Perhaps we were all suspecting the news when it came. Perhaps we were too afraid to confront the brutal and devastating truth. The war against the Taliban in Afghanistan was over and we had lost.

Meanwhile, the slaughter against civilians had only just commenced. This has led to much anger in the west.

It seems as though a whole generation of brave men and women have died in vain. But perhaps only time will tell whether that is a certainty.

The news from Afghanistan marked a milestone for many of those of my generation. Within the last twenty years, wars have been fought in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and Syria. Some estimates show that the U.S. has spent $6.4 trillion on wars since 2001.

The toll of death and suffering is perhaps even more inconceivable.

The general U.S. population, especially younger people, are losing trust and have a low opinion of the military. Furthermore, younger people seem less interested in gaining qualifications needed by the defence industry.

And it is a major problem for the Pentagon and defence contractors, who are already competing with the likes of Space X and Tesla to attract the very best young talent.

This problem could jeopardise everyone’s safety.

The U.S. is faced with multiple foreign adversarial threats, which are emerging at an alarmingly rapid pace, especially from China.

Then, there’s the elephant in the room - Unidentified Aerial Phenomena, otherwise known as UAP. A recent government report confirmed craft, which appear beyond the current technological capabilities of the U.S., are repeatedly penetrating military ranges.

There are rumours that materials from such craft are being studied by defence contractors, such as Lockheed Martin. If true, then the recruitment issue if of monumental global importance.

But the lifting UAP secrecy, which may be an ongoing process, could be the answer to the defence industry’s problems.

Once the veil of secrecy has been lifted on UAP, it could perhaps allow the emergence of classified technology, which could inspire a whole new generation of engineers and create megalithic profits.

Recruitment of young talent is important, especially at a time of dizzying technological innovation.

The stakes are higher than ever. China is pressing ahead with its own technological breakthroughs and is now an emerging AI superpower in its own right.

Young talent is crucial, so that the U.S. can counter the technological emergence of China and thwart other potential threats from UAP, which some claim deactivate nuclear weapons.

Data from the Office of Personnel Management indicates the Defence Department has approximately 6.6 IT professionals over the age of 60 for every one under the age of 30.

In 2018, the Pentagon’s Chief Information Officer Dana Deasy stated:

“Our biggest challenges inside the [Defense Department], they are complex. They are mind-boggling, and we need the creative people who want to work on the complex and the mind-boggling,”

Many of those older staff are now coming to retirement age. This will create a resourcing problem. Furthermore, younger blood is needed to work on complex issues, which now involve cyber threats using technology that younger are better versed in. Perhaps even more mind-boggling could be the threat posed by UAP, which many within the U.S. government are still wrestling to understand.

And it may be an uphill struggle to attract the best young talent to tackle these problems. The Pentagon and its defence contractors have a PR problem.

The population group with the greatest concerns about the military are those under 30, only 38% of whom have a great deal of confidence in it. That is a drop of 15% from 2018.

The report which published those figures was released in March 2021, so it could have been swayed by the national trauma following events at the capital in January.

But the problem isn’t just PR, it’s a lack of interest in qualifications that the defence industry needs.

A report released by the Ronald Reagan Institute named, “The Contest for Innovation: Strengthening America’s National Security Innovation Base in an Era of Strategic Competition,” points to further problems.

It highlighted that U.S. universities are having problems building and maintaining a talent pipeline needed for the national security industrial base.

Schools are relying on foreign students, including many from China, to fill its graduate-level engineering programmes. Around 80 percent of graduate students in technical fields are foreign nationals.

The report states:

“This talent gap is partially due to the fact that private-sector companies attract American students graduating from bachelor’s programs with lucrative salaries and immediate offers of employment following graduation, causing them to forgo graduate degrees.”

Michael Brown, director of the Defence Innovation Unit, an organisation created to connect Silicon Valley tech companies with the Defence Department claims that Chinese students are taking their new knowledge back to China.

Brown stated:

"Living in Silicon Valley or any of the innovation hubs, you see how important talent from around the world is.

"It adds to our economic prosperity and therefore is pretty important for national security.

“We need to be developing the leading edge of those game changing technologies here in the U.S. And to the extent that involves foreign talent [and] foreign capital to do that, we want to be encouraging that, but we don't want to be stupid."

And what little U.S. talent is coming through is very sought after. Competition is high.

Last year, it was revealed that Elon Musk’s Tesla and Space X were the most attractive companies for engineering students in the U.S.

Lockheed Martin ranked #3 and Boeing #5.

1. Tesla

2. SpaceX

3. Lockheed Martin

4. Google

5. Boeing

6. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

7. Apple

8. Microsoft

9. The Walt Disney Company

10. Amazon

Defence contractors must attract the best talent, so that the U.S. can keep ahead of its foreign competitors.

Not only does the U.S. need to compete with China and Russia as new technologies and threats emerge, there may also be a more pressing global security challenge involved.

And that’s where the story gets interesting, and it has everything to do with Unidentified Aerial Phenomena and classified technology.

Enter stage left, Tom Delonge, former Blink 182 rocker.

In 2016, it seemed that Tom Delonge had lost the plot and was suffering a mid-life crisis of sorts.

He claimed to have met with senior people from a U.S. defence contractor and a host of U.S. Generals. Together they had hatched out a plan to release classified technology and reveal the truth about UFOs, otherwise known as Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP).

Part of Tom’s pitch in those first meetings with defence chiefs was to change the public’s perception of the defence industry, to help it attract the best talent.

If only young people really knew what companies like Lockheed Martin were doing in secret, perhaps it would turn the tide of engineers heading to Space X or Tesla? What’s more, this could create an “aha” moment, as though one might say, “if only we knew what you had been doing.”

To perhaps validate Delonge’s claims, emails were leaked from John Podesta’s server by WikiLeaks. Podesta was Hilary Clinton’s Presidential Campaign Chief from 2016 and is a hugely influential figure in U.S. politics, having also been Bill Clinton’s Chief of Staff.

The emails showed that Delonge had been in discussion with Podesta about the UAP topic.

In one of those emails, a meeting was arranged between Delonge, Podesta, General Michael Carey, General McCasland and…Robert F. Weiss, Former President of Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works.

Perhaps Lockheed was the defence contractor Delonge had been in discussions with?

The link between Delonge and Lockheed grew when the rocker established his company, To The Stars Academy (TTSA). Pulling off something of a coup, Steve Justice was secured by TTSA. Justice had previously served as Director of Advanced Programs for Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works.

Delonge claimed that Justice would help TTSA release supposed classified anti-gravitic technology. And it looked like the project might succeed. That was until Justice left TTSA in 2020. He now works at Virgin Galactic.

It is claimed (by some) that Plan A - to disclose information about UAP and disclose classified technology failed when Hilary Clinton was defeated by Donald Trump in 2016.

But where does that leave us now?

Leaving TTSA along with Justice was Lue Elizondo, former Director of the Pentagon’s Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program - its study of UAP.

Since leaving TTSA, Lue has become something of a hero to many seeking transparency on UAP.

And he has been successful. His lobbying efforts have led to the establishment of an Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force, which published a report to Congress in June 2021, which in turn compelled politicians to seek more answers.

There is now real momentum. More information is now expected to be disclosed on the topic of UAP. Where that leads could change our world forever.

But what about the topic of defence contractors, such as Lockheed Martin, and their recruitment issues?

On 4 February 2021, Elizondo appeared on the Unidentified Celebrity Review Podcast with host Luis Jimenez. On the show, Jimenez was pitching his idea for a telethon to pressurise politicians to seek answers on UAP.

Elizondo seemed compelled by the idea and even pitched his own idea about a UAP themed festival to help the likes of Lockheed and Boeing recruit young talent.

Elizondo said:

“Can you imagine having a three-day event where you have great DJs out there and it’s all themed about this topic, and then what you have is Lockheed Martin, right?

“You have Raytheon, you have Boeing, you have Bigelow there with their huge displays and really cool spaces. And at the same time that these kids are partying and listening to great music, you’ve taking resumes for these companies for these kids to go and work at. And you get them inspired from this venue about this topic.”

So, perhaps there is a plan after all to help contractors wrestling against a variety of recruitment issues.

Whether it has anything to do with a festival is unclear. It could have some connection with something else though.

In April 2021, former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid suggested that Lockheed Martin may in fact have fragments from unidentified aircraft, perhaps not of this world.

Reid stated:

“I was told for decades that Lockheed had some of these retrieved materials…

“And I tried to get, as I recall, a classified approval by the Pentagon to have me go look at the stuff. They would not approve that…

“I don’t know what all the numbers were, what kind of classification it was, but they would not give that to me.” 

There have long been rumours about organisations such as Lockheed back-engineering potential extra-terrestrial craft.

If those rumours are true, then the race for top talent only becomes more urgent. Especially if China and its legions of skilled engineers (taught by U.S. universities) also has ET material and craft.

For now, we can only guess where the road ahead leads regarding the UAP disclosure process.

But if it does lead to the doorstep of Lockheed and other contractors, then it may be welcomed by those contractors. It could lift the veil of secrecy surrounding classified projects associated with UAP, which could transform the world of physics and technology forever.

Now, if you were a young engineer, would you rather work on rockets with Space X or classified propulsion systems and ET craft, which dwarf those rockets to stone-age technology?

If this feat can be pulled off, then the U.S. defence industry has a bright future, which can inspire a new generation of engineers.

Talent problem? Solved.