Office of Naval Intelligence beginnings
Jay Stratton joined the Naval Sea Systems Command as an electronic warfare engineer before moving to the Office of Naval Intelligence where he evaluated foreign anti-ship missile seeker data.
Role in AAWSAP and AATIP
While on detail to the Defense Intelligence Agency Defense Warning Office, Stratton partnered with James Lacatski to craft field-collection plans for the Advanced Aerospace Weapon System Applications Program. To shield his identity in publicly released documents he adopted the pseudonym Jonathan Axelrod. Stratton personally witnessed anomalous phenomena at Skinwalker Ranch in 2009 and authored technical memoranda on sensor signatures recorded there.1
UAP Task Force leadership
In 2020 the Deputy Secretary of Defense appointed Stratton to head the Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force at the Office of Naval Intelligence. His team correlated Navy FLIR videos with carrier strike group radar and compiled the June 2021 ODNI Preliminary Assessment citing 144 unexplained encounters.
Transition to AARO consultancy
Stratton retired from government service in late 2021 but served briefly as an outside adviser to the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office, transferring legacy databases such as the CAPELLA warehouse and witness medical files.
References
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Stratton, J., "Technical Observations at Homestead 2," AAWSAP internal memo, 2009-08-17. ↩