Unmasking the USAF Legacy Program Gatekeeper

My research into uncovering the identity of the Air Force gatekeeper to the Crash Retrieval/Reverse Engineering Program

The Mellon Drop

On April 22, 2024, former Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence, Christopher Mellon, published a fascinating essay entitled, “Another Signal Exchange…” In the post, he unveils a screenshot of a Signal conversation from 2020 with a “Senior USG Official” who purports to have gained at least partial access to the Legacy crash retrieval/reverse engineering(CR/RE) Program.

The significance of this reveal cannot be understated. According to Mellon,

“My purpose in releasing this document, in the wake of the government’s blanket denials regarding the possession of off-world technology, is simply to help others understand why I and some others consider these allegations worthy of investigation.”

After reading the content of the Signal conversation, pictured above, it is not difficult to sympathize with his position regarding the likely existence of a deeply-hidden CR/RE Program. If what is stated by the “Senior USG Official” is accurate, then this Signal chat has provided the Disclosure Community with several actionable nuggets of information:

1. The UAP crash/landing in Kingman, AZ during the 1950s was a real event.

2. The Legacy Program is NOT rogue or privatized (at least not entirely). It has defined ownership, management structures, security control systems, & authorities.

3. At least a portion of the Legacy Program’s authorities derive from a highly-classified memo by a SecAF in the 1950s.

4. Our intrepid “Senior USG Official,” along with anyone else who has seen the screenshot in its un-redacted form, knows the identity of the gatekeeper(GK) to the Legacy Program within the U.S. Air Force.

It is this fourth nugget that immediately grabbed my attention, and would not let go. I decided to make it my mission to uncover the identity of this USAF GK. As I am not a FOIA aficionado, my research has only involved delving into open-source information. Because this is based on conjecture, and not on sources, I have been hesitant to name the individual in a public forum since it is very possible that I am incorrect re: the gatekeeper’s identity. However, I believe that now is the time to show my hand, and let the chips fall where they may.

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Hunting The Gatekeeper

I began this endeavor by enumerating what we already knew for certain about this GK:

1. Circa 2020, they were an Air Force civilian, and member of the Senior Executive Service (SES)

2. Further, within the SES, they were at the Tier-2 level

And…well that’s about it.

Unfortunately, I quickly learned that there are not any publicly available databases/references that list the number of SES positions by tier level in any given department for any given year.

Considering how little I had to go on, I knew that I would need to tackle this from a first principles position. In other words, I needed to generate limiting criteria in order to narrow down the list of possible suspects. I based my search for the AFGK on the following suppositions:

1. The LP would likely want to position their “mole” in the physical vicinity of AF senior leadership, likely within the Secretariat at the Pentagon.

2. We are not looking for a political appointee, or someone trying to climb the ladder, but rather a career official/bureaucrat. So, no Undersecretaries or Deputy Undersecretaries — think “Director of _______”

3. Continuity of operations and unquestionable loyalty would be the primary concern for the LP. We are looking for someone who has been in the same position for several years, the longer the better.

4. The official role of the AFGK would be adjacent to, but not within, the offices responsible for Special Access Program oversight.

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After several dead-ends looking for lists of SES-2 positions in the USAF, I came across the Congressional Directory (govinfo.gov/app/collection/CDIR). Generally collated at least once a year, the Directory lists the names, positions, & office numbers of those in the upper-crust of the Legislative and Executive branches. For the Air Force, it lists those within Staff Headquarters(HAF) & the Secretariat(SAF). After looking through Directories going back two decades, I was able to narrow it down to a single candidate.

My current best guess for the Air Force gatekeeper:

**Russell Wyler**

• SAF/AAH, Director of Sensitive Activities, Admin. Asst. to SECAF (under the recent USAF restructuring, he is now “Director of Plans & Effects,” Office of Competitive Activities, but is still noted to be the POC for “sensitive activities.”)

• The 2024 USAF organizational restructuring and subsequent renaming of Wyler’s job position turned out to be key in determining his Tier-level within the SES.

• His AF biography confirms that he is a member of the Senior Executive Service, specifically the subset of the Defense Intelligence Senior Executive Service.

• “Sensitive Activities” is not a very well defined term in any of the DoD or USAF instructa or memoranda that I have come across. Ambiguity breeds loopholes.

• Has been in this same position since February 2009. It seems likely that the Legacy Program would prioritize continuity in any kind of “mole” position in order to inculcate and maintain admin/bureaucratic control.

• Enlisted SOF from ‘73 to ‘81, and commissioned SOF from ‘81 to 2009…which is pretty wild when you think about it. Dude potentially had the opportunity to be a part of multiple crash retrievals.

• Very sparse digital footprint: even using variations of his name (not much out there whether you search for “Russell Wyler” or “Russ Wyler”)

Somewhat ironically, the information that confirmed Wyler was an SES-2 seems to indicate that he is preparing to retire. In May 2025, Colleen Hall, the Director for AF Business Operations, made a post on her LinkedIn highlighting that Air Force was starting the process of hiring a new Director of Plans & Effects within the Office of Competitive Activities (Russell Wyler’s renamed job position as of December 2024). In the post, she says,

“This is a Tier 2 DISES position, and the announcement is open to current DoD Senior Executive Service members.”

☝️This is what clinched it for me, and provided a high degree of confidence that I had the right guy.

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Below, please find images and links containing the information I was able to find regarding Russell Wyler (and/or his position).

Links:

https://www.af.mil/About-Us/Biographies/Display/Article/473494/russell-e-wyler/

govinfo.gov/app/collection/CDIR (For any given year, look under “Department of the Air Force” and you will find Wyler listed as “Director of Sensitive Activities” going back to just after 2009)

Images: