Erica Lukes
@ericalukes.bsky.social
Podcaster and Executive Director of Expanding Frontiers Research. EFR is dedicated to sharing information and resources that best inform our community and increase quality of life through a variety of disciplines.
www.expandingfrontiersresearch.org
www.expandingfrontiersresearch.org
Reposted by Erica Lukes
Please consider Expanding Frontiers Research for your year-end giving on this Giving Tuesday if you find our work worthy of support. The best ways to give are with a paid Patreon subscription or through the secure "Donate" button located on our website homepage. Links in profile. Thank you.
December 2, 2025 at 2:49 PM
Please consider Expanding Frontiers Research for your year-end giving on this Giving Tuesday if you find our work worthy of support. The best ways to give are with a paid Patreon subscription or through the secure "Donate" button located on our website homepage. Links in profile. Thank you.
Reposted by Erica Lukes
In an email exchange today, the Uintah County Community Development Office advised EFR it continues to await further information from the applicant on its permit request for SWR-adjacent Don Hicken Farms. An approval or denial has not yet been issued.
Cast members of The Secret of Skinwalker Ranch called upon their social media followers to contact Uintah County to oppose a permit requested by an adjacent property. We obtained the resulting letters & emails @expandingfrontiersresearch.org. www.expandingfrontiersresearch.org/post/skinwal...
December 2, 2025 at 5:57 PM
In an email exchange today, the Uintah County Community Development Office advised EFR it continues to await further information from the applicant on its permit request for SWR-adjacent Don Hicken Farms. An approval or denial has not yet been issued.
Reposted by Erica Lukes
In the latest blogpost at EFR, we consider FBI records responsive to Wayne Aho and their context to our wider investigation of subversive activity in the mid-20th century UFO genre. www.expandingfrontiersresearch.org/post/fbi-rec...
FBI Records on Contactee Wayne Aho Another Indictment of UFO Genre
Self-described contactee left dubious legacy
www.expandingfrontiersresearch.org
December 3, 2025 at 12:48 AM
In the latest blogpost at EFR, we consider FBI records responsive to Wayne Aho and their context to our wider investigation of subversive activity in the mid-20th century UFO genre. www.expandingfrontiersresearch.org/post/fbi-rec...
Reposted by Erica Lukes
A 1955 FBI memo documented its relationship with confidential sources working on what was termed a "position finder" in which they hoped to interest the USAF. Previous work from James Carrion & EFR is suggested in the context of our most recently obtained FBI records. www.patreon.com/posts/fbi-in...
![A screenshot from a 1955 FBI memo which reads, "Both sources plan to go to Iceland for a short visit upon completion of the astronomical meeting in Ireland. For the information of the Bureau, [redacted] hopes to confer with United States Air Force personnel in Iceland regarding a type of "position finder" he hopes to develop as a private business venture, with the thought that the United States Air Force might desire to purchase this "position finder" which he is "working on".](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:lfigqajdyp4lfjzfwozjtlot/bafkreih6jf7uxdecnuv7fdu2n7kf4au2kmzjshb2djvltbq32wptmvvwdu@jpeg)
November 20, 2025 at 9:33 PM
A 1955 FBI memo documented its relationship with confidential sources working on what was termed a "position finder" in which they hoped to interest the USAF. Previous work from James Carrion & EFR is suggested in the context of our most recently obtained FBI records. www.patreon.com/posts/fbi-in...
Reposted by Erica Lukes
While Avi Loeb gets attention from groups ranging from critical peers to credulous UFO buffs & even potential donors, don't overlook the IC. In early 2024, EFR shared heavily redacted FBI records on Galileo Project. They always follow the money. www.expandingfrontiersresearch.org/post/foia-re...
FOIA Request Obtains FBI Records Responsive to Galileo Project
FBI releases records responsive to Galileo Project, withholds others
www.expandingfrontiersresearch.org
November 21, 2025 at 6:11 PM
While Avi Loeb gets attention from groups ranging from critical peers to credulous UFO buffs & even potential donors, don't overlook the IC. In early 2024, EFR shared heavily redacted FBI records on Galileo Project. They always follow the money. www.expandingfrontiersresearch.org/post/foia-re...
Reposted by Erica Lukes
We homeless don’t deserve this.
The Other Side Academy executive Joseph Grenny told lawmakers that homeless Utahns who commit petty crimes — like camping in public — should be forced into the state’s proposed mega-shelter against their will if they refuse to accept help.
Utah’s planned mega-shelter should be like a jail for homeless people, one widely embraced group says
The Other Side Academy executive Joseph Grenny told lawmakers that homeless Utahns who commit petty crimes — like camping in public — should be forced into the state’s proposed mega-shelter against their will if they refuse to accept help.
www.sltrib.com
November 22, 2025 at 6:19 PM
We homeless don’t deserve this.
Reposted by Erica Lukes
I feel each of my guests who I talked with earlier this year were equally wonderful to speak with, and I've learned a lot from each of them over the years. I wanted to highlight Erica's interview though, for how incisive her answers were, especially regarding ufo b.s. I truly feel honored.🙏
Erica Lukes @ericalukes.bsky.social considers the attention often disproportionately allocated to UFOs. CLIP: www.youtube.com/clip/Ugkx_9y...
November 22, 2025 at 6:23 PM
I feel each of my guests who I talked with earlier this year were equally wonderful to speak with, and I've learned a lot from each of them over the years. I wanted to highlight Erica's interview though, for how incisive her answers were, especially regarding ufo b.s. I truly feel honored.🙏
@expandingfrontiersresearch.org
Jack Brewer will be live on API Case Files at 9:30pm EST.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7Za...
Jack Brewer will be live on API Case Files at 9:30pm EST.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7Za...
Case Files Live Episode 9
YouTube video by API Case Files
www.youtube.com
November 7, 2025 at 11:27 PM
@expandingfrontiersresearch.org
Jack Brewer will be live on API Case Files at 9:30pm EST.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7Za...
Jack Brewer will be live on API Case Files at 9:30pm EST.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7Za...
Reposted by Erica Lukes
Sources say the Congressional Budget Office, lawmakers’ nonpartisan bookkeeper, was hacked by a suspected foreign actor, and email and chat logs between lawmakers’ offices and nonpartisan researchers might have been accessed.
www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...
www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...
Congressional Budget Office believed to be hacked by foreign actor
The Congressional Budget Office formulates economic projections for lawmakers, and every bill taken up in either chamber of Congress gets a CBO “score” of how much it would add to the national debt.
www.washingtonpost.com
November 6, 2025 at 9:40 PM
Sources say the Congressional Budget Office, lawmakers’ nonpartisan bookkeeper, was hacked by a suspected foreign actor, and email and chat logs between lawmakers’ offices and nonpartisan researchers might have been accessed.
www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...
www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...
Reposted by Erica Lukes
In September, we sued DOE over a policy that would let it dismiss more FOIA requests, warning that if the court didn’t step in, the unlawful policy would spread.
Now, USAID has adopted a similar policy. We sent a letter demanding USAID reverse it.
americanoversight.org/american-ove...
Now, USAID has adopted a similar policy. We sent a letter demanding USAID reverse it.
americanoversight.org/american-ove...
American Oversight Warns USAID Over Unlawful Policy Undermining FOIA Rights - American Oversight
We demanded the agency reverse a new rule requiring requesters to reconfirm interest in pending records requests.
americanoversight.org
November 3, 2025 at 3:45 PM
In September, we sued DOE over a policy that would let it dismiss more FOIA requests, warning that if the court didn’t step in, the unlawful policy would spread.
Now, USAID has adopted a similar policy. We sent a letter demanding USAID reverse it.
americanoversight.org/american-ove...
Now, USAID has adopted a similar policy. We sent a letter demanding USAID reverse it.
americanoversight.org/american-ove...
Reposted by Erica Lukes
Self-care is not as easy for trauma survivors as it may sound. We've been conditioned to deny our need for care ("needing" anything feels awfully vulnerable) & to prioritize others at our own expense.
Learning self-care can be like learning a new language as an adult-- awkward.
Learning self-care can be like learning a new language as an adult-- awkward.
November 5, 2025 at 9:56 PM
Self-care is not as easy for trauma survivors as it may sound. We've been conditioned to deny our need for care ("needing" anything feels awfully vulnerable) & to prioritize others at our own expense.
Learning self-care can be like learning a new language as an adult-- awkward.
Learning self-care can be like learning a new language as an adult-- awkward.
Reposted by Erica Lukes
"Science is being destroyed across many agencies" say federal researchers.
For my latest @nature.com piece, I spoke to 19 different scientists across EPA, NOAA, NIH, NASA, and USGS to document how science is being dismantled across US federal agencies.
For my latest @nature.com piece, I spoke to 19 different scientists across EPA, NOAA, NIH, NASA, and USGS to document how science is being dismantled across US federal agencies.
Dismantling of US federal agencies will ‘destroy science’
From NASA to the National Institutes of Health, federal agencies conduct research that universities cannot. Agency scientists speak out about the irreplaceable facilities, institutional knowledge and ...
www.nature.com
November 4, 2025 at 2:58 PM
"Science is being destroyed across many agencies" say federal researchers.
For my latest @nature.com piece, I spoke to 19 different scientists across EPA, NOAA, NIH, NASA, and USGS to document how science is being dismantled across US federal agencies.
For my latest @nature.com piece, I spoke to 19 different scientists across EPA, NOAA, NIH, NASA, and USGS to document how science is being dismantled across US federal agencies.
Reposted by Erica Lukes
"As journalists... a growing part of our job is to scrutinize suspicious information, call out lies, correct falsehoods, and debunk nonsense. How do we best do that? In many ways we are still figuring that out, but here is the advice I can give from what I have learned." ksj.mit.edu/news/2025/10...
The Lies Have It: Advice for Journalists Approaching Misinformation
Kai Kupferschmidt, KSJ '24, shares actionable tips for journalists seeking to reduce the harm of misinformation.
ksj.mit.edu
October 30, 2025 at 2:29 PM
"As journalists... a growing part of our job is to scrutinize suspicious information, call out lies, correct falsehoods, and debunk nonsense. How do we best do that? In many ways we are still figuring that out, but here is the advice I can give from what I have learned." ksj.mit.edu/news/2025/10...
Reposted by Erica Lukes
Here’s how to delete the account without accepting the new terms. bsky.app/profile/drsa...
Academia.edu wants permanent rights to your likeness, signature, voice, name, etc. to be used in any setting. My answer was "absolutely not." Log in, click on "privacy policy" when prompted to accept the new terms (don't accept!" then find "account settings" @ dropdown, scroll down to delete.
November 1, 2025 at 2:05 PM
Here’s how to delete the account without accepting the new terms. bsky.app/profile/drsa...
Reposted by Erica Lukes
Secret of Skinwalker Ranch cast member Thomas Winterton, son of Utah State Sen. Ronald Winterton, posted a Facebook "URGENT" plea to block a drilling application. He asserts it will forever destroy the opportunity to study purported unique & unexplainable phenomena. www.facebook.com/thomas.winte...
October 26, 2025 at 9:26 PM
Secret of Skinwalker Ranch cast member Thomas Winterton, son of Utah State Sen. Ronald Winterton, posted a Facebook "URGENT" plea to block a drilling application. He asserts it will forever destroy the opportunity to study purported unique & unexplainable phenomena. www.facebook.com/thomas.winte...
Reposted by Erica Lukes
Gov. Cox signed off on the Utah Legislature's preferred new congressional map, which will continue to split Salt Lake County across multiple districts.
A judge must still approve it before it can be implemented.
A judge must still approve it before it can be implemented.
Republican lawmakers picked their preferred congressional redistricting map. See what district you’d be in.
Utah Republican lawmakers pushed through a new congressional map that would give their party an advantage in all four of the state’s U.S. House districts — but would give the minority Democrats at least a fighting chance in one competitive district.
www.sltrib.com
October 6, 2025 at 11:55 PM
Gov. Cox signed off on the Utah Legislature's preferred new congressional map, which will continue to split Salt Lake County across multiple districts.
A judge must still approve it before it can be implemented.
A judge must still approve it before it can be implemented.
Reposted by Erica Lukes
The DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information responded to our FOIA request for an unclassified list of Human Subjects Research by providing informative links to a lot of opensource material. We made a public post with the response along with related info at our Patreon page. Check it out:
EFR: DOE Human Subjects Research
DOE Human Subjects Research | Expanding Frontiers Research
Get more from Expanding Frontiers Research on Patreon
www.patreon.com
October 5, 2025 at 5:07 PM
The DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information responded to our FOIA request for an unclassified list of Human Subjects Research by providing informative links to a lot of opensource material. We made a public post with the response along with related info at our Patreon page. Check it out:
Reposted by Erica Lukes
“Counterintelligence is misunderstood as just another intelligence function, [Pentagon CI advisor Shane McNeil] said, but counterspies do not merely collect information. They also deny, deceive, manipulate and disrupt foreign spy operations.“ www.washingtontimes.com/news/2025/oc...
Pentagon urged to wage counterintelligence warfare against China, Russia
Foreign spy services from China, Russia and elsewhere are engaged in low-level warfare targeting the U.S., and American counterspies should be “operationalized” to defeat them, said a counterintellige...
www.washingtontimes.com
October 6, 2025 at 3:55 PM
“Counterintelligence is misunderstood as just another intelligence function, [Pentagon CI advisor Shane McNeil] said, but counterspies do not merely collect information. They also deny, deceive, manipulate and disrupt foreign spy operations.“ www.washingtontimes.com/news/2025/oc...
Reposted by Erica Lukes
On Fri., Oct.3, we'll be tabling with Let Davis Read at the WSU Unity conference!! Join us and other organizations as we talk about how far censorship has gotten.
www.weber.edu/unity-confer...
www.weber.edu/unity-confer...
Unity Conference
www.weber.edu
September 30, 2025 at 9:28 PM
On Fri., Oct.3, we'll be tabling with Let Davis Read at the WSU Unity conference!! Join us and other organizations as we talk about how far censorship has gotten.
www.weber.edu/unity-confer...
www.weber.edu/unity-confer...
Reposted by Erica Lukes
Several FOIA requests & related research culminate in our latest blogpost:
UFO FOIA Records Often Reflect Espionage Investigations
Intelligence agency interest in UFOs was typically about people, not saucers
www.expandingfrontiersresearch.org/post/ufo-foi...
UFO FOIA Records Often Reflect Espionage Investigations
Intelligence agency interest in UFOs was typically about people, not saucers
www.expandingfrontiersresearch.org/post/ufo-foi...
UFO FOIA Records Often Reflect Espionage Investigations
Intelligence agency interest in UFOs was typically about people, not saucers
www.expandingfrontiersresearch.org
September 29, 2025 at 4:31 PM
Several FOIA requests & related research culminate in our latest blogpost:
UFO FOIA Records Often Reflect Espionage Investigations
Intelligence agency interest in UFOs was typically about people, not saucers
www.expandingfrontiersresearch.org/post/ufo-foi...
UFO FOIA Records Often Reflect Espionage Investigations
Intelligence agency interest in UFOs was typically about people, not saucers
www.expandingfrontiersresearch.org/post/ufo-foi...
Reposted by Erica Lukes
The good side of ufology is about real witnesses, their perception, pedagogy, psychology and all the topics investigators have to know to resolve cases: astronomy, astronautic, weather, airplanes etc. The bad side is misinformation of manipulated believers. I’ve met a lot of extremists among them.
The UFO genre has a long history of turning the other cheek when political extremism supports saucer stories. The UFO topic was used to covertly promote such political ideologies, according to mid-20th century FBI records, informants & researchers. www.expandingfrontiersresearch.org/post/ufo-foi...
September 29, 2025 at 7:34 PM
The good side of ufology is about real witnesses, their perception, pedagogy, psychology and all the topics investigators have to know to resolve cases: astronomy, astronautic, weather, airplanes etc. The bad side is misinformation of manipulated believers. I’ve met a lot of extremists among them.