Richard Spencer

Richard V. Spencer, born in 1954, is an American businessman and former government official who served as the 76th United States Secretary of the Navy from 2017 to 2019. In the context of UAP/UFO research and military programs, Spencer was briefed on Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP) during his tenure. In July 2020, shortly after leaving office, Vice Admiral Matt Kohler briefed high-level officials on UAP, with Spencer, then recent SECNAV, scheduled for a similar briefing the following day. Congressman Mark Meadows wrote to Spencer inquiring if Navy pilots' UFO sightings in 2004 and 2015 could represent advanced foreign aircraft from powers like Russia or China, highlighting national security concerns amid reports of the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP). No public testimony, publications, or direct achievements in UAP research by Spencer are documented; his role was administrative oversight during emerging UAP disclosures.