I’m staring at an inbox that I have spent the last week or so going through mining for any valuable data that may have fallen through the cracks in the whirlwind following the release of the UAPTF Report. I have to admit that my correspondence is currently a mess of selfishness.

I have just enough time to respond to internal comms, a small handful of colleagues and my family, with the last bit ruling the roost in priority. If you’ve sent me a non “work” related message and received a reply, chances are it was months later with what’s becoming a sadly standard apology; there’s a queue and I respect it when I’m able.

That said, I’ve found there are four words that can strike equal amounts of fear and hope in the hearts of the reader;

“How can I help?”

If you have clearly defined goals and a self imposed mission to follow and assuming the person asking comes with bona fides that precede them, the answer is often “Follow me!” and the two new colleagues embark on a wonderful journey together, right?

That’s the best case expectation in the heart of every job applicant I know, even if they know how unlikely that fantastic marriage might be.

It becomes infinitely harder when the field is something that on the one hand wants to see its own cadre succeed, but with very specific and nuanced ideals about what is morally acceptable and what flavor of logic to cultivate.

When triaging my inbox my first priority is the mission. Next is the people and last is the personal gain. All my problems are first world problems. The carrot on the end of my stick is knowledge and lasting change for all of us.

Offers of documentaries, fictional tie-ins, marketing, spokesperson opportunities, lecture requests, television, radio, podcast hosting opportunities, and heartbreakingly, an offer to record an album with a well known producer all sit unanswered. Any one of those things would enrich my family, offer me the attention and validation I envied of others in my youth, and frankly probably be a real fun time. Any of them could eclipse my focus on what is important to me by offering me a quick feel good fix…

And I would be miserable and hate myself every step of the way.

But why? Why am I such a hard ass over monetization? Why do I eschew celebrity, entertainment and muddy waters? Because outside of disinformation, I think monetization and cult of personality were the cancer that ate away at UFOlogy and gave “The Stigma” a place to breed and thrive. Tying one’s livelihood to one’s ideals and mission breeds confirmation bias.

Not being taken seriously seems like it may have led some to fakery. I don’t think I need to explain greed and envy. It’s up to you to determine what selling out is and what it means as we try and distill fact from fiction.

To me it means putting aside your ideals for the dollar, fame or even to be “right”. Some call it “being realistic”. I do imagine at some point I will come up against the wall of requiring resources to further the mission. It will be up to the people reading this to choose the hue of hypocrisy to paint me with should I find monetary success while carrying out my personal and community shared goal;

But if mission is more important than money, what is The Mission? While I don’t speak for anyone else, I believe my colleagues are like minded;

I believe in a generalist approach to solving the greater mystery surrounding Unidentified Aerial Phenomena and the conclusions drawn from the historical evidence at hand. I believe that waiting for the private sector, industry and government to catch up on an organic timeline may result in losing the greater subject to the morass of stigmatic bureaucracy maintaining a continuity of the current status quo. I find that situation untenable.

When I look further in my inbox, I find numerous offers to collaborate; startups, VC, influencers all offering what they believe to be a lucrative pitch, a way to make money, a way to break out into Hollywood etc, to “Get the word out!” When I enquire as to how they are going to change the landscape, I’m often told that is where I come in. It’s kinda the gold-rush version of “How Can I Help?”.

My goal is finding people who do what I do better than me and empowering them to find others to do the same. In the process I have had the honor and opportunity to speak to and offer my opinion to some of the very highest echelons of our society and government. Connecting the best and brightest among us is cliche, I know. A lot of things we should do every day that we don’t are considered cliche.

Funny enough, the hardest part is when you tell someone you want nothing in return other than the chance to help again should the need arise, some grow rightfully suspicious. When you set your goal for total group success there is no roadblock that will sabotage your efforts, the genuine and authentic gravitate.

So what if you’re not a senator, lawyer, CEO, astronomer or other high muckety muck with an entourage of press releases and awards? What if you are just a genuine, dedicated and passionate individual who wants to change the world?

Let’s start the interview. Who are you? Not what did you train for, that will come later. Who are you inside? Who’s that superhero that you are finally letting peek out from behind the mask and eye the brochure? Have you found your place in this subject or are you looking for it? Do you have a skillset that applies or feel an energetic pull toward an irresistible topic?

These are important questions. If you are sure of it, let’s hear it. Tell me what you will do with your skill set and an appropriate budget. Tell me the failures of the past that you have learned from and how you will counter them.

Tell me about your last major failure and how you handled it, interior and exterior. Tell me what the bottom looks like from the top and the top from the bottom. Tell me what happens when you win?

My personal arc the last few years was pretty tough. I recognize that in many ways I had a much easier path than many others for what reasons I can’t quite put my finger on, but what I learned is this:

Passion for the subject alone is not enough. We must set goals no matter how lofty or grounded and let our passion feed us toward those goals. Whether we are speaking figuratively or literally, we must determine whether our offers of help are innocently self serving (there is no sin in wanting to be part of a movement or effort, being swept up in a positive community is a very empowering feeling) or whether we have found purpose and alignment in our goals and are ready to get to work. Even if all that is worked out, we must have a stable nest to support our goals and know when we are stressing the boundaries of support.

“But Sean, I’m just a regular person in a regular town, with a regular job but I swear I would give my left arm to help!”

I know. Sometimes it’s like trying to look at the sun from ten feet away, it’s too big and bright to take in. I almost didn’t even look. It took me a week just to write to TTSA and say I was there in ’04, let alone dare to think I had a skill set that could lend a hand to these huge personalities and their historical achievements. I know. I really do, and I’m not fishing for support here. Each of us involved with each other has had our own struggles with courage and longevity. Something about this subject tugs at the very cord of our selfhood.

For a long time I wondered if I would have enough figurative parts of myself left to high-five Lue if we ever felt we succeeded. The fact is I had to take some time and go back around the field and retrieve those parts that I had given up with a flourish of martyrdom and I sat down to get deep into Who I am and What I need. I was personally far too invested in what I wanted and what I thought I deserved.

When I surveyed the land I found myself requiring humility. For some this article will read like a humble brag, that’s not my intent. I hope some of what I have written will light a beacon for those waiting for a wholesome shove. When I figuratively sat up and opened my eyes I realized my colleagues and I were uniquely poised on a knife’s edge. It would be a terrible loss if we allowed ourselves to fall prey to the simple pitfalls of some of our predecessors be they egoic or confidence based. For me, the mission got much bigger and more important.

I also had to come to the sobering conclusion that I was hiding behind Lue’s shield instead of locked in the phalanx astride him. Waking from the fog of war offers a test of character, a clarity that is yours to capture.

“You never asked for permission when you were the Chief. Get off your ass. Execute.”

You don’t have to be one of the institutionally tribalized and traumatized to take some deep breaths and find that inner drill sergeant, or inner nanny (no judgement here, a kind, nurturing inner voice is the most effective) and talk to them about what matters to you about this. Take it a step further and daydream about logical steps you would take to make what matters to you be the gravity that pulls you forward.

For me that is where the way cleared and where I found an unmarred view of the road ahead. Suddenly the challenges no longer caused a fear response, but a calm accounting of the steps probability would require.

Think of your passion as a cold hard piece of iron. It’s a hell of a blunt force weapon, but if you intend brain surgery instead of trauma you need fine, precision cuts. That iron must be forged, hammered, tempered, shaped, quenched, sharpened and finally honed before that scalpel delicately severs the meninges and removes the tumor of the king.

When you arrive at that moment “How can I help” begins to grow into “Here’s how I can help” and before you know it becomes a resolute;

“Here is what we are gonna do!”

Keep looking, keep trying, keep asking. You can help. You are helping. Stay positive, stay mature, stay away from rabbit holes and biased feel good panacea. I’ll be frank, I really need you to thrive and succeed too…

Because if I didn’t mention it earlier, you’re the shield to my left.