Glen VanHerck

Glen D. VanHerck is a retired U.S. Air Force General who served in senior leadership positions throughout his military career. He was commissioned through the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps in 1987 upon graduating from the University of Missouri. A command pilot with over 4,000 flying hours, VanHerck served in numerous command and staff positions across the Air Force.

VanHerck served as Commander of North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) and United States Northern Command (USNORTHCOM) from August 2020 to February 2024, based in Colorado Springs. In this role, he was responsible for aerospace warning and control in defense of North America and oversaw homeland defense, civil support, and security cooperation for the United States. He had previously served as Director of the Joint Staff from 2019 to 2020.

VanHerck gained public prominence in the UAP (Unidentified Aerial Phenomena) context during the February 2023 aerial object shootdown events. Following a Chinese surveillance balloon shot down on February 4, three additional unidentified objects were engaged by U.S. and Canadian forces between February 10-12 over Alaska, the Yukon, and Lake Huron. VanHerck made the notable statement that he had "not ruled out" extraterrestrial origins for the three unidentified objects, a remarkable comment from the sitting NORAD commander. The three objects were never publicly identified or recovered, and the events prompted significant changes in NORAD's monitoring and response protocols for slow-moving and small aerial objects.