---
born: 1975-12-13
category: UFO & Anomalous Phenomena
location: Poway, California
summary: DeLonge has had a lifelong interest in UAP and has used his celebrity to
  bring attention to the issue.
tags:
- Person
- UFO
---

[Tom DeLonge](/people/tom-delonge/) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, author, record producer, actor, and filmmaker. He is the co-founder, co-lead vocalist, and guitarist of the rock band Blink-182. He is also the founder of [To The Stars Academy of Arts & Science](/organizations/to-the-stars-academy-of-arts-science/) (TTSA), an organization dedicated to the investigation of [Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena](/concepts/unidentified-anomalous-phenomena/) (UAP) and other fringe scientific topics.[^1]

### Interest in UAP and Founding of TTSA

DeLonge has had a lifelong interest in UAP and has used his celebrity to bring attention to the issue. In 2017, he founded [To The Stars Academy of Arts & Science](/organizations/to-the-stars-academy-of-arts-science/) with the goal of creating a platform for serious scientific research into UAP and educating the public about the phenomenon. He assembled a team of former high-ranking government officials and scientists, including [Luis Elizondo](/people/luis-elizondo/), [Christopher Mellon](/people/christopher-mellon/), [Jim Semivan](/people/jim-semivan/), and [Hal Puthoff](/people/hal-puthoff/), to lead the organization.[^1]

TTSA published three unclassified Navy videos, "FLIR" ([Tic Tac](/events/tic-tac/)), "[GIMBAL](/events/gimbal/)," and "[GoFast](/events/gofast/)," which the [Department of Defense](/organizations/department-of-defense/) stated on April 27, 2020 it had authorized for release after "unauthorized releases in 2007 and 2017,"[^2] and produced the television show "Unidentified: Inside America's UFO Investigation" on the History Channel. While the organization was not a long-term financial success, it played a crucial role in raising the public profile of the UAP issue and helping to break the long-standing stigma surrounding the topic.[^1]

[^1]: Elizondo, Luis. *Imminent*. William Morrow, 2024.
[^2]: U.S. Department of Defense. "Statement by the Department of Defense on the Release of Historical Navy Videos," April 27, 2020. https://www.defense.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/2165713/statement-by-the-department-of-defense-on-the-release-of-historical-navy-videos/ (read through the Internet Archive capture, https://web.archive.org/web/2020id_/https://www.defense.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/2165713/statement-by-the-department-of-defense-on-the-release-of-historical-navy-videos/). Greenewald, John, Jr. "Navy Officially Releases UFO/UAP Videos, Calls Them 'Historical.'" The Black Vault, April 27, 2020 (reproduces the statement and gives the GOFAST date). https://www.theblackvault.com/documentarchive/navy-officially-releases-ufo-uap-videos-calls-them-historical/