Tom DeLonge

[[File:Tom DeLonge 2004.jpg|thumb|right|165px|Are those 3 UFOs above DeLonge's head?]]
{{ufology}}
{{cquote|What if people knew that these were real<br/>I'd leave my closet door open all night<br/>I know the CIA would say<br/>What you hear is all hearsay<br/>I wish someone would tell me what was right|||"Aliens Exist", Blink-182<ref>"Aliens Exist", Blink-182, from ''Enema of the State'' album, 1999. Songwriters: Tom DeLonge / Mark Hoppus / Travis Barker, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC</ref>}}

'''Tom DeLonge''' {{lived|1975}} is an [[United States|American]] [[music]]ian and songwriter best known for his work with comedy [[punk]] ensemble Blink-182 ("All the Small Things", "What's My Age Again?", ''Enema of the State''). Since the breakup of Blink-182 in 2005, he has pursued a range of activities, including a growing interest in [[UFO]]s, [[cryptozoology]], and [[conspiracy theories]]. His organisation {{wpl|To the Stars (company)|'''To The Stars'''}} has attracted some status within the strange world of UFO research, to the point of interviewing government officials, although he has yet to prove the existence of extraterrestrials.<ref name=wp>{{wpa|Tom DeLonge}}</ref> In 2009, the band reunited, but Tom left the band again in October 2012, only to return a decade later.

==Life==
He grew up in Poway, San Diego County, [[California]] and formed Blink-182 while at high school. After a few small hits, their breakthrough came with the ''Enema of the State'' album in 1999. He launched a short-lived side project, Box Car Racer, in 2002. Blink-182 split up in 2005: this has been blamed on DeLonge's desire to concentrate on investigations of UFOs, but seems to have been more due to tensions in the band over DeLonge wanting to spend more time with his family and tour less. After, he founded another band, Angels & Airwaves, and Blink-182 briefly reformed, with an album, ''Neighborhoods'', in 2011; DeLonge later quit the band and released solo material in 2015. He also worked on a young adult book series, ''Poet Anderson'', and co-directed an animated short film, ''Poet Anderson: The Dream Walker'', with aspirations to turn it into a feature film. And then there is his interest in strange flying things.<ref name=wp/><ref name=millard>[https://theoutline.com/post/2889/tom-delonge-aliens-very-intriguing-person?zd=1&zi=ulw32iq6 We believe Tom DeLonge, who quit blink-182 to prove aliens exist], Drew Millard, ''The Outline'', Jan 12, 2018</ref>

==UFOs==
He had a long-time interest in UFOs and conspiracies around them, with the 1999 song "Aliens Exist" mentioning [[Majestic 12]] and the [[CIA]]. Box Car Racer's album was full of lyrics about conspiracy theories. He even got married in 2001 on Coronado Island, California, which was the scene of an alleged [[Extraterrestrial|alien]] encounter in 1994 in which 2 people allegedly received [[alien implant]]s.<ref name=millard/> (It's hard to write about DeLonge without using the word "alleged" a lot.)

DeLonge founded the {{wpl|To the Stars (company)|To The Stars Academy of Arts and Science Inc}} in 2015 to investigate UFOs, with employees including former agents of the American intelligence services and [[scientists]].<ref name=ars/><ref name=millard/> Its mission statement includes the modest goal to "revolutionize the human experience … through the unrestricted support of breakthrough research, discovery and innovation."<ref name=vice/> To The Stars has also worked with EarthTech International in Austin, [[Texas]], apparently "a privately-funded research organization exploring novel ideas".<ref name=millard/> 

Although it hasn't found conclusive proof, its investigations have been reported in at least three ''[[New York Times]]'' articles (including one which featured video footage recorded by a US Navy gun camera allegedly showing UFOs, or blobs). To The Stars was cited as a source about revelations that senators [[Harry Reid]], Daniel Inouye, and [[Ted Stevens]] had directed federal money to the [[Advanced Aerospace Weapon Systems Applications Program|Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program]] (AATIP) UFO investigation.<ref name=millard/><ref name=rs/> DeLonge also claims credit for the US Navy setting up procedures to record UFO sightings.<ref name=rs>[https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/tom-delonge-interview-ufo-footage-angels-airwaves-blink-182-843812/ Tom DeLonge on ‘Scary’ UFO Footage, Angels and Airwaves and Blink-182’s Future], Rolling Stone, June 4, 2019</ref> On September 18, 2019 The [[US Navy]] confirmed the legitimacy of this footage.<ref>https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/18/politics/navy-confirms-ufo-videos-trnd/index.html</ref>

{{wpl|Luis Elizondo||,}} the disputed head of the Pentagon's controversial [[Advanced Aerospace Weapon Systems Applications Program|AATIP]], joined DeLonge's Academy after quitting the DoD in 2017,<ref name=vice>[https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/mbpaqx/tom-delonges-ufo-research-project-seems-increasingly-legit Tom DeLonge's UFO Research Project Seems Increasingly Legit], Vice, Dec 17, 2017</ref> and was featured in the 2019 [[History Channel]] series {{wpl|Unidentified: Inside America's UFO Investigation||.}}

DeLonge has worked on several books. He cowrote ''Sekret Machines: Gods'' with Peter Levenda about his UFO investigations. It suggests that ancient [[Greek]] [[myth]]s and [[Bible|Biblical]] stories about [[gods]] or [[angels]] mating with humans and creating monsters could be a record of alien breeding experiments.<ref name=ars>[https://arstechnica.com/science/2018/10/all-the-dumb-things-blink-182-front-mans-ufo-project-37-million/ All the dumb things? UFO project has $37 million deficit], Ars Technica, October 15, 2018</ref> (This would have more validity if there was any evidence that Greek myths were in some way true.) He also co-wrote ''Sekret Machines Book 1: Chasing Shadows'' and sequels, an attempt to express his ideas via the medium of epically-long conspiracy fiction.<ref name=popmatters>[https://www.popmatters.com/sekret-machines-gods-tom-delonge-peter-levenda-2495384369.html 'Sekret Machines: Gods' Reiterates: All Religion Is UFO Religion], PopMatters, 23 Aug 2017</ref><ref>[https://www.upsetmagazine.com/features/aliens-exist-five-things-we-learnt-about-tom-delonge-new-book/ Aliens Exist: Five things we learnt from Tom DeLonge's book], Upset, April 11, 2016</ref><ref>[https://ew.com/article/2016/04/05/tom-delonge-sekret-machines-book/ Tom DeLonge on new 'Sekret Machines' book: 'This is not just Tom talking about UFOs again'], Entertainment Weekly, April 5, 2016</ref>

According to emails "obtained" by [[Wikileaks]], he emailed [[Hillary Clinton]]'s campaign chairman John Podesta about UFOs.<ref name=millard/> He has also reportedly met with Podesta at least once to discuss UFOs.<ref name=mupt1>[https://mysteriousuniverse.org/2016/11/the-delonge-delusion-part-one/ The DeLonge DeLusion: Part One], Mysterious Universe, Nov 3, 2016</ref> In an email to Podesta, DeLonge claimed to have been working with Major General William McCasland, commander of the Air Force Research Laboratory at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio. DeLonge told Podesta:<blockquote>When [[Roswell]] crashed, they shipped it to the laboratory at Wright Patterson Air Force Base. General McCasland was in charge of that exact laboratory up to a couple years ago."<ref name=mupt1/><ref>[https://wikileaks.org/podesta-emails/emailid/3099 "General McCasland"], email from Tom DeLonge dated "2016-01-25 16:04", published on Wikileaks</ref></blockquote>

DeLonge received the honor "UFO Researcher of the Year" from "Credible UFO News and Information" website OpenMinds.tv.<ref name=millard/> In a 2017 appearance on Joe Rogan's podcast "The Joe Rogan Experience", according to press reports DeLonge's claims included:<ref name=millard/><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20181231215956/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5n_3mnJfHzY&feature=youtu.be Joe Rogan Experience #1029 - Tom DeLonge] (Oct 26, 2017) ''YouTube'' (archived from December 31, 2018).</ref>
* Early UFOs were human-created craft made using alien technology by former [[Nazi UFOs|Nazis]] living in [[Argentina]],
* Fear of alien invasion prevented the [[Cold War]] turning into a [[War|hot war]],
* One of his government contacts had seen a dead alien body,
* [[Men in black]] had taken him in for interrogation, holding him for 2 days,
* Humans are descended from aliens,
* Aliens currently walk the earth.

On the other hand, some conspiracy theorists believe he's actually an agent of the [[deep state]] disseminating misinformation.<ref name=millard/>

However, catching aliens is an expensive business. In 2018, To The Stars reported to authorities that while it had managed to raise US$1m in funding: "The Company has incurred losses from operations and has an accumulated deficit at June 30, 2018 of $37,432,000. These factors raise doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern."<ref name=ars/>

==Cryptozoology==
Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker told [[Joe Rogan]]'s podcast that during their time in the band, as well as looking for UFOs, DeLonge would get high and decide "Let's go and fucking look for [[Bigfoot]]" and lead a group of people into the wilderness on a Sasquatch hunt.<ref>[https://www.nme.com/news/music/tom-delonge-high-hunting-bigfoot-blink-182-tour-2444777 Tom DeLonge would get high and go hunting for Big Foot while on tour with Blink-182], NME, Feb 7, 2019</ref> No Bigfoots have yet been captured.{{nofact}}

==Selected bibliography==
His writings on UFOs and unexplained phenomena:
* ''Sekret Machines Book 1: Chasing Shadows'', Tom Delonge, A J Hartley, 2017
* ''Sekret Machines: Gods: An Official Investigation of the UFO Phenomenon'', Tom DeLonge, Peter Levenda, Jacques Vallee, 2017
* ''Sekret Machines Book 2: A Fire Within'', Tom DeLonge, A J Hartley, 2018

==External links==
* [https://dpo.tothestarsacademy.com/ To The Stars] official website

==References==
{{reflist|2|80%}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:DeLonge, Tom}}
[[Category:Authors]]
[[Category:California]]
[[Category:Conspiracy theorists]]
[[Category:Cryptozoology]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Musicians]]
[[Category:Punk]]

Categories: Authors, California, Conspiracy theorists, Cryptozoology, Living people, Musicians, Punk