Rachid Echahly
Founder & Editor-in-Chief
Rachid Echahly
Reading Erich von Däniken's Chariots of the Gods was the beginning of a long interrogation — of everything I had been taught, everything I thought I understood about human history. It created confusion, but also a drive: if what I had learned didn't hold up against the evidence in front of me, then where was the truth? What is our real history? Zecharia Sitchin deepened those questions; researchers like Giorgio Tsoukalos showed there was a serious community asking the same things. I followed the archaeology into places the textbooks wouldn't go and never stopped asking.
The X-Files deepened it. Carter's show was not just entertainment — it was a repository of real cases: Roswell, Betty and Barney Hill, cattle mutilations, recovered craft. The fiction was a thin wrapper around a genuine investigative tradition. By the time I found MUFON and joined the New York chapter as a field investigator, I was ready to do the actual work.
Case after case, the same characteristics appeared independently from people who had never met and had no reason to lie. I came away with one conviction: something has been happening for a very long time, and the official account does not come close to explaining it.
I built TheUFOTimes in 2010 because the information was scattered and the commentary was poor — too sensational to be useful, or too cautious to be honest. I wanted a place that connected von Däniken's ancient carvings to David Grusch's congressional testimony, because I believe they are part of the same story. Pentagon videos released. AARO established. Whistleblowers testifying under oath. None of it surprises me. All of it matters. We are approaching the moment when the full picture becomes impossible to conceal — and I want this site to have been part of the preparation for it.
What TheUFOTimes Stands For
Independence. Independently owned and operated — no government briefings, no defence contractors, no editorial direction from anyone with a stake in how this story is told.
Rigour. We distinguish between documented cases and speculation, cite our sources, and do not print rumour as fact.
Openness. The ancient astronaut hypothesis, the modern disclosure movement, and humanity's place in the cosmos are legitimate areas of serious inquiry — and we treat them that way.
Courage. We publish anyway — because the truth is older than the institutions trying to contain it.
For editorial enquiries, research collaboration, or to submit a sighting report: echahly@gmail.com