Politics
Nonprofit uses underwater technology to search for missing service members
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More than 80,000 service members who went missing in action in previous conflicts are still unaccounted for. However, through research and new technology, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency estimates the remains of 38,000 fallen veterans could be recoverable. Nonprofit organization Project Recover is working with the agency to bring some of those service members home through complex underwater missions.
“This is a great American story here,” former Navy Rear Admiral Tim Gallaudet said. “Our work is to use technology, like underwater drones and scuba diving gear, to find the platforms that these members perished on and then do the DNA analysis of detecting and recovering their remains and matching them to those that are missing.”
Project Recover members stand with folded American flags during a ceremony honoring fallen World War II aviators. (Project Recover)
Gallaudet also serves as a Project Recover advisory council member. The group was founded by Dr. Patrick Scannon. He came up with the idea in 1993 when he was touring the Palau islands with his wife and discovered a downed plane from World War II.
“That 65-foot wing essentially changed my life,” Scannon said in an interview with GoPro.
NEWLY RELEASED AMELIA EARHART DOCUMENTS REVEAL VIVID DETAILS OF JAPAN’S ROLE IN SEARCH FOR DOOMED AVIATOR
Project Recover teams have located dozens of aircraft sites around the Palau islands associated with nearly 100 service members who went missing in action.
“The recovery is difficult. We first have to find the aircraft or ships,” Gallaudet said. “And then we’ve got to go determine if there are any remains there and then ID them, match them to the service members. “
In 1944, U.S. officials determined the Palau islands were a crucial part of a larger mission to liberate the Philippines. The effort to capture the island of Peleliu ended up being a costly effort for the U.S. Located around 500 miles away from the Philippines, the island held an airfield, which U.S. officials believed could be used to launch an attack during their larger mission. More than 10,000 Japanese troops were stationed on Peleliu at the time.
U.S. Air Force B-52 bombers are parked on a military airfield. (B-52 Bomber Down)
The battle was expected to last just a few days but ended up going on for 74. The U.S. began its bombardment by dropping more than 600 tons of bombs, but the Marines had little intelligence on enemy positions. Japanese troops hid in coral caves and mine shafts around the islands. The initial aerial attacks had little impact unless pilots flew dangerously close to the island.
SEARCH FOR MISSING MALAYSIA AIRLINES FLIGHT 370 TO RESUME AFTER MORE THAN A DECADE
On Peleliu, 1,800 Americans were killed in action and more than 8,000 were wounded or missing. Nearly all the 10,000 Japanese troops were killed in action. Across the Palau islands, the U.S. had carried out nine major air campaigns in which around 200 aircraft were lost.
Now Project Recover is working to bring some of those service members home.
“There were three service members on the aircraft that perished, a lieutenant and then two enlisted crew members. And over the last few years, we were able to recover the remains of all three. And we didn’t identify them all at the same time. It took forensic analysis and DNA. Technology. But the last one was finally identified,” Gallaudet said.
Lt. Jay Manown, AOM1c Anthony Di Petta and ARM1c Wilbur Mitts took off for a bombing mission in September 1944. They were conducting pre-invasion strikes in preparation for the invasion of Peleliu when their plane spun out of control and crashed into surrounding waters.
“The plane was hit by enemy fire, and it burst into flames,” Di Petta’s niece, Suzanne Nakamura, said in an interview with Media Evolve.
Project Recover located the plane in 2015. After more than a dozen dives to investigate the wreckage, teams began removing the remains of the three service members. Lt. Manown was the last to be repatriated.
“We held the ceremony in his hometown in West Virginia, and the relatives of all three service members came to that final ceremony,” Gallaudet said.
The three nieces of the men have become especially close.
A diver examines a wreck during an underwater mission to locate and recover missing U.S. service members. (Project Recover)
WWII HERO’S REMAINS FINALLY COMING HOME AFTER 80-YEAR MYSTERY IS SOLVED THROUGH MILITARY DEDICATION
“We’ve communicated beautifully and become friends through this experience and almost a sisterhood of type,” Manown’s niece, Rebecca Sheets, said in an interview with Media Evolve.
“We’ve talked so much by phone and feel so close,” Mitt’s niece, Diana Ward, told Media Evolve. “This is just a joy to meet each other in person, and we’re just sharing the emotion we’ve felt about bringing our uncles home.”
The three women have also connected over how their grandmothers, or the mothers of Manown, Di Petta and Mitts, may have felt about their sons finally coming home.
“We have a connection because our uncles were involved in not only defending the freedom of the United States, but as human beings who fought together and died together,” Nakamura said.
AMELIA EARHART MYSTERY EXPEDITION HALTED AS RESEARCHERS SEEK ANSWERS ON MISSING PLANE
Including their work in Palau, Project Recover has completed more than 100 missions across 25 countries. They have repatriated 24 missing Americans and have located more than 200 missing in action awaiting further recovery efforts. The group is raising money for a mission it hopes to complete in 2026 — the search for a B-52 aircraft that disappeared during a training accident.
“It’s off the coast of Texas. We’ve not yet found the aircraft. And of those eight service members, they all had families,” Gallaudet said. “There are about 32 of those family members still alive today who want the answers to know what happened to their loved ones.”
In addition to the more than 80,000 missing-in-action service members, 20,000 are missing from training accidents. The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency is not permitted to allocate funds toward a search effort for the eight men who disappeared along with their B-52 because the crash occurred during a non-conflict training accident.
“Not having found the wreck yet, we don’t know what the cause of the failure was. And so it’s our goal to find that wreckage and then take the remains and repatriate them to the families,” Gallaudet said.
U.S. Air Force B-52 crew members pose for a group photo. (B-52 Bomber Down)
The Air Force Bomber was on a routine training mission in February 1968 when it disappeared from radar and radio contact. The Air Force immediately conducted an extensive nine-day search of the flight path but found no trace of the bomber. As the military concluded its search, determining it went down in an unknown location, three pieces of debris washed ashore in Corpus Christi, Texas.
“This B-52 off the Texas coast hasn’t been located yet, but we think we know where the area is. We’re going to find it,” Gallaudet said.
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More than $300,000 has been raised for the mission so far. Project Recover estimates another $200,000 is needed to search for the eight men. If the organization can locate the remains, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency will be able to allocate resources for a recovery effort.
You can learn more about Project Recover and the missing B-52 and donate to help with the search on Project Recover’s website.
Government drones, errant weather balloons, experimental spy planes, rocket launches and exhaust plumes are just some of the aerial phenomena that have generated U.F.O. sightings.
Whatever the source, there is no end to the public’s fascination with mysterious objects darting across the sky.
In recent years, the government has sought to disclose more of the information — including videos, historical documents and grainy images — that it has collected on what it calls unidentified anomalous phenomena. Congress has held hearings in its own search for answers.
On Friday, the Pentagon released what it called “new, never-before-seen” files related to unidentified flying objects on a webpage with fonts and graphics reminiscent of a 1990s sci-fi thriller.
President Trump described it as a promise fulfilled.
“Whereas previous Administrations have failed to be transparent on this subject, with these new Documents and Videos, the people can decide for themselves, ‘WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?’” he wrote on Truth Social.
The Pentagon said more records would be released on a rolling basis.
Some of the initial files include documents from the 1960s space race between the United States and the Soviet Union, when both countries were pushing beyond Earth’s limits.
One of the documents — which has been previously cited in books — was a 1969 technical debriefing of Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins, the three American astronauts on the Apollo 11 moon mission.
In it, Mr. Aldrin recalls that when he was trying to sleep during the mission, “I observed what I thought were little flashes inside the cabin, spaced a couple of minutes apart.”
Mr. Aldrin also recounts seeing “what appeared to be a fairly bright light source, which we tentatively ascribed to a possible laser.”
A 1963 government memorandum reflects concerns within the Kennedy administration that the United States was not preparing for the possibility, however remote, of humans encountering aliens.
In it, Maxwell W. Hunter II, a prominent aerospace engineer, warned that, without some planning, “our policy will be determined in the traditional manner of grand panic.”
Here’s a look at some key events in the recent push for information about U.F.O.s.
May 2019
A New York Times report detailed strange aerial phenomena witnessed by Navy pilots, including flying objects that they said had no visible engines or infrared exhaust plumes, but could reach 30,000 feet and hypersonic speeds.
June 2021
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence released a report cataloging 143 unexplained aerial phenomena dating to 2004. The report did not draw conclusions or offer explanations for most of the events.
November 2021
The Pentagon announced a new group to investigate reports of unidentified aerial phenomena in sensitive areas, work that would be overseen by both military and intelligence agencies.
May 2022
Pentagon officials, testifying at the first congressional hearing on military reports of U.F.O.s in more than a half-century, showed a previously classified video of a reflective spherical object speeding past a military jet. It remains unexplained. Officials testified that the government had not collected material from any aliens.
June 2022
NASA announced a new study of unidentified aerial phenomena. An agency official described it as “high-risk, high-impact kind of research” that could uncover some new scientific phenomenon — or nothing at all.
December 2022
President Biden signed an $858 billion military spending bill that included a requirement for the Pentagon to review historical documents related to U.F.O.s dating to 1945. That was the year that, according to one account, a large, avocado-shaped object struck a communication tower in a patch of New Mexico desert now known as the Trinity Site, where the world’s first atomic bomb was detonated.
September 2023
NASA appointed its first director of research on unidentified anomalous phenomena. The position was recommended by an independent study team that called for the agency to play a bigger role in examining U.F.O.s.
March 2024
A Pentagon report found no evidence that the government covered up knowledge of extraterrestrials and no evidence that any U.F.O. sightings actually were aliens visiting Earth. The 63-page report was a sweeping rebuttal to claims that the government had secretly harbored alien spacecraft or alien technology.
February 2026
Former President Barack Obama tells a YouTuber that aliens are “real, but I haven’t seen them and they’re not being kept in Area 51.” The clip ricocheted across the internet, stirring wild speculation. Mr. Obama later clarified that he believed extraterrestrials likely exist in the universe, but “I saw no evidence during my presidency that extraterrestrials have made contact with us. Really!”
February 2026
Mr. Trump directed his administration to begin releasing files related to aliens, extraterrestrial life and unidentified flying objects. He also attacked Mr. Obama for his comments about aliens in the YouTube interview, insisting he “gave classified information; he’s not supposed to be doing that.”
May 2026
Days before the Trump administration released the latest files, Mr. Obama said in an interview with Stephen Colbert that the government was not hiding aliens. “For those of you who still think we’ve got little green men underground somewhere: One of the things you learn as president is the government is terrible at keeping secrets,” Mr. Obama said.
Politics
Newsom’s ‘Golden State Start’ promises 400 free diapers per baby as California grapples with budget woes
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Gov. Gavin Newsom is rolling out a taxpayer-backed freebie for new parents, promising hundreds of diapers for every baby born in California under a new statewide program.
The Democrat announced Friday that the state will partner with nonprofit Baby2Baby to hand out 400 free diapers to families leaving participating hospitals, starting this summer. The initiative, dubbed “Golden State Start,” is being billed as a first-in-the-nation effort to ease the high cost of raising a child.
“Every baby born in California deserves a healthy start in life,” Newsom said in a statement, touting the plan as part of his broader push to tackle affordability.
CALIFORNIA IS BROKE, BUT IT’S NOT TOO LATE FOR THE REST OF US
Calif. Governor Gavin Newsom announced on May 8 that the state is partnering with Baby2Baby, a leading national nonprofit organization headquartered in California, to launch a first-in-the-nation program to provide free diapers to all new babies born in California. (Governor Gavin Newsom)
Under the program, hospitals will distribute the diapers directly to parents upon discharge. Officials said early rollout will prioritize facilities serving low-income patients on Medi-Cal, with plans to expand statewide.
During the program’s first year, it will be offered at about 65 to 75 hospitals that handle about a quarter of births in the state and largely serve low-income patients, Newsom’s office said, according to the Associated Press.
The move is the latest in a string of family-focused spending initiatives from the Newsom administration, which already includes free school meals and universal preschool for 4-year-olds.
Critics are likely to challenge the program’s price tag, particularly as California navigates a tightening fiscal environment. Fox News Digital has reached out to the governor’s office regarding the costs of the program.
According to the Associated Press, the state has allocated $7.4 million in last year’s budget to launch the free diaper initiative, and Governor Newsom’s latest proposal seeks an additional $12.5 million for implementation through the fiscal year ending in June 2027.
However, these spending goals collide with a sobering economic reality.
In its January budget overview, the Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) noted that while the administration officially projected a $2.9 billion deficit for 2026-27, the long-term outlook is far more dire. The LAO warned that the state faces structural deficits ranging from $20 billion to $35 billion annually over the coming years
The state has partnered with nonprofit Baby2Baby to manufacture the diapers under the label “Golden State Start.” (Governor Gavin Newsom)
State officials said that they are also looking at ways to take on major diaper brands and drive down prices.
Baby2Baby, a Los Angeles-based nonprofit that distributes supplies to children in need, will handle manufacturing and logistics for the program. The group says diaper need is widespread, with as many as one in two families struggling to afford them.
CALIFORNIA SCHOOL DISTRICT INFORMS PARENTS PERIOD PRODUCTS ARE IN BATHROOMS FOR ‘ANY STUDENT WHO MENSTRUATES’
Co-CEOs Norah Weinstein and Kelly Sawyer Patricof praised the partnership as “historic,” saying it will help families during one of their most financially vulnerable moments.
“We are incredibly grateful to Governor Newsom for his ongoing commitment to combating diaper needs in California and could not be prouder to partner on this historic initiative that will support moms and babies at their most vulnerable time,” Weinstein and Patricof said in a joint statement.
During the program’s first year, it will be offered at about 65 to 75 hospitals that handle about a quarter of births in the state and largely serve low-income patients, Newsom’s office said. (Governor Gavin Newsom)
The announcement comes two years after Tennessee and Delaware became the first U.S. states to offer free diapers to families enrolled in their Medicaid programs, which provide healthcare to low-income families.
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Tennessee families can go to pharmacies to pick up 100 diapers per month for children under two. The Delaware program, which began as a pilot before the state extended it in 2024, provides individuals with up to 80 diapers and up to one pack of baby wipes per week in the first 12 weeks.
Fox News Digital’s Michael Dorgan and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
Politics
California hospitals will soon provide free diapers to newborns thanks to new state program
SACRAMENTO — Newborns won’t be leaving the hospital empty-handed in California.
Gov. Gavin Newsom announced on Friday that the state is partnering with Baby2Baby to provide 400 free diapers to every newborn. Baby2Baby is a national nonprofit based in California that provides clothing and other basic necessities to children.
The governor said it would help families with the rising cost of living.
“Since the pandemic, we have seen the cost of diapers go up by 45%,” said Newsom, speaking at a press conference in San Francisco. “One out of four families skip meals to pay for diapers.”
Engage with our community-funded journalism as we delve into child care, transitional kindergarten, health and other issues affecting children from birth through age 5.
The new program, dubbed the Golden State Start, will launch this summer. Participating hospitals will distribute the diapers to families at the time of discharge. Forty million diapers will be distributed during the program’s first year, with a goal of later expanding the program to provide 160 million.
Newsom said the state will prioritize hospitals that serve large numbers of parents enrolled in Medi-Cal, California’s version of the federal Medicaid program providing healthcare coverage to low-income Americans. The state plans to later expand to additional hospitals and birthing centers.
The governor described the program as the first of its kind in the nation.
“We are not imitating; we are a model to others,” he said.
Baby2Baby Co-CEOs Norah Weinstein and Kelly Sawyer Patricof said they were proud to partner with California.
“Diapers are at the core of our mission at Baby2Baby as a shocking one in two families in this country struggles to afford them,” they wrote in a joint statement.
Kim Johnson, secretary of the California Health and Human Services Agency, said the initiative would help families enjoy their first few weeks at home with a new baby.
“The first days at home with a newborn should be focused on the love, connection, and joy of an expanded family, not stress about affording diapers,” Johnson said in a statement. “This program helps ensure families can begin that journey with greater stability and peace of mind.”
The National Diaper Bank Network, a national nonprofit that tracks diaper insecurity, found about 60% of low-income families nationwide struggle with the cost of diapers and rely on less-frequent changes to get by. The organization said dirty diapers leave babies at risk of developing rashes or urinary tract infections.
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