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National Institute for Discovery Science

Research

Private research institute founded by Robert Bigelow to study UFO encounters, cattle mutilations, and parapsychology

Hotel magnate Robert T. Bigelow chartered the National Institute for Discovery Science in October 1995 to pursue systematic laboratory and field analysis of anomalous phenomena that mainstream academia ignored. Aerospace engineer Dr. John B. Alexander chaired the Science Advisory Board, which included astronaut Edgar Mitchell, biophysicist Harold "Hal" Puthoff, and FBI behavioral scientist John Schuessler.12

  Research Portfolio 1995–2004

NIDS investigators logged thousands of incident reports, concentrating on three domains.

Research AreaActivities and Findings
Unidentified aerial phenomenaField teams installed all-sky cameras and magnetometers across the Western United States, feeding data to an internal SQL telemetry archive.
Cattle mutilation wavesForensic pathologists performed necropsies in Colorado and New Mexico, concluding that most cases involved sharp-edge excisions lacking scavenger marks, consistent with instrumented intervention.3
Consciousness studiesThe institute funded Princeton Engineering Anomalies Research replication trials and investigated alleged remote-viewing accuracy beyond statistical chance.4

  Skinwalker Ranch Acquisition

In 1996 Bigelow purchased 512-acre Skinwalker Ranch in Utah after local ranchers reported orbs, spectral creatures, and poltergeist activity. NIDS deployed continuous infrared surveillance, capturing transient light-sphere events and radiation spikes but no persistent machinery. The project fostered interdisciplinary collaboration among physicists, veterinarians, and former special-operations personnel.5

  Closure and Transition to BAASS

By October 2004 Bigelow wound down NIDS, citing insufficient peer interest and a desire to refocus on commercial space habitats. The data corpus and many senior researchers later transferred to Bigelow Aerospace Advanced Space Studies, enabling the 2008 DIA AAWSAP contract.6

  Legacy

NIDS created the first privately financed database integrating UFO, mutilation, and parapsychology evidence, setting methodological precedents for subsequent government studies such as AAWSAP and AARO. Its archives continue to inform Congressional staff briefings on physiological effects observed in close encounters.

  References

  1. Nevada Secretary of State Entity C7901-1995. ↩

  2. National Institute for Discovery Science, Mission Statement, internal memorandum, 1996-01-12. ↩

  3. Rommel, Nick. Operation Animal Mutilation Final Report, NIDS, 1999. ↩

  4. Nelson, Roger. "FieldREG Experiments 1997-2003," Princeton PEAR Technical Note 2004-02. ↩

  5. Kelleher, Colm & Knapp, George. Hunt for the Skinwalker, 2005 edition. ↩

  6. Lacatski, James et al. Skinwalkers at the Pentagon, 2021. ↩

Published on October 1, 1995

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