Encinitas: Our History and People

TOM DELONGE
G
Above: Tom Delonge Blink 182
DEPOSITPHOTOS 134322300
COPYRIGHT: YAKUB88
Tom DeLonge rose to stardom as the vocalist
and guitarist in the pop-punk band Blink-182,
which formed in Poway in 1992. During a
hiatus from the group in 2005, DeLonge cofounded
the band Angels and Airwaves, with
whom he still performs. He split with Blink-182
in 2015. In recent years, DeLonge, who has
authored several books about UFOs, has
focused much of his attention on the
development of To the Stars Academy,
established in Encinitas in 2017.
Per the Academy’s website, “To the Stars
Academy of Arts and Science (TTSA) specializes in
creating, acquiring and commercializing sciencefocused
intellectual property within the
technology and entertainment verticals.”
DeLonge’s team at TTSA is comprised of
strategists, some of whom are ex-military officials.
In 2020, the group achieved a breakthrough of
sorts when the Pentagon confirmed the
authenticity of U.S. Navy fighter jet footage, shared
on TTSA’s website and depicting UAP
(“unidentified aerial phenomena” or UFOs).
TTSA’s Science and Technology Division
amasses materials concerning UAP. Information
gleaned from this work is made accessible to the
public via TTSA’s Entertainment Division, which
produces content across media, including, books,
films, and television. Among this creative output
is the History Channel series “Unidentified:
Inside America’s UFO Investigation,” which
DeLonge executive produces.
In a 2019 interview with the New York
Times, DeLonge spoke on his long abiding
fascination with UFOs: “I started becoming very
fascinated in the idea of what else is there
besides working a 9-to-5 job and coming from a
broken family. For some reason I just thought
science fiction was just fascinating. My brother
and I were so into the whole ‘Star Wars’ thing,
obviously, in the early ‘80s. It just kind of led to
me thinking a little bit broader.” No doubt
DeLonge will continue this forward-thinking
approach with TTSA’s future endeavors.
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