Building the Future of UAP Truth: My Experience at the SF UAP Hackathon

In mid‑April 2025, I joined the inaugural SF UAP Hackathon aboard the USS Hornet in Alameda, California—a convergence of engineers, data scientists, and enthusiasts all driven to demystify Unidentified Aerial Phenomena. Over the weekend, our team immersed ourselves in cutting‑edge hardware, decentralized protocols, and real‑time analytics to forge new pathways toward transparency and truth in UAP research.

Choosing the “Humanity Softlanding” Track

From the opening keynote, it was clear that no single discipline holds all the answers. We chose the Humanity Softlanding track, which called for a permissionless, bias‑resistant network to collect, verify, and reward UAP observations on‑chain. Our guiding principles:

• Open Contribution: Anyone—satellite operators, backyard observers, or academic teams—should be able to feed data into the system without gatekeepers.

• Decentralized Verification: Misinformation is rampant; we built consensus‑based checks to elevate credible reports.

• On‑Chain Incentives: Contributors earn tokens tied to the quality and uniqueness of their data.

• Immutable Repository: A global ledger holds all verified UAP intelligence, accessible for future study.

By framing these goals as our solution rather than a problem statement, we steered clear of abstract challenges and focused on building a tangible proof‑of‑concept.

What We Built

Armed with a CanaKit Raspberry Pi 5 Starter Kit and a 2‑Axis Pan‑Tilt Camera Module, we deployed a network of low‑cost, programmable sensors capable of continuous sky scans. The real highlight was integrating a Pelco Thermal Imaging PTZ Camera (valued at $20,000) to simulate high‑precision observations:

1. Detection & Tracking Pipeline: Custom Python scripts on the Pi streamed thermal video to a local server, triggering snapshots whenever unusual signatures appeared.

2. Data Onboarding: Each snapshot was hashed and timestamped, then published to our smart contract on a testnet.

3. Decentralized Storage: We stored every image on IPFS for censorship‑resistant archival.

4. Reputation Engine: Contributors could upvote or challenge each sighting. Only snapshots reaching a trust‑threshold minted reward tokens.

5. Dashboard: A React front‑end visualized live feeds, recent detections, and contributor leaderboards.

By hackathon’s end, we had a fully operational demo: a decentralized UAP detection network that recognized, verified, and rewarded sightings in real time.

Mentorship and Essential Tools

We owe a huge debt to David Hooper, founder of a stealth UAP defense startup. His hands‑on guidance helped us refine our incentive model and vet our verification logic. David’s support turned our baseline design into a scalable, field‑ready system.

Additional Learnings: Discovering the Tridactyls

While most of our time was spent coding and circuit‑molding, I dove into the Biologics Track, where I stumbled upon Tridactyls.org/sfuap. The site catalogs “Tridactyls”—enigmatic, three‑toed creatures rumored to inhabit remote ecosystems. Learning about these potential lifeforms reminded me that unexplained phenomena aren’t limited to the skies; the natural world still holds secrets as profound as any UAP. That curiosity filtered back into our project: if biology can surprise us at ground level, why not in the troposphere?

The CE5 Exercise and My UAP Sighting

On the evening of April 19th at 9 PM, our team paused development to experiment with CE5 (Close Encounters of the Fifth Kind)—a meditation‑based protocol for human‑initiated contact. Skeptical but curious, I followed the guided visualization. We observed an object in the sky—what we later confirmed as a UAP. The object moved in ways that defied conventional explanations, and although we captured clear optical images, we were unable to record its thermal signature. We uploaded those optical snapshots to IPFS and validated them on‑chain. Witnessing a live UAP during a CE5 session was both surreal and validating—proof that our network could bridge human intention, observational technology, and decentralized verification.

A Surreal Setting: The USS Hornet Experience

Hosting a hackathon on the USS Hornet was unforgettable. This historic aircraft carrier not only served in World War II and Vietnam but famously recovered Apollo 11’s command module on July 24, 1969. Walking the same deck where Neil Armstrong stepped down from the capsule and made his way to the quarantine chamber was profoundly moving.

The sense of history and exploration in the air fueled our team’s ambition—reminding us that pushing into the unknown has always defined human progress.

Looking Ahead

The SF UAP Hackathon was more than a sprint; it was a proof point that collaboration, open protocols, and a bit of healthy skepticism can push the envelope on UAP truth. As I integrate lessons learned into my ongoing research, I’m excited to explore:

• Edge AI: Deploying on‑device inference to flag anomalies without constant server connectivity.

• Cross‑Discipline Data Fusion: Merging biosensor, acoustic, and radio‑frequency inputs alongside thermal imaging.

• Broader Community Engagement: Incentivizing amateur astronomers and citizen scientists through gamified discovery.

Standing on the Hornet’s deck, I felt we were at the dawn of a new era—one where transparency, technology, and collective curiosity illuminate the unknown.