American Cosmic — An Academic Witnesses Crash Retrieval Culture

In 2019, Dr. Diana Walsh Pasulka — Professor and Chair of the Department of Philosophy and Religion at UNC Wilmington — published 'American Cosmic: UFOs, Religion, Technology' through Oxford University Press. The book documented her six years of fieldwork studying how UAP belief functions as a new form of religion in American culture. What she found went far beyond belief. THE INSIDERS: Pasulka was introduced to two anonymous figures she calls 'Tyler D.' and 'James' — one a Silicon Valley entrepreneur with NASA contracts, the other a senior figure at a major aerospace company. Both claimed direct involvement with crash retrieval programs and took Pasulka to sites in the New Mexico desert where they recovered what they described as UAP debris using GPS coordinates from classified databases. THE FIELDWORK: Pasulka physically went to crash sites with these insiders. She handled materials. She observed their methods. She documented how these individuals — highly credentialed scientists and engineers — treated crash retrieval as routine professional work, not fringe conspiracy. They had databases, coordinates, and protocols. THE ACADEMIC TREATMENT: What makes American Cosmic extraordinary is not just what Pasulka witnessed but who published it. Oxford University Press is the most prestigious academic press in the English-speaking world. Their editorial review process is among the most rigorous in publishing. OUP does not publish fabrications. The book passed peer review, editorial board approval, and legal review — all of which required Pasulka to substantiate her claims. Tyler D. has since been identified as Dr. Timothy Taylor, who holds multiple NASA contracts and whose biotechnology work intersects with materials science. The book reveals that crash retrieval culture is not hidden in bunkers — it exists within the professional lives of working scientists and engineers who view it as classified but normal work.