Dr. Richard Cloete

Background and Education

Dr. Richard Cloete is a computer scientist originally from Cape Town, South Africa, whose work bridges artificial intelligence, data infrastructure, and unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) research. He earned a PhD in Interactive Remote Rendering from Newcastle University and subsequently studied the auditability of emerging technologies at the University of Cambridge, reflecting early scholarly interest in how cutting-edge computational systems can be independently verified and understood—a concern that would prove central to his UAP research career.

Cloete's background combines theoretical computer science with practical data engineering. After completing his doctoral work, he gained industry experience building scalable cloud data pipelines in the private sector, developing the technical infrastructure skills that would later position him as a key figure in scientific UAP analysis.

Galileo Project Leadership Role

In 2024, Cloete joined the Galileo Project at Harvard's Center for Astrophysics as a postdoctoral researcher holding the prestigious Laukien-ʻOumuamua Postdoctoral Research Fellowship—a position established to support innovative approaches to anomalous phenomena research. Within the Galileo Project, he serves as the principal architect of the machine-learning pipeline tasked with analyzing the project's observational data in real time.

This pipeline represents perhaps the most systematic application of artificial intelligence to UAP classification in the civilian scientific domain. The system is designed to automatically identify and filter out conventional objects—birds, drones, balloons, aircraft—while flagging potential outliers worthy of further investigation. By implementing rigorous AI-driven classification, Cloete's work addresses a longstanding challenge in UAP research: distinguishing genuine anomalies from misidentifications, sensor artifacts, and known aerial phenomena.

The technical infrastructure Cloete built demonstrates how machine learning can dramatically improve the signal-to-noise ratio in UAP datasets, a critical step toward generating data that mainstream science cannot dismiss. Rather than cherry-picking anecdotal cases or relying on eyewitness reports alone, Cloete's framework enables systematic collection and automated analysis of high-quality observational data.

White House UAP Science Advisory Council (2026)

In June 2026, following the third phase of the PURSUE (Presidential Unsealing and Reporting System for UAP Encounters) disclosure initiative, Cloete was appointed as a founding member of the White House UAP Science Advisory Council, chaired by astrophysicist Avi Loeb. The council was formally established to provide rigorous scientific oversight of the U.S. government's UAP research and disclosure efforts, with the mandate to help AARO (All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office), ODNI (Office of Director of National Intelligence), and other agencies separate credible UAP data from unreliable records.

Cloete's appointment reflects a broader institutional shift: the federal government's recognition that UAP analysis requires sophisticated computational methods and that AI-driven data classification should not be left to military analysts or intelligence officials working in isolation. His presence on the council signals that rigorous, reproducible data science—not merely declassification of historical files—is now central to official U.S. UAP policy.

Significance in the Disclosure Era

Cloete represents a new cohort of researchers entering UAP studies not because of decades-long personal obsession or whistleblowing, but because the field has achieved sufficient institutional credibility and funding to attract trained computer scientists and data engineers. Unlike many figures in UFO history who operated at the margins of academia, Cloete holds appointments at elite institutions and works within frameworks (Galileo Project, AARO advisory structures) that demand peer review and methodological rigor.

His expertise in machine learning and cloud infrastructure is strategically valuable at a moment when the government is attempting to process and analyze hundreds of declassified UAP records. The pipeline he developed for civilian research may serve as a template or reference point for classified government systems tasked with the same challenge.

Cloete's career trajectory also illustrates the internationalization of UAP research: a South African-trained scientist now working at Harvard and advising the U.S. government on UAP classification demonstrates how disclosure-era research operates across borders and institutions, drawing talent from wherever expertise can be found.