Harvard astrophysicist Avi Loeb has publicly endorsed the notion that high pulse microwave weapons used on UAPs could be deployed at White Sands, arguing that materials from any downed orbs would offer the clearest path to determining whether they represent non-human technology.

His comments come amid unconfirmed claims that the US Department of War is running a covert interception programme near the New Mexico missile range, with President Donald Trump said to have personally authorised the effort.

To recall, Loeb has long advocated for a data-first, evidence-led approach to UAPs through his Galileo Project, which seeks to collect fresh observations and physical samples rather than rely on decades-old, potentially compromised legacy files.

In his view, the scientific analysis of recovered materials or digital telemetry would settle the question far more decisively than archival records ever could.

The White Sands Claim and the Science Case
The latest assertions stem from a video message by investigative journalist Ross Coulthard, who said the Department of War has ‘recently downed objects, craft, both in the US and across the border near Juárez in Mexico.’

Coulthard added that White House sources told him Trump had authorised a separate, non-legacy effort to capture suspected exotic technology, with the Office of the Director of National Intelligence also involved.

According to Coulthard’s sources, one directed-energy system used at White Sands is a high pulse microwave weapon, which ‘shuts down an aircraft by emitting an intense burst of electromagnetic energy that travels at the speed of light, penetrates the aircraft, and fries its electronic systems.’

The same sources allege the targeted craft display anomalous properties matching the five UAP observables, instantaneous acceleration, hypersonic velocity, low observability, trans-medium travel and anti-gravity.

As of now, none of this has been corroborated by administration officials. Still, Loeb argues that if such intercepts are real, the priority should be scientific scrutiny of the physical remains and sensor data.

He contends that solid-state structure, chemical and isotopic composition, plus flight characteristics and responses to human activity, would allow researchers to distinguish between mundane explanations and something genuinely exotic.

Loeb’s position is consistent with his broader push to treat UAPs as a testable scientific problem rather than a historical puzzle. He has repeatedly said that legacy programmes may be incomplete, compromised over time, or bogged down by bureaucratic gatekeeping, making new, high-quality data the better route.

In his framing, you do not need old records if you can study recently collected materials with modern sensors and AI-driven analysis.

That stance tracks with his earlier work on interstellar objects such as Oumuamua, where he argued for keeping the artificial-technology hypothesis on the table when natural explanations fell short.

Critics have challenged that reasoning, noting that an inability to immediately explain a phenomenon does not prove it is artificial. Loeb, for his part, rejects the idea that extraordinary claims always demand extraordinary proof in the traditional sense, insisting instead on gathering better evidence.

Read More: High pulse microwave weapons used on UAPs: What we know about the secret White Sands operation