Person
Marik von Rennenkampff
Also known as von Rennenkampff, Rennenkampff
- Former analyst, U.S. State Department Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation; former appointee, U.S. Department of Defense
- UAP analyst and columnist
Marik von Rennenkampff is a former analyst with the State Department's Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation and a former appointee at the Department of Defense. He now writes and speaks about UAP as a national-security issue, including in opinion columns for The Hill. He is an analyst rather than a witness.
On the national-security panel of Disclosure Forum 2026, alongside Chris Mellon, Tim Gallaudet and Kirk McConnell, he set out several lines of argument. One was the 17 nights of incursions over Langley in 2023, which he says even NORAD could not jam. Another was his reconstruction, with citizen scientists, of the Gimbal object's flight path, which supports the aircrew's account of a nearby object against Sean Kirkpatrick's balloon explanation and Mick West's lens-glare theory. He also sees a continuity of "fiery orb" reports from 1944 to the PURSUE releases, which he calls soft disclosure.
He is not uncritical. He leaves a 5–10% chance that the Nimitz Tic Tac was American technology. AARO has published no resolution of the Gimbal video, so the argument remains between private analysts.
Sources: Disclosure Forum 2026 (national-security panel) · American Alchemy interview (Shellenberger) · The Hill author biography (2025)
Facts and claims
- claimed At Disclosure Forum 2026 he said former AARO director Sean Kirkpatrick twice told him the Gimbal object was a balloon reflecting sunlight, which he disputes because the encounter was at night and the aircrew described it moving against 120-knot winds. — Marik von Rennenkampff Source: UAP & National Security: Mellon, Gallaudet, von Rennenkampff & McConnell at Disclosure Forum 2026 at 1:18:44
- claimed He says the Langley objects showed bright flashing lights for 17 nights, which the Air Combat Command commander called “close encounters at Langley”, and argues that is not how espionage is done; he relays former NORAD commander Gen. Glen VanHerck's statement that they tried and failed to jam them. — Marik von Rennenkampff Source: UAP & National Security: Mellon, Gallaudet, von Rennenkampff & McConnell at Disclosure Forum 2026 at 9:26
- claimed He says his analysis with citizen scientists reconstructs the Gimbal object's 3D flight path with high confidence that it was at the close range the aircrew described, and notes AARO has issued no case resolution for Gimbal. Michael Shellenberger says von Rennenkampff has won the Gimbal argument against Mick West's lens-glare explanation. — Marik von Rennenkampff Source: UAP & National Security: Mellon, Gallaudet, von Rennenkampff & McConnell at Disclosure Forum 2026 at 1:17:19
- claimed He says the oldest PURSUE documents, from 1944–45, describe the same fiery-orb morphology as recent cases released through PURSUE, and relays that former acting AARO director Tim Phillips said the two morphologies that perplexed him were fiery spheres and black triangles. — Marik von Rennenkampff Source: UAP & National Security: Mellon, Gallaudet, von Rennenkampff & McConnell at Disclosure Forum 2026 at 1:09:14
- claimed He keeps a 5–10% possibility that the Tic Tac was U.S. technology, because Fravor and Dietrich recall pitot-tube-like protrusions in the higher-quality video. — Marik von Rennenkampff Source: UAP & National Security: Mellon, Gallaudet, von Rennenkampff & McConnell at Disclosure Forum 2026 at 1:26:30
Connected files
Claims
- The objects Navy F/A-18 crews tracked off the U.S. East Coast in 2014–15 were not conventional aircraft, drones or balloons (asserts)
- Unidentified drones or craft entered the airspace over Langley Air Force Base night after night in December 2023, and the military has not identified them (asserts)
- The 2004 Nimitz “Tic Tac” flew in ways no known aircraft can (comments on claim)
Incidents
- Wright-Patterson AFB drone incursions (Ohio, 2024) (statement about)
- USS Nimitz “Tic Tac” encounter (analysed) — He keeps a 5–10% chance that the Tic Tac was U.S. technology
- Langley AFB drone incursions (claims about) — He says the Langley objects showed bright flashing lights for 17 nights
- USS Theodore Roosevelt encounters (Gimbal / GoFast) (analysed) — His reconstruction of the Gimbal object's flight path supports the aircrew against the balloon explanation
People
- Sean Kirkpatrick (disputes) — He says Kirkpatrick twice told him the Gimbal object was a balloon reflecting sunlight, and rejects it
- Michael Shellenberger (endorsed by) — Shellenberger says von Rennenkampff has won the Gimbal argument against Mick West's lens-glare explanation
- Tim Phillips (statement about)
Programs
- PURSUE — Presidential Unsealing and Reporting System for UAP Encounters (commented on) — He sees the same “fiery orb” morphology from 1944 to the PURSUE releases, which he calls soft disclosure
Events
- Disclosure Forum 2026 (spoke at)
Videos
- UAP & National Security: Mellon, Gallaudet, von Rennenkampff & McConnell at Disclosure Forum 2026 (appears in)
- Breaking UFO Story: ‘Immaculate Constellation’ UFO Program (Ft. Michael Shellenberger) (discussed in)