface, a well-connected, A-list star brings a specific value to a company, says Copic: insight into consumers.

"Will.i.am is playing to millions of fans all over the world, so he understands the intensity of that relationship between him or his band and that consumer," Copic says of the Black Eyed Peas frontman, who has served as Intel's director of creative innovation since 2012. "He knows how they live, and that's who these companies are trying to target at the end of the day. Intel, in their battle with Apple, needs to know how to better resonate."

For celebrities and the companies who hire them, creative direction is the intersection between the roles of employee and endorser, and the terms should be clear, says Daymond John, the founder of clothing company FUBU and an investor/mentor on ABC's business reality competition Shark Tank.

When he launched FUBU 20 years ago, John says, rapper LL Cool J and other musicians were "integral" to some creative and promotional aspects of the line, but he would not go so far as to name a star "creative director."

"Because we're a design firm; we're creative," John explains. "Ambassador, yes? Creative director, no. Because, then they'd say, 'Well, then what the hell is your job?!'"

"You're seeing the evolution of celebrities," Copic says. "Justin Timberlake, moving from boy band idol to solo artist to actor and now he is one of the co-owners of MySpace. You're seeing a handful of actors and singers who have a business bent. … Whether they are co-owners in a company or really go down this creative director route, they're lending their unique insights on consumers."

Rihanna's collaboration with MAC is the first of its kind, as the singer was named the cosmetics company's inaugural "creative partner" in February. James Gager, who is MAC's creative director, says he and the team were clear about distinguishing her title from his and detailing exactly how she would contribute to the brand.

"It could be considered a vague title since I'm the creative director of the brand, but for us, Rihanna is one of those people that as creative partner, she can keep coming and going within the brand as she'd like to or we'd like her to, and she can have new ideas," Gager says. "She's bringing something to the brand that me as a creative director, I'm not a woman. I'm a guy looking at it from a different kind of perspective. She's our ultimate user. In her pocketbook when she came in, her makeup bag was mostly all MAC product, and she was already wearing a lot of the stuff that we're just tweaking a little bit for her."

The collaboration, Gager adds, was not just about tweaking products that already existed and giving Rihanna credit. He says that the ever-busy singer, whose four-part collection will roll out throughout the year starting May 4, "worked with her whole heart and soul" on the project.

"She had done her homework. She knew what colors she really wanted to have in the collection. She knew what looked amazingly good on her. She had a point of view about the packaging and where she wanted the packaging to be, as well as the textures of the products. She was in the office, working with us!" he says. "It's not like someone getting paid some money and we're going to slap their name on something. That isn't really how we work here. … We're real. It's not a small percentage that Rihanna worked on this."

Naturally, any sort of celebrity-brand partnership will call into question whether a star is actually contributing or if they're just collecting a paycheck. Gager says he's well aware of the stigma, but maintains that it doesn't apply in this case.

"Consumers are not stupid. I think they see deals with celebrities where they're maybe done for the money vs. the authentic quality of what the association might be. I know I'm not naive about what goes on, and I feel like when we really are real, people admire us for that."

What consumers are admiring less and less, though, are pure endorsement deals, and tapping celebs to be creative directors may be one way to turn the tide, says entertainment publicist Tara Smith.

"Every brand has some type of celebrity attached to it, so it kind of defeats the purpose after a while. There has to be authenticity to it all, too. If you're coming across as 'I'm-saying-this-because-you're-paying-me-to-say-it,' people don't go for that anymore. But, if you bring them in to make it seem like they are part of the company, like they do have some type of creative control or like they do have some say in their campaigns, then people may be a little bit more (open)."

It will take more than just semantics to get today's customers on board, though, says Essence magazine entertainment editor Cori Murray.

"People who are true fans and who really follow (celebs') lives will start to try and pick (the creative director title) apart and be like, 'Well, that means this.' When they have this big, lofty title attached to some company, I think it does bring consumers to pause, as opposed to something that's just a collaboration, or more of a traditional endorsement."

Creative direction doesn't always go in the right direction for every brand.

Keys, who received her new title from struggling smartphone company BlackBerry on Jan. 30, got backlash less than two weeks after her appointment when a tweet posted from her Twitter account indicated that it had been sent from an iPhone. She later tweeted that her account was hacked, but Hairston says the damage to her credibility was already done.

"Her iPhone! Her iPhone! Yes! I can give you so many times where that's happened where a celebrity endorses one product, but loves another. That is where I find it almost like 'nepotism celebritism.' It is just based on your name. It only makes sense as a creative director when you have stability to be in that space."

Mishaps big and small are the risk companies take when they bring boldfaced names aboard, whether they are called straight-up spokespeople or crowned creative directors.

"You're paying these people a lot of money, and their offsite behaviors can negatively impact your brand," says Copic. "When you hire an endorser, that's a big risk that you take. … Companies really struggle with this."

Certainly some companies suffered when endorsers such as Tiger Woods, Lance Armstrong and Chris Brown fell from grace, and the risk they take with creative directors looms just as large.

A bad or risky creative director has the potential to rob their brand of authenticity, credibility and even money.

"I don't know that we've seen the creative director downfall yet, because it's such a new term," says Hairston, "but when Pepsi puts out a huge amount of money for Beyoncé, believe me, there's going to be someone that's held accountable if those dollars don't start to translate — quickly. That's a lot of money, and you have to have it turn into sales."

'A once in a generation creative mind': Kanye West, Kim Kardashian ...

The fashion world is paying tribute to Virgil Abloh, the trailblazing Louis Vuitton director who died Sunday at age 41.

Abloh, the artistic director for Louis Vuitton menswear and founder and CEO of fashion house Off-White, died after a private battle with a "rare, aggressive form of cancer," according to social media posts from the brands.

He was a pioneer in the fashion world, serving as the first Black artistic director to lead Louis Vuitton menswear. He was a longtime collaborator and friend of Ye, formerly known as Kanye West – the two met while interning for Fendi, and Abloh went on to design several of the rapper's iconic album covers.

Ye honored Abloh at the end of his livestreamed Sunday Service performance with a title card that read "In loving memory of Virgil Abloh, the creative director of Donda."

USA TODAY has reached out to Ye's representatives for further comment.

Virgil Abloh dies at 41: Trailblazing Louis Vuitton director had privately battled cancer

Kim Kardashian West mourned the death of Abloh on social media Monday with a touching tribute. "God doesn't make mistakes," she wrote. "I know that but I still can't help but ask why. Why Virgil?! Why him so soon?"

The KKW Beauty founder shared old photos of her with Kanye, Abloh and his wife, Shannon.

"Virgil - you were always so gentle, kind and calm. You somehow made time for everyone. We also talked about your superpower of calmness often," she continued.

Kardashian also sent "so much love" to Abloh's wife. "Because you loved and supported Virgil the way that you did, he was able to give so much of himself (to) everyone else," she wrote.

Hailey Bieber, who wore a custom Abloh design for her 2018 wedding to Justin Bieber, shared old photos of the two alongside a lengthy tribute.

"Virgil completely changed the way I looked at street style and fashion, the way he looked at things inspired me deeply," she wrote. "I felt he was always rooting for me."

Bieber added: "He was someone who always brought life, charisma, love and fun to any situation, and every room he walked into. A once in a generation creative mind that is so rare and I’ll never forget his impact."

Colman Domingo, who modeled Abloh's designs for Louis Vuitton's Paris Fashion Week show over the summer, shared photos of himself wearing the vibrant looks "in honor of Virgil."

"He made me feel so fly. A master craftsman," Domingo added. "Thank you for your artistry."

BTS, who modeled Abloh's designs in a Louis Vuitton show over the summer in Seoul, called the designer "a true creative genius."

"You will be missed," read a tweet on the group's Twitter account. "It was an honor to work with you."

BTS hits the runway:The group models new looks in Louis Vuitton's latest menswear show in Seoul

Amanda Gorman reflected on feeling "so privileged to have met you and to have worn such a beautiful piece by you designed in honor of your grandmother" on the cover of Vogue in May.

"I knew then I was experiencing the honor of wearing a designer whose work transcends both past and present," Gorman added. "To rephrase something you once said, let us paint new pictures where the old ones have been erased. Rest in power king."

Jay-Z's entertainment company, Roc Nation, dubbed Abloh "forever an icon."

Pharrell Williams tweeted that his "heart is broken."

"Virgil you were a kind, generous, thoughtful creative genius your work as a human and your work as a spiritual being will live forever," Williams added.

Victoria Beckham called the designer "a true inspiration in so many ways ... We will all miss you so very much."

"My plan is to touch the sky 1000 more times for you," Drake wrote on Instagram. "love you eternally brother, thank you for everything."

"Too soon Virgil," tweeted Idris Elba tweeted Sunday. "You will be missed from this world man."

On Monday, Elba paid tribute to the late designer at The Fashion Awards, saying that "the fashion industry lost an icon and the world lost a legend." Elba also read the poem When Great Trees Fall by Maya Angelou.

Elba concluded the tribute by saying that "anyone who knew Virgil would know that we would want to celebrate tonight in honor of his life."

Kehlani called Abloh's death "shocking."

"This is a devastating loss to culture and fashion," wrote Tracee Ellis Ross. "What an inspiration."

Justin Timberlake dubbed Abloh a "force … taken too soon."

"You gave the world so much, in so little time," Timberlake added. "And created with intensity … knowing better than the rest of us that life is short, but anything is possible. I’m honored to have known you."

Gigi Hadid said she was "heartbroken by the loss of my dear friend" Abloh.

"He was 1 of 1," Hadid wrote in an Instagram tribute, along with photos of the two. "His kindness and energetic generosity left a lasting impression on every life he touched— he made everyone feel seen and special. He will be deeply missed, cherished, and celebrated by me and all the people and industries that have been lucky enough to work around & know the true supernova behind this man."

Kourtney and Khloe Kardashian, Ty Dolla $ign, DJ Khaled, The Weeknd, Katie Couric, Timothée Chalamet, and Busta Ryhmes also paid tribute.

Fashion brands and designers mourned Abloh on social media.

"Virgil was not only a genius designer, a visionary, he was also a man with a beautiful soul and great wisdom," Louis Vuitton CEO Bernard Arnault said in a statement on social media.

Designer Sergio Hudson called Abloh "one of the sweetest most giving souls I've ever encountered on this journey through fashion."

Hudson added: "You told me my destiny was set all I had to do was walk through the door. Those words gave me the confidence to ask for what I wanted and to push even harder. You may be gone in flesh but your breakthrough moments and incredible legacy are solidified in our memories and in history forever."

Edward Enninful, editor in chief of British Vogue, said Abloh "changed the fashion industry" and celebrated the designer's achievements.

"Virgil believed that anything was possible for humankind, if only we could tear ourselves away from unconscious biases and norms and reassume the imagination we had as children," Enninful wrote. "We are only seeing the beginning of his impact on the creative industries and surrounding world."

Gucci's official accounts wrote a tribute to Abloh, calling him "an immense inspiration to us all both as a designer and as a person."

The brand added: "He will be deeply missed though his vision will live on through the trails that he blazed throughout his career."

Donatella Versace wrote she was " lost for words."

"The world has lost a fashion superstar," she said on Instagram, alongside a photo of herself and Naomi Campbell with the designer. "An innovator. A creator for the history books. I am thinking of all your loved ones on this tragic day. Love, Donatella"

Elle editor in chief Nina García penned a tribute to Abloh, highlighting "your creativity, your infinite sense of curiosity, your love for design, your impeccable work ethic and your enormous generosity" that shaped a creative universe and "challenged old misconceptions about how fashion should establish a dialogue with other disciplines."

Kanye West cries, Rihanna slays at Virgil Abloh's first Louis Vuitton ...

Virgil Abloh's first Louis Vuitton show got support from the stars.

The Ghanaian-American fashion designer, who is the first African-American to take over as artistic director at the French fashion label, showcased his Menswear Spring/Summer 2019 show on Thursday in Paris — and celebrities turned out to celebrate.

One emotional celebration came from Kanye West, who started crying in the front row when he and Abloh shared a warm embrace at the end of the show.

As Abloh took his final bow on the runway, he approached West for a heartwarming hug that has since been shared around the internet.

Abloh has been a longtime West collaborator. The two reportedly interned at the fashion label Fendi together.

Rihanna also made waves on social media for attending the show in a stunning white ensemble by Abloh.

She showed off a transparent duffel bag, a trend that appeared on the runway.

The runway featured even more bags (cross-bodies, fanny packs and more) as well as plenty of outerwear and some tailored pieces in mostly whites and solid brights.

Other celebrities in attendance include Kim Kardashian West, Kylie Jenner, Bella Hadid, A$AP Rocky and Naomi Campbell.

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Louis Vuitton show pays tribute to designer Virgil Abloh | AP News

Kelli Kennedy

Associated Press

MIAMI BEACH, Fla. — Louis Vuitton’s first ever U.S. fashion show turned into a somber yet whimsical tribute to groundbreaking designer Virgil Abloh days after his death.

The Miami menswear event, an unofficial kickoff to the prestigious Art Basel fair, had been in the works for months. Guests were ferried by yachts to the star-studded affair held on an island. Celebrity attendees, including Kim Kardashian West and her daughter North, Ye, the rapper formerly known as Kanye West, model Bella Hadid, Ricky Martin, Rauw Alejandro, Joe Jonas, Maluma and Pharrell, arrived in sleek LV monogrammed silver speedboats.

Kid Cudi and Erykah Badu performed at an after-party. “Hey Virgil,” she yelled at the start of her set, later saying “we want to see you fly.”

Abloh, who died Sunday after a lengthy battle with cancer, was known for pushing boundaries as the head of the legendary French fashion house, thanks to his childlike curiosity and an eagerness to instill a sense of playfulness. His groundbreaking fusions of streetwear and high couture made him one of the most celebrated tastemakers.

A focal point of the show was a giant, red LV monogrammed hot air balloon that puffed flames as Abloh’s voice was heard in the background.

The brand’s CEO Michael Burke said Abloh’s wife and family wanted the show to go on. He had just spoken to the young designer on Saturday night, describing the inspiration for the show as a coming of age of sorts because “inspiring future generations was very important to Virgil.”

“We had imagined it all and he was distraught not to be here in person,” Burke said.

Models walked the meandering runway, showcasing the collection that featured everything from neon-colored amphibian, aqua-gear looks with colorful fish backpacks to letterman-style school sweaters and snow bunny looks with furry boots.

There was a sleek matte black ensemble that resembled SWAT gear, military-style suits in olive with belted coats and even brightly color Southern-belle style hoop skirts. Prints included tie-dye hues and the iconic checkered logo redone in new color patterns.

While the clothes were like Abloh — playful, colorful and vibrant — the mood was somber. During and after the show, many in the audience wiped away tears, standing to hug each other or offer a pat of comfort.

The sparse clapping at the end was awkward. Unlike most shows, no one got up to mingle or talk, but instead sat in heavy silence.

The designer’s traditional finale bow was not coming and never would again and as fireworks lit up the Miami skyline, the audience seemed painfully aware of his absence.

Instead, the show circled back to the bold hot air balloon as the designer’s voice said “life is short” for “worrying about what someone thinks you can do versus knowing what you can do” — a sort of anthem that a generation of young fans rallied behind.

Lamont Spears traveled from Atlanta just for the show, wearing a fuzzy LV monogrammed hoodie coat and a sweatshirt with Abloh’s picture.

“It’s a very sad moment, but we’ve got to celebrate his life, we’ve got to keep on pushing because he made a way for us to keep going, to keep being confident,” said the 35-year-old. “He showed me that I can.”

Abloh in 2018 became the first Black man to serve as Louis Vuitton’s director of men’s wear in the French design house’s storied history. He grew up outside of Chicago, his first-generation Ghanaian American seamstress mother teaching him to sew.

New York stylist Memsor Kamarake, who saw Abloh’s first show in Paris, flew in specifically for the final tribute, saying through tears after the fireworks, “I felt like now I can finally grieve him.”

“So often Black folks are depicted through pain, through struggle, that’s why it was so important for him to tap into this childlike joy,” Kamarake said.

Above a red carpet leading to an outdoor after-party, the sky lit up with red dots that danced in various configurations before coming together to say “Virgil was here.”

Abloh, who founded his own Off-White label in 2013, had a vast creative presence outside of clothing. His sculpture “Dollar a Gallon,” unveiled this week during Art Basel, is a commentary on the effect of advertising on the impressionable.

Virgil Abloh, trailblazing Louis Vuitton director, dies after private cancer battle at 41

He also designed furniture for IKEA, refillable bottles for Evian and Big Mac cartons for McDonald’s. His work was exhibited at the Louvre, the Gagosian and the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago.

Abloh had a prominent influence in streetwear. He interned with Ye at the LVMH brand Fendi, was the rapper’s creative director and scored a Grammy nomination as art director for the 2011 Ye-Jay-Z album “Watch the Throne.”

“I think it’s going to be the most important moment ever in LV history,” said David Filipucci, a 21-year-old who traveled from the Netherlands to attend the show.

“LV for the moment is Virgil. He made it more special.”

'A once in a generation creative mind': Kanye West, Kim Kardashian more mourn designer Virgil Abloh

Virgil Abloh memorial draws A-list stars including Ye, Kim ...

Fashion trailblazer Virgil Abloh was remembered Monday by family, friends and A-list stars who stepped out in droves to mourn the late Louis Vuitton director, who died at 41 last month after a private battle with a "rare, aggressive form of cancer."

Ye (formerly known as Kanye West), Kim Kardashian, Rihanna, A$AP Rocky, Drake, Kendall Jenner, Lauryn Hill, Frank Ocean and Tyler, the Creator were among the celebrities who gathered at Chicago's Museum of Contemporary Art for Abloh's hometown memorial service, according to photos and videos shared by attendees on social media.

The outside of the museum was adorned with a banner that read "Abloh," while the inside was filled with white, pink and brown flowers. Hill sang and Tyler, the Creator and Abloh's sister, Edwina Abloh, gave emotional speeches.

"All these different people – colors, ages, backgrounds, religions – all came for one man," Tyler, the Creator said. "That's what he did: He brought, like, the illest people together."

Obituary:Virgil Abloh, trailblazing Louis Vuitton director, dies after private cancer battle at 41

Aleta Clark, a community activist known on social media as Englewood Barbie who worked closely with Abloh, also highlighted his unique ability to draw attention and adoration from so many notable artists.

"I was touched that he reached these people & they pulled up for him… everyone in that room was hand picked,” she wrote on Instagram, adding "everyone showed mad love to each other and it wasn’t as sad I projected it would be… people process death differently.. I was all broken up like damn another person that truly believed in me is dead.. then I looked up like nah… virgil is still very much alive."

She added: "virgil truly reached the world.. he lead with love & everyone felt it."

'A once in a generation creative mind': Kanye West, Kim Kardashian more mourn designer Virgil Abloh

"Virgil was here," read a pin Drake showed off on Instagram. "love you g," he captioned the post.

Abloh, the artistic director for Louis Vuitton menswear and the founder and CEO of fashion house Off-White, had been privately fighting cardiac angiosarcoma, which blocks blood flow to the heart, according to a post shared to his verified Instagram account.

"He chose to endure his battle privately since his diagnosis in 2019, undergoing numerous challenging treatments, all while helming several significant institutions that span fashion, art, and culture," Abloh's Instagram read.

He was a pioneer in the fashion world, serving as the first Black artistic director to lead Louis Vuitton menswear, just one of two people of color in charge of a major fashion house (along with Balmain's Olivier Rousteing) at the time of his appointment in 2018. The same year, he was named a Time 100 Most Influential People honoree.

Abloh was also a frequent celebrity collaborator – he at one point interned at Fendi with Ye, which sparked a longtime collaboration with the rapper. Ye honored Abloh at the end of his livestreamed Sunday Service performance the day of his passing with a title card that read "In loving memory of Virgil Abloh, the creative director of Donda." Abloh also designed album covers for artists including Kid Cudi, A$AP Rocky and Lil Uzi Vert.

Last week, Louis Vuitton’s first ever U.S. fashion show turned into a somber yet whimsical tribute to Abloh days after his death.

The Miami menswear event, an unofficial kickoff to the prestigious Art Basel fair, had been in the works for months. Guests were ferried by yachts to the star-studded affair held on an island. Celebrity attendees, including Kardashian, Ye and their daughter North, Bella Hadid, Ricky Martin, Rauw Alejandro, Joe Jonas, Maluma and Pharrell, arrived in sleek LV monogrammed silver speedboats.

Kid Cudi and Erykah Badu performed at an after-party. “Hey Virgil,” she yelled at the start of her set, later saying “we want to see you fly.”

Contributing: The Associated Press

Thierry Mugler dies at 73: Iconic fashion designer behind Kardashian

Legendary French fashion designer Manfred Thierry Mugler, known for his dramatic and avant garde designs, died Sunday. He was 73.

Mugler's death was announced on his official Instagram account. "RIP. We are devastated to announce the passing of Mr Manfred Thierry Mugler on Sunday January 23rd 2022," the announcement said. "May his soul Rest In Peace."

No cause of death was given.

The designer's fashion house also confirmed the news of Mugler's death "with deep sadness" Sunday evening. "A visionary whose imagination as a couturier, perfumer and image-maker empowered people around the world to be bolder and dream bigger everyday," the House of Mugler official Instagram account said.

USA TODAY has reached out to Mugler's reps for comment.

The celebrated fashion designer's death comes five days after the Jan. 18 death of André Leon Talley, the visionary former creative director of Vogue magazine.

RIP André Leon Talley: Fashion industry icon and former creative director of Vogue, dead at 73

Related:Kim Kardashian describes Mugler's creation at 2019 Met Gala

Born Dec. 21, 1948, in Strasbourg, France, Mugler launched his first fashion collection called "Café de Paris" in 1973.

In an interview with WWD magazine published in September, Mugler spoke about his early beginnings in fashion. "… All I wanted to do was this very pure, Parisian silhouette: the little black suit, the trenchcoat, the black dress, the siren dress," Mugler said.

"I did the first nude body-conscious dress. Nobody was doing nude at that time. My first ready-to-wear line was called Café de Paris, and it was all about a very precise, streamlined silhouette, very strongly influenced by dance."

Mugler became internationally recognized as a designer during the 1980s and 1990s. He designed one of the most famous gowns of the 90s, which appeared in the 1993 romance/drama "Indecent Proposal," starring Demi Moore. Moore donned the timeless black cut-out velvet backless number while giving the classic line: "The dress is for sale, I'm not."

Mugler retired from fashion in 2002, but in more recent years, the designer's iconic looks have been worn by high-profile entertainers including Lady Gaga, Kim Kardashian, Cardi B, David Bowie, Miley Cyrus, Nicole Kidman, Bella Hadid and Diana Ross.

Ross shared a picture of her and Mugler on Twitter, writing, "I will miss you Thierry Mugler this was a wonderful time in our lives."

In 2009, Mugler worked as Beyoncé's artistic advisor and created the costumes for her "I Am… World Tour." Beyoncé posted a photo tribute of a smiling Mugler on her official website Sunday writing, "Rest in peace."

At the 2019 Met Gala, Kardashian wore a creation made of silk organza, crystals and silicone to the Vogue event. "This is the first time in 20 years Mr. Mugler has designed for the House of Mugler," Kardashian told Vogue then. "So to come and design this gown for me is such an honor."

Kardashian described her fashion and beauty look, which took eight months to create, as a "California girl, stepping out of the ocean onto the red carpet, wet and dripping."

Mugler has dressed Kardashian on several occasions, including a daring vintage design from his spring/summer '98 collection, which Kardashian wore to 2019's 5th Annual Hollywood Beauty Awards. The gown featured a cutout design at the top, with thin straps going across her torso, and a thigh-high slit.

Mugler also created Kardashian's 2021 Halloween costume, an out-of-this-world "CowBot" ensemble featuring a silver bra with a star motif and metallic shorts.

When asked by WWD magazine about dressing Kardashian, Mugler called her "truly a self-made woman, and she says so herself."

On Monday, Kardashian shared a series of photos with Mugler on Instagram as well as some of her wearing his designs.

"Your vision, your transformations, your magic! I am so honored to have known you, spent time with you and be a muse for you. There was so much more for you to show the world and that we had planned to do together, but you already gave us so much," Kardashian captioned the post.

Kardashian wrote she would never forget her time with the talented designer and cherished how much he taught her about couture.

"You always said beauty will save the world - and you really believed it was a better place because of the beauty all around! Thank you for the beauty. I love you so much," she wrote.

In 2019, Mugler also dressed rapper Cardi B for the Grammy Awards, where she stunned in a vintage Mugler gown. The oyster shell gown was an archive piece from Mugler Couture's fall 1995 collection.

In Mugler's interview with WWD, the designer called Cardi B "extremely sophisticated in her own way, she really takes it to the max."

"When I dressed her for the Grammy Awards in 2019, people were blown away. Her performance was incredible and people were stunned, because the direction, the lighting, the choreography — everything was flawless," Mugler said.

Mugler published his first photography book in 1988, titled “Thierry Mugler: Photographer.” In 1998, he published “Fashion Fetish Fantasy,” a collection of photos of his creations.

Speaking to WWD about whether Mugler was planning a fashion comeback, the designer responded: "I have very, very good ideas and I hope to execute them well. That’s all I will say."

"Fashion is still a great tool because it’s a three-dimensional art," he said. "It’s the most feral form of art, in the best sense of the word, meaning that it touches on the human, and that’s interesting."

More:Virgil Abloh's final show: Louis Vuitton, stars honor late designer at Paris Fashion Week


TWA Flight 800 crash: Conspiracy theories linger 25 years later

On July 17, 1996, a Boeing 747 exploded in midair off the coast of Long Island. The flight from New York City to Rome with a stop in Paris broke apart and fell into the ocean below. The 230 people onboard Trans World Airlines Flight 800 perished.

As quickly as the wreckage plunged into the Atlantic Ocean, questions arose. Conspiracy theories took shape.

Twenty-five years later, the questions and conspiracies live on.

Following a four-year, $40 million investigation – the longest in the history of the National Transportation Safety Board – board officials concluded an electrical failure ignited fuel vapors in a nearly empty tank in the belly of the jet.

Theories that Flight 800 may have been destroyed by a bomb, missile or meteor have nonetheless lingered.

TWA Flight 800:Remnants to be scrapped, 25 years after explosion killed 230 passengers, crew

As recently as July 2014, NTSB officials had to publicly respond to requests to reconsider its findings in the investigation of the 1996 crash. Petitioners from a high-profile group called The TWA 800 Project claimed a “detonation or high-velocity explosion” caused the crash. An NTSB review determined the claim cast insufficient doubt of a flawed initial investigation.

On the day of the crash, witnesses said they saw a streak of light near the plane and one or more explosions near the aircraft. Speculation bloomed that the crash had been touched off by a proximity-triggered rocket, missile or flare.

The day after the crash, the possibility that an explosive device was fired toward the plane or placed inside before takeoff took hold. The Federal Bureau of Investigation considered potential terrorist links and began a criminal investigation.

230 people perished when TWA Flight 800 exploded. 25 years later, the wounds are 'still raw.'

Conspiracies were born

At the time, fears of domestic terrorism were high. The nation was still processing the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, the 1995 Oklahoma City explosion and the trial of Ramzi Yousef for conspiracy to destroy American-bound airliners. Ten days after the crash, a bombing rocked the Atlanta Olympics.

NTSB officials quickly said the initial evidence surrounding the crash of Flight 800 did not point to an outside explosive device. Still, speculation stemming from eyewitness accounts spread through chat rooms on the burgeoning World Wide Web.

Shane Miller, a professor at Saint John’s University in Minnesota who researched the conspiracy theories surrounding the crash, said the Flight 800 conspirators used the web in novel ways.

“It was really the first conspiracy of the internet age,” Miller said. “It was the first to be picked up and widely circulated online.”

Michael Barkun, professor emeritus of political science at Syracuse University's Maxwell School, said internet forums and social media platforms have served as mass media outlets without gatekeepers. They allow unconventional ideas to quickly become mainstream.

“Now anyone with an idea, no matter how bizarre, has a way of potentially getting it in front of fairly large audiences,” he said. “That has eroded what was once a firm boundary between the fringe and the mainstream.”

Accidents that changed aviation:Controlling in-flight fires and more

Ted Goertzel, emeritus professor of sociology at Rutgers University said the internet has been a game changer for conspiracy theory consumption and evolution. The way the theories germinate nonetheless remains relatively standard.

Conspiracy theories regularly emerge from idle speculation in the face of more probable explanations, Goertzel said. They often gain acceptance and spread from those “who score low in measures of interpersonal trust and general agreeableness,” he added.

“Someone says, 'I wonder if X happened,' " Goertzel said. "Someone else says, 'I heard X' and it spreads."

As the theory that federal officials were covering up a terrorist attack to thwart panic spread, it evolved and eventually split, Miller said. Both camps agreed on a government coverup. However, the divergent group blamed friendly fire.

One early version posted online alleged the crash resulted from an attack designed to kill former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, who was, in fact, not on board. Another claimed the friendly fire was designed to kill former Arkansas state troopers once assigned to then-President Bill Clinton’s security detail.

The one that took off was an August 1996 America Online post claiming the airplane was “shot down by a U.S. Navy guided-missile ship.” The information came from Richard Russell, a 66-year-old former United Airlines pilot and safety representative for the Air Line Pilots Association.

It was later progressed by Pierre Salinger. Once John F. Kennedy’s press secretary, Salinger misrepresented the post as a document he obtained by someone in French intelligence that originated from a Secret Service agent with U.S. Navy contacts before a CNN reporter pointed out the similarities.

High-profile supporters can help build a case for a conspiracy theory, even if their reputations were built in other areas of expertise, Miller said. In this case, Russell said that a longtime friend said he had radar footage that showed a missile traveling toward the plane just prior to the crash.

Russell's message was meant for an inner circle of aviation experts but was leaked online. It ended up a topic of discussion at a Sept. 16 NTSB news briefing on Long Island after media outlets began to investigate.

Easy to blame the government

Governments are common targets for conspiracy theories, according to Goertzel. They offer someone tangible to blame for unfortunate events, are often disliked and rarely give immediate, comprehensive or definitive answers. Even when government officials respond with emphatic denials, distrust is common.

“A common rhetorical device of conspiracy theorists ... is to advance speculations and then criticize the authorities for not definitively refuting them,” Goertzel said. “They also rely on an inherently implausible claim of a coverup by government agencies that don't really have a very good record of covering things up.”

Russell followed up his claim with a radar tape he said amounted to proof of a rocket strike. Again, Salinger progressed the claim. Ultimately, NTSB officials determined the alleged evidence was a “ghost” signal produced by another jet airplane.

The personal investment involved in accepting or progressing conspiracy theories can make them tough to dismiss, Barkun said. Corroborating evidence is nice but not necessary. Moreover, contrary evidence can easily be dismissed as another stage in the alleged conspiracy's coverup.

“The conspiracy theory then becomes a closed system,” Barkun said. “There's no way to disprove it.”

TWA Flight 800 investigation

During the NTSB's four-year investigation, federal officials obtained signed certifications from U.S. military chains of command running crash area assets, training exercises and armaments capable of reaching the aircraft. They also essentially pieced 95% of the plane back together over a 30-month span.

Purported evidence of a missile strike dried up. CIA analysts determined the Linda Kabot photo of a missile in flight was taken from the opposite direction and featured an airplane flying the opposite way. Another photo that appeared to show an object near the airplane showed debris on the film surface, FBI officials said.

The airplane’s oddly stained upholstery brought to light by TWA’s chief 747 pilot Robert Terrell Stacey also proved to have a less than salacious origin. Once subjected to microscopic and chemical examination, federal investigators found the red flaky residue was from contact adhesive used to stick the upholstery to its foam base, not rocket fuel.

NTSB officials said any internal speculation into bomb and missile theories dried up within months. Michael Marx, a former metallurgist with the NTSB said FBI personnel unreasonably pushed the sabotage theories, even after a January 1997 ATF report pegged the cause as a mechanical failure.

“By the fall of 1996, in looking at all of the physical evidence and not seeing any evidence of any bomb or missile damage, it became unreasonable to continue to push that theory,” he said during a May 1999 congressional hearing.

Still, doubt lingered. Henry Hughes, a senior accident investigator with the NTSB, was among the group that in 2013 unsuccessfully petitioned the NTSB to re-investigate the crash.

During the investigation, FBI officials demanded full control over photographs and were inconsistently inventorying, handling and analyzing aircraft components, NTSB officials said. Meanwhile, the NTSB's assessment overlooked evidence of a missile strike, such as radar data, witness statements and holes in the fuselage, according to Hughes.

Ask the Captain:The unnecessary mystery of EgyptAir 804

The finger-pointing and varying interpretations of the data between officials at the federal agencies added to the uncertainty, Miller said. Combined with concurrent reporting about real government experiments and other real conspiracies, a tone had been set, he added.

“They really did create a perception that nobody had a clue of what had happened,” Miller said.

What really happened to Flight TWA 800?

Ultimately, NTSB officials proved that an electrical short could have sparked flammable vapor trapped in a nearly empty fuel tank and concluded that was the likely cause of Flight 800's demise.

The finding led to regulations requiring a system that pumps inert gas into fuel tanks as they empty. They also spurred the aircraft producer, Boeing, to replace the brittle old wiring on other 747s and redesign their air conditioning packs.

Still, investigators seemed to have difficulty finding a definitive answer for the trails of light witnesses claimed to see near the plane, Miller said. As long as there is ambiguity surrounding the crash, conspiracy theories will remain, Barkun said.

Other potential causes introduced in late 1990 persist along with the friendly-fire claim more than two decades later. One alleged the plane may have been struck by fragments of a meteor that broke up as it entered the Earth’s atmosphere. Another, from Harvard professor Elaine Scarry, claimed electromagnetic interference from a nearby U.S. Navy aircraft triggered the explosion.

People have an innate desire to explain evil and misfortune, Barkun said. They also have an aversion to the idea that the world is random — even if that means there is some evil force creating the order, he added.

“Conspiracy theories never die,” Barkun said. “There's no way really to test them.”

Follow reporter David Zimmer on Twitter: @dzimmernews

Investigations:Massage schools across the US are suspected of ties to prostitution and selling fake diplomas. Many remain open.

In-depth:How the FBI played a role in the capture of Princess Latifa of Dubai

5G and planes: the risk to flying examined | The Week UK

Ten of the biggest airlines in the US have warned of an impending “economic calamity” ahead of the switch-on of 5G mobile phone services in the country.

Mobile networks AT&T and Verizon have agreed to postpone the expansion of their services in some airports, which were due to be switched on today, as airlines fear 5G signals could disrupt the safety and navigation systems of some planes.

Chief executives of American Airlines, Delta, United, and South West wrote to the White House and air-travel regulators to warn that disruption to commercial air travel would be worse than originally thought, potentially stranding “tens of thousands of Americans overseas” and causing “chaos” for US airlines.

“Unless our major hubs are cleared to fly, the vast majority of the travelling and shipping public will essentially be grounded. This means that on a day like yesterday, more than 1,100 flights and 100,000 passengers would be subjected to cancellations, diversions or delays,” the chief executives wrote.

This is because “dozens” of large airports with “buffer zones” designed to limit 5G interference with aircraft would still be subject to flight restrictions announced by the Federal Aviation Administration last week (FAA), said Sky News.

How could 5G disrupt US flights?

5G, the latest generation of mobile internet connection, relies on “greater use of radio signals” explained the BBC. In the US, the radio signals being used for 5G are part of a spectrum known as C-Band.

The frequencies 5G will be using is close to the ones used by radio altimeters on aeroplanes, which are used to “measure the height of the aircraft above the ground, and also provide data for safety and navigation systems”, said the broadcaster.

Airlines are concerned that interference from 5G transmissions could stop altimeters from working properly, ultimately causing safety issues “particularly when aircraft are coming in to land”.

How big is the risk?

In 2020, The Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which regulates commercial use of the radio spectrum in the United States, studied the question of whether 5G transmitters near airports would interfere with rada altimeters, and concluded “the two systems could work together,” reported The Economist.

Jaryd Atadero, missing toddler from Poudre Canyon, a haunting story

Allyn Atadero emerged from the closet of a basement bedroom decked out in a Poudre River Resort theme, a nod to the place he once owned that now harbors happiness and immense heartache.

Tears welled up as he pulled a toy tank, Oakland Raiders hat, Star Wars toy and the top of his son's skull from a white cardboard box.

"I know it seems weird and some people might not understand, but this is all I have of him,'' said Allyn, now 61, as he pulled the skull fragment from a clear plastic bag. "It’s sad, kind of surreal to think that this is my son.''

Twenty years ago, Allyn Atadero experienced a parent's worst fear when his 3-year-old son, Jaryd, went missing while hiking with a group on the Big South Trail in the Roosevelt National Forest, 60 miles west of Fort Collins.

The perplexing events surrounding Jaryd's Oct. 2, 1999, disappearance set off one of the largest search-and-rescue missions in Larimer County history. The case garnered national and international headlines that created a cult-like following of a mystery that has haunted Allyn for much of the past 20 years.

Adding to the case’s intrigue was the crash of a search helicopter, disappearance theories ranging from a mountain lion attack to abduction to drowning in the Big South River — each with its own holes — and a slew of reported sightings of Jaryd from around the country.

Then, on June 4, 2003, two hikers from Fort Collins stumbled upon what 200-plus trained searchers, a water dive team, a dozen dog teams, professional trackers and a search plane couldn’t — Jaryd Atadero, or what remained of him.

This is the story of one of Colorado’s most infamous unsolved mysteries. It’s an emotional story with waves of heartache, frustration and false hope felt by family, law enforcement and search and rescue staff. It’s a story of a grieving father who, 20 years later, is filled with forgiveness and a tepid peace.

"I tell people Jaryd is kind of like having a pebble in your shoe,'' Allyn said during an interview at his home in Parker earlier this May. “You know it’s there; every time you take a step you feel it. You can’t do anything about it, but it’s not enough to stop you from doing what you need to do every day. That’s Jaryd.

"He’s my little pebble.''

‘They lost my baby, they lost my baby’

Saturday, Oct. 2, 1999, was one of those gorgeous fall bluebird days in the mountains of Colorado, and Allyn Atadero and his children, Jaryd and 6-year-old Josallyn, were in the heart of the beauty at the Poudre River Resort owned by Allyn and his twin brother, Arlyn.

The kids were anxious to go on an excursion to the nearby state fish hatchery with members of the Christian Singles Network group, of which Allyn, who was divorced from the children's mother, was a member.

Allyn was reluctant for Jaryd to go, but when the group said they would only be going to the hatchery, he consented. But from there, the 11 members of the Christian group plus Josallyn and Jaryd decided to take an early afternoon hike up the Big South Trail, 15 miles west of the resort.

Though reports vary on what happened next, it is generally believed the group split into faster- and slower-paced groups on the 11-mile trail, located at 8,440 feet in the rugged Comanche Peak Wilderness and that eventually crosses into Rocky Mountain National Park.

About 1.5 miles up the trail, Jaryd ran ahead of the group he was with and talked to two fishermen, who didn’t think much about Jaryd being alone since they told investigators they saw a group about 50 to 80 feet down the trail, according to a Larimer County Search and Rescue report. The last the fishermen saw of Jaryd, he was walking rapidly up the trail adjacent to the "Camp 2" sign, indicating the second of 16 backcountry campsites along the trail.

It is unclear if Jaryd was between the two groups or ahead of the faster group when he met the fishermen, who are believed to be the last to see Jaryd before he disappeared.

Some members of the 11-person hiking party reported hearing a scream, according to the investigation report. Josallyn told Allyn she did, too.

"I asked her, 'What kind of scream was it?'; like somebody getting attacked or somebody playing with someone," he said. "She said it sounded like a playful scream, like someone was going up to tag him."

After realizing Jaryd was missing and searching for him for about an hour, two members of the group returned to the resort to tell Allyn.

"They said, 'you need to sit down, something happened to Jaryd,'" Allyn recalled. "I asked them, 'What happened to Jaryd?' — thinking he fell down and got hurt. They said, 'He’s OK, we just can’t find him.' ''

Allyn jumped in his vehicle and drove to the trailhead, screaming, "They lost my baby, they lost my baby," and "beating my chest all the way up there."

He ran up the trail but quickly discovered he wasn’t going to find Jaryd by himself. By the time Allyn returned to the trailhead to have his resort manager call the Larimer County Sheriff’s Office, the manager already had.

A sheriff's deputy and a Larimer County Search and Rescue member arrived, followed by more of each.

Josallyn, who is now married and lives in Fort Wayne, Indiana, said she doesn’t have many vivid memories of the events but does remember her father returning from the trail without Jaryd.

"One of those memories was at the resort and hugging my dad, who was kneeling or squatting and crying and then wrapping my arms around him because I realized how serious this was,'' she said.

Bill Nelson, now a recently retired undersheriff with the Larimer County Sheriff’s Office, was in charge of the search for Jaryd. When searchers arrived, it appeared to be just another mission, he said in a recent interview.

"Absolutely, I thought we would find him,''’ he said. "Yes, it was a young child, but my thought was we should be able to get in there with our people and do what we do and what we have done hundreds of times: find the person. It might take a few hours to find the child crying or hiding someplace nearby, but we would be done before midnight.''

Nelson said he went to his vehicle to nap just before midnight and told his staff to wake him when they found the boy. When he awoke the next morning in the front seat of his pickup, he became concerned.

The search for Jaryd hadn't gone as planned. Nor would it.

Helicopter down

Sunday morning, Allyn and Josallyn heard the "whop, whop, whop'' of a search helicopter making its way up the canyon.

"I remember saying to Josallyn, 'Look, there’s the helicopter, they are going to find your brother,' and we watched it fly over us,'' Allyn said.

Instead of searching for Jaryd on that flight, the Huey UH-1N helicopter from F.E. Warren Air Force Base in Cheyenne, Wyo., flew to what was then the Fort Collins-Loveland Municipal Airport to refuel.

When the helicopter returned, it struggled with the fuel load and mountain conditions and stalled out, falling 100 feet and crashing up the Big South Trail. Aboard were four members of the Air Force and Mark Sheets, a Loveland resident and Larimer County Search and Rescue member.

Sheets wasn’t supposed to be on the flight but had relieved his manager, George Janson, from his shift. Janson suggested Sheets fly with the crew to help the team make ground search plans.

Sheets, 57, who retired from Larimer County Search and Rescue in 2017 after 30 years, remembers the moment before impact.

"I said on the intercom that we needed altitude now and (remember) the co-pilot saying, 'I know but I can’t. We are going in,'" he said. "To me that was code for brace for impact."

Sheets was the only crew member not in a seat — he was on the floor with the door open. He saw the rotors hit the tops of trees and pieces of helicopter spray into the forest. He tried to shut the door, but a severed tree limb came through and struck the Air Force doctor on board, fracturing the doctor's eye socket.

Sheets said the helicopter continued to disintegrate — the fuselage split into three pieces — as it crashed across the trail. The jet engines, still operational, would roar for hours until the fuel ran out.

The Air Force crew was able to get out of the helicopter, Sheets said, but he was trapped. Nearby search and rescue members ran to the downed helicopter, kicked in a window and managed to pull the unconscious Sheets out.

Sheets, who skipped wearing a helmet so he could wear a headset to communicate with the pilot, suffered a severe concussion and a 13-inch, L-shaped gash that left his femur exposed. He also suffered three broken vertebrae in his lower back and a broken shoulder, he presumes from being pulled from the wreckage.

He spent three days at Poudre Valley Hospital, where he impatiently waited for word about the search for Jaryd.

"That made me angry because I wanted to be out there doing something useful,'' he said.

Current Larimer County Sheriff Justin Smith was a sergeant with the department during the search, for which he was the public information officer. He said the crash added to the stress of a search that only grew more frustrating as the national media took notice.

TV trucks and newspaper reporters began to swarm the remote site after the grand jury in another chilling child case — the death of JonBenet Ramsay in Boulder — postponed its announcement of whether it would hand down indictments.

The perfect storm was brewing.

"I remember from moment one that second day, we quickly realized what we were up against,'' Smith said. "We had searchers down who they were bringing out on stretchers, we had a missing kid overnight, we had the Air Force closing off the crash site. Emotionally it was overwhelming, and you could see it in the eyes of everybody involved."

TV satellite trucks — 17 at one time — lined up along Colorado Highway 14 with "anchors in fur coats walking around and anybody and everybody calling us for information,'' Smith said.

The disappearance of Jaryd Atadero had become an international spectacle.

‘Daddy, if he's not alive, God has him’

As the search stretched into the third day, searchers combed river banks and up steep slopes. Dive teams peered into small pools left in the narrow, slow-moving river. A plane made passes overhead.

With every intense hour that searchers came up empty, the crush of questions squeezed law enforcement and searchers even harder.

Well-meaning but ill-equipped people were increasingly hounding the Larimer County Sheriff's Office and Larimer County Search and Rescue to allow them to help.

Psychics professed to know where searchers could find Jaryd. A bare-footed man with a mule showed up at the search site, ready to track him down. An American Indian came to perform a ritual, asking the mountain to give up the boy.

Theories as to what happened to Jaryd were expanding from rational possibilities — killed by a predator, fell behind boulders and died, drowned in the river — to the less plausible, but still possible, theory of abduction, to strange conspiracy theories.

A variety of people were voicing those theories to a vulnerable Allyn and his family, creating growing tension between the family and searchers.

"It became a tornado, hurricane, biggest storm in all of our lives,'' Allyn said. "I was critical of them at the time because when you are in a survival situation, you want everything that can be done to be done, and at times I thought there was so much more they could have done.''

Nelson said things became so tense between the family and searchers that he had to take Allyn and his family for a hike up the trail to hash things out.

"Allyn and his family were certain that Jaryd had been abducted because we couldn’t find him," Nelson said. "I might have felt the same way if it was my son, but we knew abduction was slim.''

It was the theory that, despite long odds, was gaining traction.

But who could have abducted Jaryd?

Investigators questioned everyone from Allyn to members of the Christian singles group to the fishermen who were presumably the last to see Jaryd. They talked to Allyn’s ex-wife, who was living in San Diego and came to Colorado after hearing Jaryd was lost.

No red flags.

"There were people who wanted to point to the abduction conspiracy theory but nothing ever fell in line with it,'' Smith said. "How could you capture this kid in the woods in this short time frame and then have gotten out without anybody seeing you? It just wasn’t probable.''

There is only one easy way out of the narrow canyon — back down the trail. On the day of Jaryd's disappearance, one of the first searchers quickly hiked up to where snow covered the trail and saw no tracks. Hiking out either side of the narrow canyon would require a climb of 1,000 to nearly 2,000 vertical feet through thick trees and downed logs on a 45-degree slope.

As the search continued with no signs of Jaryd, the mountain lion attack theory became officials' prevailing thought. There were mountain lion prints found in the area but nothing conclusive to indicate Jaryd might have been killed along the trail.

But an 18-year-old man was killed by a mountain lion near Idaho Springs in 1991, and a 10-year-old boy was killed by a lion in 1997 in nearby Rocky Mountain National Park. Wildlife experts said it wouldn’t take much for a mountain lion to carry a 3-year-old boy off the trail.

With Jaryd's trail growing colder, the sheriff's office met with Allyn and his family and made the difficult decision to call off the official search after a week. Others were allowed to continue the search on their own.

"I remember that Saturday after they called off the search going to Jaryd’s closet and putting away his dirty clothes and picking up the tank and toy soldiers from the bathtub where, the day before he went missing, he took a bath,'' Allyn said. "I realized then I would never see him again. I had his toys but I didn't have my baby.''

Gone was Allyn falling asleep nightly with Jaryd holding his hand. Gone was the weekly ritual where Allyn, Josallyn and Jared would stand together holding hands, raising them up as Allyn declared, "This is who you can count on for the rest of your life.''

Guilt, loneliness and frustration ate at Allyn in the apartment the three shared in Littleton, where Allyn was teaching. Josallyn came to the rescue.

"Looking back, Josallyn was always there for me, but I wasn’t always there for her,'' Allyn said. "She was always putting her arms around me after Jaryd was gone. One day she asked me if Jaryd was bothering me and I said, 'Yes.'

"Her response was, 'Daddy there are only two things that could happen to Jaryd: Somebody has him and he is alive. If he’s not alive, God has him, so why are you worried?'"

Miracle on the mountain

While the search for Jaryd faded, hoaxes continued to haunt Allyn for years.

A Fort Collins woman was charged for repeatedly and falsely claiming she knew a woman who abducted Jaryd. Reports of Jaryd being seen alive ranged from coast to coast. And earlier this May, a California man who for years has claimed to be Jaryd — though DNA tests have shown otherwise — was arrested in Douglas County near where Allyn lives for violating a restraining order against him.

"For many, many years, a door would open that would lead to another door that would lead to another door,'' said Deborah Atadero, Allyn’s wife of 16 years. "It was just exhausting, hoping the next door is going to be the answer, the next person is going to help, that next we would find out exactly what happened to Jaryd.''

And then they did. Or, at least, they found more breadcrumbs.

On June 4, 2003, Fort Collins businessmen and hiking partners Gary Watts and Rob Osborne were hiking off-trail in the Big South Trail area when they stumbled upon a white Tarzan tennis shoe in a talus slope 500 vertical feet above the trail.

Then they found the other shoe, a brown fleece jacket and blue sweatpants turned inside out. One pant leg was mostly scattered by birds using the material in their nests.

Watts and Osborne knew instantly who they had discovered.

"The thing is, we were up there a week earlier and talked quite a bit about the various scenarios about his disappearance,'' said Osborne, owner of Avogadro’s Number restaurant and bar in Fort Collins. "Then we happened upon the clothes, and it’s mystery solved.

"Once we saw the clothes, I knew exactly what happened to him; a mountain lion killed him. We felt that finding the items would hopefully bring some closure to the family.''

They photographed the area and clothing as they found them, turned a bread bag inside out and took the fleece jacket and a shoe with them to the sheriff’s office the next day, as they didn’t return to Fort Collins until late that evening.

The next day, it took searchers about an hour to reach the site near Campsite 2, where they found the remaining clothing scattered across a 25-foot area. Some of the items were sheltered from the elements and some were exposed.

While the cloth jacket had what appeared to be puncture marks and the pants were tattered, the nylon shoes had little weathering. Eleven days later — just before Father's Day — searchers found a molar and skull cap.

"One of our members was walking and about to step on a shrub when a member just below them saw the skull under the shrub,'' said Don Davis, a search and rescue member involved with the search. "I remember Allyn being up there with us. He asked if he could hold his son’s skull, and it was a very sad situation.''

Initial DNA tests found an 86% chance the remains were Jaryd, Allyn said. It wasn’t until a decade later that new DNA technology proved 100% they were Jaryd's remains.

"Once you hear that, all hope of him being alive or somewhere else all goes right out with that," Allyn said of the confirmation.

According to Larimer County Search and Rescue's report, searchers on foot had never made it up to the 9,120 foot elevation at Jaryd's skull and tooth were found. The Air Force helicopter would have likely searched the area had it not crashed.

Additional tests by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, including for blood and hair on the clothing the hikers found, revealed little about what killed Jaryd. His death certificate indicates the manner of death as "undetermined, probable mountain lion attack."

"I'm not sure we will ever know 100%, but at this point in my life I'm not sure it matters,'' Allyn said.

‘Wish you were here’

Jaryd has been gone in body for 20 years, but not in spirit.

Allyn, Deborah and family members celebrate Jaryd’s birthday — Jan. 2, 1996 — every year with a cake.

"We sing ‘Happy Birthday’ to him each year, and each year Allyn barely gets out the first two words when he starts crying,'' Deborah said. "But we believe it’s important to honor him.''

When Josallyn got married last summer, they had a seat for Jaryd at the reception, adorned with his beloved Raiders hat. A month before the wedding, Allyn hiked up to the spot where they found Jaryd's remains and left a wedding invitation for him.

And then there is the Pink Floyd song, "Wish You Were Here." It was Allyn's and Jaryd’s song, he said, and it plays on the radio just when he needs to be reminded of his son.

"On Oct. 2 of last year, I got into my car and was backing out of the driveway when our song came on the radio,'' Allyn said. "That made me smile''

Allyn, who retired Tuesday as a physical education teacher at Falcon Bluffs Middle School in Ken Caryl, said it’s those little reminders and a strong Christian faith that comfort him now.

"I know I will see him again one day,'' he said. "When I do, I’m going to walk up to him and say, 'Jaryd, so tell me what happened.' And he’s going to look at me and say, 'Dad does it really matter?'"

Arlyn, Allyn’s twin brother and a retired school administrator who lives in Fort Collins, said he has slowly seen his brother work through the dark times to a place not of closure, but contentment.

"For years, I looked at him and saw dead man walking,'' Arlyn said. "People talk about the worst thing a parent can go through, and I had a front-row seat for it and it was a horrible thing to watch. But I definitely see him at peace now.''

Josallyn said she, too, has noticed her father has healed, but she knows "what could have been" remains that pebble in both of their shoes.

"We will probably never know exactly what happened to Jaryd, but we are at some kind of peace with that,'' she said. "Still, you think about all the things you missed out on in those 20 years, and it makes me miss him even more.''

Nelson and Smith said they have come as close to peace with the case as they can get. It’s not complete peace because of the outcome, but they feel they did all they could to find Jaryd alive. Both believe Jaryd was killed quickly by a mountain lion before they were even called.

"I have no drive to try and change somebody’s mind of what happened,'' Smith said. "We are 95% or 99% sure what happened to Jaryd. What I do know is that I can go to a (Search and Rescue) meeting today and bring up Jaryd Atadero’s name and there will be tears. They all wanted a different outcome, and it is something these people will take to their graves.''

Allyn and Deborah have rallied for a number of initiatives to help fund search and rescue teams since Jaryd's death. And those hard feelings during the search have faded to admiration for the difficult tasks of law enforcement and searchers.

"Back then we all started in different spots up there on that mountain,'' said Allyn, rubbing the top of Jaryd's skull. "Today, it’s about where we finished. We can all start in different spots and still finish in the same spot. I need to give all those people a hug because they are God’s angels.

"I always tell people pain is a direct reflection of love. The more you love something, the more it’s going to hurt. My hurt was intense because my love for Jaryd was intense. But there comes a point when you look back and say the best part of the world is the peace that we have. There is nothing more important than having peace and joy in your life. And I finally feel that peace.''

More:Podpast: Family speaks about the disappearance of Chris Vigil

Timeline: The disappearance of Jaryd Atadero

This timeline was compiled from Larimer County Search and Rescue's investigation report.

Oct 2, 1999

10 a.m.: Three-year-old Jaryd Atadero, his 6-year-old sister, Josallyn Atadero, and 11 members of the Christian Singles Network leave the Poudre River Resort, owned by the children’s father, Allyn Atadero, for a hike on the Big South Trail, 15 miles west of the resort and 60 miles west of Fort Collins.

11:30 a.m.: Two fishermen talk to Jaryd near the Camp 2 site and see hikers from a group 50 to 80 feet away. They return to fishing, believing Jaryd will soon be met by the group. They are the last known people to see Jaryd alive.

Approximately 12:15 p.m.: The hiking group realizes Jaryd is missing and searches for him for about an hour. Some members return to the Poudre River Lodge to alert Allyn, who drives to the trail and searches for another hour.

4 p.m.: Allyn returns to the lodge to call 911, which has already been called by his resort manager.

4:26 p.m.: An emergency pager alert is sent to Larimer County Emergency Services Specialist Bill Nelson.

5:07 p.m.: Page sent to Larimer County Search and Rescue manager George Janson. (Lag time here is standard procedure to allow mountain deputy to verify if a search is needed.)

6:30 p.m.: Search personnel reach lower Big South Trailhead.

8 p.m.: Searchers from the lower and upper trailhead meet between Campsites 7 and 8 without finding a sign of Jaryd. Search plans are expanded and more resources are ordered, including a helicopter planned to arrive at first light.

Oct. 3, 1999

7 a.m.: Overnight search team members are told to be extremely vigilant at dawn as family members tell searchers Jaryd wakes at dawn. Dive team employed for Big South River.

7 a.m.: Air Force helicopter from F.E. Warren Air Force base in Cheyenne, Wyoming, makes first flight then heads to Fort Collins-Loveland Municipal Airport to refuel.

3:30 p.m.: Helicopter crashes during low hovering search of area along upper Big South Trail. Four Air Force members and a Larimer County Search and Rescue member were aboard.

6 p.m.: All five aboard are transported from the crash site, three via air ambulance and two via ground ambulance. All survive but two have significant injuries.

Oct. 4, 1999

A Lama helicopter from GeoSeis Helicopters in Fort Collins joins searchers and encounters swirling winds that require full power to prevent crashing. Shortly thereafter, the helicopter returns to Fort Collins.

Oct. 5-7, 1999

More than 200 trained searchers, a dozen dog teams, professional trackers, a dive team and a plane search for Jaryd without finding any solid clues.

Oct. 8, 1999

7 p.m.: The search for Jaryd is suspended due to lack of clues. Family is notified.

June 4, 2003

Late afternoon: Fort Collins businessmen and avid hikers Gary Watts and Rob Osborne are hiking off trail about 500 vertical feet and 1,050 lateral feet on the east slope above near the Camp 2 marker along the Big South Trail when they come upon sneakers and clothing. They know instantly they have found Jaryd’s clothes. They were not looking for Jaryd but were on a hike of the area.

June 5, 2003

Watts and Osborne take photos and some of the articles of clothing they found to the Larimer County Sheriff’s Office. Photos are emailed to Allyn Atadero in Littleton and he confirms the clothing and shoes are Jaryd's.

June 6, 2003

Larimer County Sheriff’s Office staff hikes to the area where the clothing was found, retrieves the other articles and processes the scene.

June 14, 2003

8:30 a.m.: Team of Larimer County Sheriff’s Office members, Larimer County Search and Rescue, Colorado Division of Wildlife and NecroSearch meet at Big South Trailhead to start search for remains of Jaryd. Later, Allyn Atadero and personnel from the local Child Protection Network join the group.

9:30 a.m.: Searchers hike in approximately 1.5 miles and make the 500 vertical climb up to the site where hikers found the clothing.

11:30 a.m.: Searchers find a skull fragment in a crevice and a tooth on a log spanning the crevice above the skull fragment. The positioning of the skull fragment is such that it is visible from only a narrow angle and is lit by a shaft of light from the sun. The site is about 180 feet north and about 20 feet higher in elevation than the clothing site.

5 p.m.: Allyn, searchers and others meet with the media at the trailhead to announce what they have found.

Source: Larimer County Search and Rescue report

Hiking with children

Follow these safety tips when hiking with children:

Keep children in your sight.

Dress them in brightly colored clothing with multiple layers to accommodate the changing temperatures.

Give them a whistle in case they get lost. A whistle can be heard farther than a child yelling.

Have them carry snacks such as trail mix, raisins and candy bars.

If a child is missing, begin your search immediately and call 911 as quickly as possible.

If a child becomes lost, teach them these rules:

Stay calm.

Stay put. Hug a tree near a clearing to make yourself more visible.

Stay warm. Find a protective spot that is still visible but out of the wind.

Stay noisy. Frequently blow your whistle or yell as loud as you can.

Miles Blumhardt looks for stories that impact your life — be it news, outdoors, sports, you name it he wants to report it. Have a story idea, send it his way. Email him at milesblumhardt@coloradoan.com or find him on Twitter at @MilesBlumhardt. If you find value in these stories, support Miles and the other journalists at the Coloradoan by subscribing atColoradoan.com/subscribe.

Donald Trump hits campaign trail to demand Republican loyalty ...

Donald Trump has returned to the political arena to call on Republicans to nominate only candidates loyal to him for election to Congress next year.

In a “rambling” 90-minute speech at his first rally “since being prised from the White House in January”, the former US leader “reiterated his groundless allegation” that the 2020 election was “stolen from him” in what he described as “the crime of the century”, says The Times. And he “hinted that he would make a third presidential run” in 2024, the paper adds.

“Our movement is far from over,” Trump told the North Carolina Republican Party’s convention. “In fact, it is just getting started.”

In a bid to “galvanise supporters ahead of next year's elections for the Senate and House of Representatives”, Trump “hailed his administration’s achievements” and launched “typically colourful attacks on opponents foreign and domestic”, says The Telegraph.

The former president attacked Dr Anthony Fauci’s handling of the Covid-19 pandemic, describing the White House’s most senior scientific adviser as “not a great doctor but a great promoter”.

“He’s been wrong on almost every issue and he was wrong on Wuhan and the lab also,” Trump added, in a nod to theories that the coronavirus came from a research facility in the Chinese city at the epicentre of the outbreak.

“We demand reparations from the Communist Party of China,” said Trump, who told the Republican convention that the Asian superpower should pay $10tr (£7tr) in “reparations”.

He also called for the US to impose 100% tariffs on Chinese goods and urged other countries to repudiate their debts to Beijing as a “down payment” for the economic disruption caused by the pandemic.

Predictably, Trump blasted Joe Biden too, claiming that the Democrat is leading “the most radical left-wing administration in history”.

“All Joe Biden had to do was sit back and do nothing - it was taking off like a rocket ship nobody's ever seen,” Trump said. “Instead, the economy is going to hell and inflation is going to cause a catastrophe in the near future.”

The speech marked Trump's first political appearance outside his home state of Florida since leaving the White House, and in contrast to “the mega-rallies he hosted during his presidency”, was attended by only about 1,200 people, The Telegraph reports.

But despite being “a diminished public figure after losing office and being blocked by both Twitter and Facebook”, says The Times, Trump “retains a grip on Republican politics” and is the “front runner for the party’s presidential nomination in 2024 in every survey”.

All the same, while the convention crowd applauded the ex-president’s inflammatory comments, internet chat focused on footage from the event which appeared to show that Trump's trousers were “oddly wrinkled around the front thighs, with no visible fly”, says the Daily Mail.

Some critics claimed that he had “put his pants on backwards”, while others suggested that the trousers “might be elastic-waisted pull-ups with no button or front zipper”, the paper reports.

.

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The UFO files: exploring the findings of the Pentagon's report | The ...

In 2017, The New York Times publicly revealed that the US Defence Intelligence Agency had, ten years earlier, established the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Programme – a secret $22m government project to examine military encounters with unidentified flying objects, or Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAPs), as they are officially known today.

By that time, details and footage of some particularly striking incidents had already been leaked and widely reported. There was growing interest among members of Congress, who called for greater transparency on the issue. The Senate’s intelligence committee demanded that the Pentagon – the Department of Defence – release a public report describing its findings.

What were these widely reported incidents?

In 2014 and 2015, US navy pilots from the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt described close encounters in the Atlantic off Virginia with what looked like flying spheres.

Pilots reported that the objects had no visible engine or exhaust plumes, but that they could reach altitudes of 30,000 feet and hypersonic speeds. Some incidents were videotaped, including one in early 2015 that shows an object zooming over the waves as a pilot exclaims: “Wow, what is that, man? Look at it fly!”

In November 2004, two jets from the USS Nimitz were 100 miles southwest of San Diego when they encountered a white oval-shaped craft hovering above the sea. As one of the F-18 jets descended to look, the object ascended towards it, then zipped away. “It accelerated like nothing I’ve ever seen,” said David Fravor, one of the pilots. “It had no plumes, wings or rotors and outran our F-18s.”

What did the report find?

The Pentagon examined 144 reports of UAPs made by US military pilots between 2004 and 2021. Although only nine pages long, it presents some interesting findings. One is that UAPs “probably do represent physical objects”, as opposed to technical anomalies or figments of pilots’ imaginations. Some 80 of the UAPs were observed with “multiple sensors”, for instance by radar, infrared and optical cameras as well as pilots’ visual observations.

Furthermore, in 18 of the incidents, the objects demonstrated “unusual flight characteristics”, such as manoeuvring abruptly or moving at intense speeds – potentially demonstrating advanced, as-yet unknown technologies. The report also identified 11 “near-misses” between UAPs and US pilots, concluding that they “clearly pose a safety of flight issue and may pose a challenge to US national security”.

Did it offer explanations?

By and large, no. In one case, the Pentagon felt confident that the reported sighting of a UAP was in fact “a large, deflating balloon”. As for the other 143 sightings, it said it was unable to explain them definitively. But it did put forward five potential categories for sightings of UAPs: first, “airborne clutter”, such as birds, drones, balloons or debris; second, “natural atmospheric phenomena” such as thermal fluctuations, ball lightning or solar flares; third, classified technology operated by “US entities”; fourth, “foreign adversary systems”, i.e. secret technologies deployed by China or Russia; fifth, a catch-all “other”.

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Arise, Sir Tony Blair: 14 years after leaving Downing Street, the former Labour prime minister Tony Blair is controversially knighted in the New Year Honours list.

As Moscow builds up its troop deployments near the Ukrainian border, Joe Biden warns Vladimir Putin that the US will respond “decisively” if Russia invades.

A jury acquits the defendants known as “the Colston Four” (pictured) of criminal damage, for their part in toppling a statue of the 17th century slave trader and philanthropist Edward Colston in 2020, and tipping it into the harbour in Bristol.

During an audience at the Vatican, the Pontiff castigates couples who “substitute cats and dogs for children”, saying “renouncing parenthood diminishes us. It takes away our humanity.”

Jonathan Van-Tam is hailed as a “national treasure” as he announces his decision to step down as England’s deputy chief medical officer. He is later knighted, but his trip to the Palace is delayed by a bout of Covid.

Owing to his refusal to be vaccinated for Covid, Novak Djokovic is deported from Australia, ending the world No. 1’s hopes of defending his Australian Open title.

After a New York judge throws out his last-ditch attempt to have Virginia Giuffre’s civil suit against him dismissed, Prince Andrew is cut adrift by the royal family, losing his military affiliations, royal patronages and HRH title.

The final “Plan B” restrictions in England – the mask mandate, vaccine-pass rules, working from home guidance – are all lifted. Sue Gray unveils her long-awaited report into No. 10 lockdown parties, albeit only in outline form. In the 12-page document, presented as an “update”, the senior civil servant discloses that she has looked into 16 alleged parties, and has uncovered failures of “leadership and judgement”.

“They can have Rogan or Young. Not both,” claims the Canadian rock legend Neil Young as he demands that Spotify stops hosting the popular podcasts of the comedian Joe Rogan on the grounds that they promote “fake information about vaccines”. The world’s largest music streaming service opts to remove Young’s music from the platform instead.

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Ron DeSantis' 'appalling stunt': flying migrants to Martha's Vineyard ...

Ron DeSantis is truly shameless, said Jack Shafer on Politico. The Republican governor of Florida – who is up for re-election in November and is considering a White House run – staged an appalling “stunt” last week, flying two planeloads of illegal migrants, mostly from Venezuela, to the Massachusetts island of Martha’s Vineyard, a favourite summer haunt of well-to-do liberals.

He got the idea from the governor of Texas, Greg Abbott, who has ferried thousands of migrants to Washington DC, New York and Chicago. These are all so-called “sanctuary cities”, which pride themselves on welcoming immigrants and protecting them from deportation.

Abbott’s line is that his state is so overwhelmed with immigrants that he needs to send them to the places that are attracting them. Florida, of course, has no border with Mexico, but that didn’t stop DeSantis. He just got some migrants from Texas, and “exploited” them for “political gain”.

Liberals are aghast at DeSantis’s move, said Jordan Boyd in The Federalist. They’ve branded it “evil”. But the “real cruelty”, of course, is that Joe Biden’s policies have allowed the border crisis to get so out of control. At least 650 migrants died last year trying to cross the border, and hundreds more have died this year.

Border states, meanwhile, are struggling to absorb the vast number of arrivals from Mexico: two million are set to enter the US this year. By eradicating the “Remain in Mexico” rule, which required asylum seekers to await court decisions in Mexico, and ending other border-control measures, Biden invited a dangerous surge in illegal crossings. “If dropping migrants at the doorstep of the rich” forces Democrats to reckon with the polices that caused the crisis, “then so be it”.

Border states have every reason to be fed up with America’s immigration system, said Rex Huppke in USA Today. It’s “a mess”. But Republicans won’t help solve this by scooping up desperate migrants – including families with young children – and dumping them in cities run by people they don’t like.

The same tactic was employed by southern segregationists in the 1960s. Annoyed by activists from northern states advocating integration, they lured black citizens onto buses with promises of jobs and dumped them in northern cities. “Americans at that time saw it as a callous ploy, and it fizzled into infamy. The same will happen with this modern-day version.”