The Joe Rogan Experience #2416 – Dan Farah
Date: November 21, 2025 | Podcast Theme: UFOs, Government Secrecy, and Disclosure

Episode Overview

In this riveting episode, Joe Rogan sits down with Dan Farah, executive producer and documentarian behind the explosive new film The Age of Disclosure. Together, they deliver an in-depth conversation about UFOs (now more commonly referred to as UAPs – Unidentified Aerial Phenomena), high-level government secrecy, whistleblowers, the technological arms race for non-human craft, and the cultural and existential implications of real extraterrestrial encounters. Farah reveals stories and insights from years of unprecedented access to officials from Congress, the intelligence community, and military insiders, positioning his film as a potential tipping point in the current disclosure era.

Main Discussion Points and Insights

1. The Age of Disclosure Film and Its Intent

• Dan Farah’s Motivation: Farah sought to create a documentary interviewing only people with direct, official knowledge—government, military, and intelligence figures—avoiding speculation and hearsay.
• UFO Culture & Skepticism: Both agree the cyclical pattern of skepticism and belief in the UFO community stems from governmental denials and lack of hard, public evidence ([00:22]).
• Secrecy and Consequences: The depth of secrecy means admitting the truth could expose felonious misappropriation of funds and perjury to Congress, which is partly why the cover-up persists ([00:48]).

2. The Scope and History of Hidden Programs

• Trillions Spent: Farah cites credible sources suggesting $1+ trillion spent on secret legacy programs since the 1940s, employing thousands of people in deep black projects ([01:49]).
• Human Nature & Corruption: Rogan notes the inevitability of fraud when oversight is absent ([01:27]).
• Government Lying to Presidents: Not only Congress and the public have been misled; Presidents themselves are sometimes kept in the dark ([06:00], [44:49]).

3. The Power and Peril of Secrets

• Effectiveness of Secrecy: Rogan dismisses the myth that secrets can’t be kept, especially given the stakes and blackmail potential at the highest levels ([02:17]).
• High-Level Whistleblowers: The film relies on deeply credible witnesses, from Senators (Rubio, Rounds, Gillibrand) to intelligence leaders like Jim Clapper, who broke personal taboos to go public ([06:00]).

“His biggest fear clearly is we are in a high stakes technology race, a cold war race with adversarial nations like China to reverse engineer technology of non-human origin.”
— Dan Farah on Senator Rubio’s concern ([06:00])

4. Authentic UAP Encounters and Experiences

• Direct Witness Accounts: Multiple interviewees in the film share direct sightings—e.g., a Vandenberg Air Force Base security guard who, with others, witnessed a football-field-sized UAP hovering, supported by police reports ([10:43]).
• Beings Description: Some military/intelligence sources describe beings resembling those from Close Encounters ([10:22]).
• Analogy of Encounters: The “container” analogy from Bob Lazar—the idea that aliens may see us as vessels, possibly for souls—is discussed as one of the creepiest elements ([16:34]).

5. Connections to Nuclear Weapons and Advanced Tech

• Monitoring of Nuclear Sites: Nearly all UAP activity focuses on nuclear weapons sites and military bases, indicating advanced interest in our dangerous capabilities ([15:11]).
• Reverse Engineering Race: Both the US and adversarial nations (notably China and Russia) are racing to recover and back-engineer non-human craft—with partial success ([18:24]).

"Our country has recovered dozens, dozens of crashed craft of non-human origin and done so since the 40s."
— Dan Farah ([18:28])

6. Government Response and Public Awareness

• Whistleblower Dilemma: Some witnesses fear for their lives if they appear on the record. Legal reforms (amnesty, stronger whistleblower protection) are needed to incentivize disclosure ([33:14], [43:25]).
• Amnesty as a Solution: Rogan and Farah suggest that, short of amnesty for those who participated in/covered up the projects, true disclosure is impossible ([40:45]).
• Presidential Disclosure: Trump seriously considered revealing the reality of non-human technology during his first term. Future presidents may compete to “lead the world” by officially disclosing ([44:05], [44:41]).

7. Technology, Science, and Suppression

• Overclassification Hinders Progress: Extreme compartmentalization and lack of scientific access to recovered materials have stifled technological breakthroughs that could solve global challenges ([38:23]).
• Private Contractors’ Role: Corporations like Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon, and Battelle are named as custodians of recovered technology ([18:28], [102:01]).
• Espionage Concerns: Openness risks foreign espionage, but the arms race logic means secrecy could paradoxically endanger US interests ([111:34]).

8. The Broader Mystery: Bodies, Beings, and Beyond

• Multiple Species: Credible sources report at least four different non-human body types—some likened to robotic “grays” or “worker bees” ([31:35], [32:04]).
• Some “Gifts,” Not Crashes: Theories arise that some craft are not crash-retrieved but left deliberately—possibly as “donations” to spur our development ([99:21]).
• Strange Phenomena: Farah recounts high-level officials experiencing “orb” encounters at home as a side effect of their investigative work, sometimes linked to medical effects ([91:13]).

9. Hidden Technology in Plain Sight

• Commercialized Black Tech: Rubio claims reverse-engineered technology occasionally “slips” into commercial products, benefiting contractors but not national security ([86:00]).

“Every now and then, an advancement gets made and gets commercialized and some companies making a ton of money on it for their own interest.”
— Marco Rubio (as relayed by Dan Farah) ([86:18])

• Bell Labs Theory: Rogan and Farah explore the conspiracy that inventions like transistors and fiber optics emerged suspiciously soon after UFO recoveries (Roswell 1947), possibly through black project research via Bell Labs et al. ([101:58], [108:17]).

10. The Future: Where Do We Go From Here?

• Mass Congressional Hearings: Both advocate for real, open congressional hearings—possibly the only way to drive true societal reckoning ([52:30]).
• Public Pressure: Farah hopes the film’s momentum will lead to mass demand for answers, with involvement from academia and the next generation of scientists ([51:35]).
• Legacy and Responsibility: Those involved in the cover-up, Farah argues, have a chance to become heroes if they help reveal the truth ([115:15]).

Notable Quotes & Moments

The Fear and Motivation for Disclosure

“I would be forfeiting my life if I participated on camera in your film.”
— Two anonymous would-be whistleblowers, as told by Dan Farah ([34:11])

On Government and Scientific Stagnation

“Everything's become so overclassified and so siloed that it's actually hurting progress.”
— Dan Farah ([38:23])

On the Consequences of Being Left Behind

“If China came out and said we've cracked this, we have UFOs that we back engineered... we would look like fools.”
— Joe Rogan ([60:00])

On the Threat from Above and Secrecy

“We have scanned the surface of the moon in more detail than we have the bottom of our oceans.”
— Admiral (paraphrased by Dan Farah) ([72:12])

On Debunking & Stigma

“The stigma around this was created by the people covering this up... make people think they're wacko, make tinfoil hat jokes.”
— Dan Farah ([87:29])

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [00:22] – Rogan and Farah on the Age of Disclosure and the sickness of secrecy
• [01:49] – The scale ($1+ trillion) and nature of the “deep legacy program”
• [06:00] – Senator Rubio’s concerns: “technology race,” China, and cover-ups
• [10:43] – Firsthand accounts: UAPs at Vandenberg, witness testimony
• [15:11] – Why UAPs are so fixated on nuclear weapons and missile bases
• [18:28] – Farah’s assertion of “dozens” of recovered non-human craft
• [28:08] – The “zookeeper/gorilla-with-a-gun” analogy of human progress
• [34:11] – Whistleblowers’ fear for their lives—“forfeiting my life”
• [38:23] – Overclassification and why it’s stifling true innovation
• [43:25] – Need for amnesty and real whistleblower protection
• [44:41] – Presidential disclosure: Trump and the political calculus
• [60:00] – National disaster if China “beats” us in back engineering
• [86:18] – Rubio: Reverse engineered tech is sometimes commercialized
• [101:58], [108:17] – Bell Labs/fiber optics/transistor conspiracy discussion
• [115:25] – “They have a moment here to be the heroes of the story.”

Additional Noteworthy Topics

• Directed Energy Injuries/Cancers: Officials and military personnel suffering health impacts from UAP encounters ([75:13], [78:43]).
• Remote Viewing: Tie-in to UAP study; the same scientist (Hal Puthoff) was recruited by the CIA to counter Soviet psychic programs ([132:09], [133:16]).
• Presidential Warnings: Reflecting on Eisenhower’s “military industrial complex” warning and Reagan’s infamous “alien threat” speech ([112:44], [113:07]).

Final Thoughts

This episode serves as a pivotal point in the public conversation about non-human intelligence and the legacy of secrecy surrounding it. Both Rogan and Farah argue for the urgent need of transparency—for technological, existential, and moral reasons—and make a compelling case that the future trajectory of humanity may depend on how these revelations are handled.

Call to Action:
Farah encourages listeners to watch The Age of Disclosure (available globally on Amazon Prime as of Nov 21, 2025), have conversations, and demand accountability from elected officials ([144:22]).

Recommended Segment
[10:43–15:11] – Account of the Vandenberg Air Force Base UAP, direct quotes, and the emotional impact on witnesses—an ideal example of the documentary’s groundbreaking contributions.

[44:05–47:06] – The behind-the-scenes consideration of disclosure by President Trump and how national and geopolitical urgency may force an unprecedented honesty from the White House.

For audience members:
Whether you’re a hardened skeptic or a lifelong “UFO nut,” this episode brings credible, first-hand, and even chilling new evidence to the table—making this not just a casual listen, but a turning-point resource in the ongoing UFO/UAP disclosure narrative.