Chan Thomas

Chan Thomas (1920–1998) was an American engineer, ufologist, writer on ancient cataclysms, and self-proclaimed polymath whose ideas have influenced conspiracy theorists in the 21st century.

Career In 1963, he published the book The Adam and Eve Story which interpreted the Book of Genesis, several pre-Biblical legends, and historical geological phenomena to make the pseudoscientific claim that the Earth has routinely been hit by cataclysmic events every 5,600 years. These alleged cataclysms involved the Earth's poles switching place, causing earthquakes, tsunamis and supersonic winds to wipe out entire civilizations. Thomas claimed that another such event was on the horizon. Thomas was reportedly one of four full-time researchers on the team. The team's director, aeronautical engineer Robert M. Wood, wrote some four decades later in a newsletter for MUFON that Thomas had a "tremendously innovative mind" and "was a total 'out of the box' thinker."

Thomas also claimed to have ESP, having written a handbook on the topic, and said he had made contact with extraterrestrial life.

The CIA declassified documents in 2013 that included large excerpts from Thomas' book The Adam and Eve Story. In subsequent years, the book's claims were repeated by conspiracy theorists in numerous viral TikTok videos.