Summary of Dan Sherman's "Above Black: Project Preserve Destiny"
Dan Sherman's book, Above Black: Project Preserve Destiny - Insider Account of Alien Contact & Government Cover-Up, published in 1997 and later reissued in various formats including audiobook and ebook editions, is a first-person memoir detailing his alleged experiences as a U.S. Air Force electronic intelligence specialist recruited into a highly classified National Security Agency (NSA) program. Sherman, who served in the USAF from the late 1980s to the mid-1990s, claims he was selected for "Project Preserve Destiny" (PPD) due to genetic modifications made to him in utero during the 1960s, purportedly as part of a long-term government initiative to create individuals capable of intuitive, telepathic communication with extraterrestrial beings. The book is structured as a chronological narrative, blending personal anecdotes, military bureaucracy, and revelations about alien contact, all while emphasizing the psychological toll of secrecy and isolation.
Key Plot and Events in the Book
Sherman's story begins with his enlistment in the Air Force and training in electronic intelligence (ELINT). He describes being approached by superiors who revealed his "special" genetic background—allegedly engineered by aliens in collaboration with the government to enhance psychic abilities for future communications. This leads to his assignment to an underground NSA facility near Fort Meade, Maryland, where he undergoes specialized training as an "Intuitive Communicator" (IC). Using exotic computer equipment, his latent abilities are "unlocked" through a process called "Genetic Management," allowing him to receive and transmit data mentally.
The core of the book focuses on PPD's operations: Sherman claims the program was established post-1947 Roswell incident to maintain contact with extraterrestrial entities (often referred to as "greys") in the American West. He details routine tasks involving decoding mental "transmissions" into codes, which were then entered into systems for analysis. One notable event is his prediction of a major Indonesian earthquake 114 days in advance, based on intuitive insights, which he documented in a 2004 blog post as evidence of his abilities.
Sherman also encounters what he calls a "shadow government" overseeing these "grey projects," hidden from public and even official oversight, with implications for humanity's future, including alien influences on religion, human origins, and advanced technologies like time manipulation and electromagnetic propulsion.
The narrative builds to Sherman's growing disillusionment with the program's secrecy and ethical concerns, culminating in his request for discharge from the military. He reflects on the broader cover-up, urging other insiders to come forward, and provides circumstantial evidence like verified briefings attended by a retired AT&T executive. The book doesn't include direct transcripts of alien messages but hints at profound revelations about extraterrestrials' long history on Earth, their extended lifespans, and potential genetic ties to certain human lineages.
The "Tone" in Alien Communication
A central and unique aspect of Sherman's account is the method of communication, which revolves around mental "tones" as a gateway to telepathic or interdimensional exchanges. In PPD training, Sherman describes being taught to mentally "hum" or generate specific tones—auditory-like frequencies in the mind—to initiate contact. These tones act as a "carrier wave," converting raw intuitive signals into symbols, layers of meaning, or data streams that could be interpreted and relayed. He likens it to a bridge between dimensions or timelines, where the tone synchronizes human consciousness with alien frequencies, potentially allowing communication across time or other realities.
Sherman explains that aliens use these tones to embed information, including insights into future events (like the earthquake prediction) or multidimensional concepts humans don't fully grasp, such as time as a navigable medium for travel. In one described session, instructors would play a physical tone, instructing him to replicate it mentally to "lock in" the connection, suggesting a blend of psychic and technological enhancement. This method implies interdimensional elements, as the aliens (nicknamed "Bones" and "Spock" in later accounts) reportedly exist outside linear time, communicating warnings or knowledge about humanity's place in the cosmos. Sherman speculates this could extend to future interactions, where tones enable humans to "tune in" to other dimensions, bypassing physical limitations.
Critics often dismiss this as pseudoscience, but Sherman maintains it's a verifiable skill developed through government tech, with parallels to remote viewing programs. The tone concept ties into broader themes of hybrid human-alien genetics, where modified individuals like Sherman serve as conduits for preserving destiny amid potential cataclysms.
Important Interviews and Discussions
Sherman's story has gained renewed attention through interviews, especially in 2025, amid growing UFO disclosure discussions. Here are key ones:
- American Alchemy with Jesse Michels (October 17, 2025): This 3+ hour podcast/YouTube episode is one of the most detailed recent accounts. Sherman recounts his NSA recruitment, genetic backstory, and encounters with two alien entities ("Bones" and "Spock"), who shared knowledge about UFO propulsion, humanity's cosmic role, and interdimensional travel. He delves deeply into the tone mechanism, describing it as a "carrier-wave model" where mental humming translates alien signals into comprehensible data, including future-oriented messages. Michels verifies elements like a DARPA contract with Noise Cancellation Technologies (NCT), a company Sherman trailed during operations, adding credibility. The interview explores psychological impacts and hybrid programs from the 1960s.
- Psicoactivo Podcast: Dan Sherman's Project Preserve Destiny & Eisenhower's... (October 21, 2025): A YouTube discussion linking PPD to historical events like Eisenhower's alleged alien treaties. Sherman discusses tones as tools for cross-dimensional dialogue, emphasizing their role in relaying warnings about humanity's future.
- Project Preserve Destiny Podcast Episode (October 27, 2025): On Apple Podcasts, Sherman covers his ELINT role and intuitive training, reiterating tones as mental keys to alien "conversations" that transcend time.
- Older Interviews: A 1998 lecture at the International UFO Congress (IUFOC) introduced his story publicly. A 2021 Reddit-linked interview recaps telepathic methods, including tones for entity contact. Sherman has appeared on Coast to Coast AM and other shows, consistently focusing on the interdimensional "tone" aspect.
Recent X discussions (e.g., from October-November 2025) highlight PPD's relevance to modern whistleblowers like Christopher Mellon and Michael Shellenberger, who reference similar programs in congressional testimony. Speculation ties it to hybrid programs and government-ET pacts, with tones as a potential tool for future human-alien interactions in other dimensions.
The Carrier-Wave Model in Dan Sherman's Account
In Dan Sherman's book Above Black: Project Preserve Destiny and his interviews (notably the 2025 American Alchemy podcast with Jesse Michels), the carrier-wave model is his analogy for explaining how telepathic or intuitive communication with extraterrestrial entities works. Sherman, drawing from his background in electronic intelligence (ELINT), compares the process to radio signal transmission in electronics.
Basic Analogy to Radio Communication
- In standard radio (e.g., AM/FM broadcasting), a carrier wave is a high-frequency sinusoidal signal that acts as a "vehicle" or foundation.
- Information (voice, data, music) is superimposed onto this carrier through modulation (amplitude modulation for AM, frequency for FM).
- The modulated signal travels through space, and a receiver "demodulates" it to extract the original information.
Sherman describes alien telepathic communication in similar terms:
- The human mind generates a mental tone (a hummed or imagined auditory frequency) that functions as the carrier wave.
- This tone "carries" or enables the transmission/reception of intuitive data, symbols, codes, or concepts from the aliens (referred to as "greys" or specific entities like "Bones" and "Spock").
- The communication occurs on a non-verbal, sub-symbolic level—below or beyond ordinary thought—where raw information is "downloaded" or impressed directly into consciousness.
How It Works in Practice (Per Sherman's Description)
- Training Phase ("Unlocking" the Ability):
- Sherman underwent exercises in a classified NSA facility, often involving daily pills (to enhance focus or neural pathways) and computer setups.
- He listened to an external tone via headphones while viewing a sine wave on a screen.
- The task: Mentally replicate ("hum") the tone internally until achieving a "click" or connection, causing the sine wave to flatten or change visibly (demonstrating mind-machine interface).
- Progressing from one sine wave to multiple (up to nine), this trained the mind to generate and sustain precise mental frequencies without external aids.
- Operational Communication:
- Once trained, Sherman would enter a receptive state and mentally produce the specific tone.
- This tone acted as the carrier wave, synchronizing his consciousness with the alien frequency or "channel."
- Information arrived as intuitive impressions: long strings of numbers/codes, predictions (e.g., earthquakes), or deeper insights (e.g., about time travel, alien lifespans, or human origins).
- He transcribed these into logs for superiors, without understanding their full meaning.
- Over time, the process became fully intuitive—no tones or pills needed—and allowed bidirectional exchange.
- Interdimensional/Future-Oriented Aspect:
- Sherman suggests the model allows bridging dimensions or timelines, as aliens reportedly operate outside linear time.
- The tone "tunes" the human mind to alien wavelengths, potentially enabling communication in scenarios where electromagnetic signals fail (the purported purpose of Project Preserve Destiny).
This model blends Sherman's technical expertise with psychic phenomena, framing telepathy as a modulated signal rather than pure mysticism. He emphasizes it's a learnable skill, enhanced by alleged genetic modifications from alien abductions.
While compelling to some in UFO communities, the account remains unverified officially and is viewed skeptically by others as unsubstantiated. Sherman presents it matter-of-factly, noting parallels to remote viewing or psi research programs.
Dan Sherman's Abduction Experiences?
Dan Sherman does not claim to have personally experienced classic alien abductions—such as being taken aboard a craft, undergoing examinations, or having conscious memories of direct encounters with extraterrestrials during his life. Instead, his story centers on indirect involvement through his family's history and his role in receiving telepathic data about ongoing abductions of others.
The Core Claim: In Utero Genetic Modification
According to Sherman in his 1997 book Above Black: Project Preserve Destiny and subsequent interviews (including the 2025 American Alchemy podcast with Jesse Michels):
- Project Preserve Destiny (PPD) was initiated around 1960-1963 as a genetic management program in collaboration (direct or indirect) with extraterrestrial "greys."
- The goal was to engineer human offspring with enhanced intuitive/telepathic abilities to serve as communicators, especially in scenarios where electromagnetic communications might fail.
- Sherman's mother was allegedly abducted twice:
- First in 1960 for initial testing.
- Again in 1963, while pregnant with Dan, for the actual genetic procedure performed on the fetus (him) in utero.
- This modification supposedly "unlocked" his latent ability to receive telepathic transmissions from aliens, which was later activated through NSA training involving tones, pills, and specialized equipment.
Sherman learned this not from personal recollection but from a briefing by his Air Force captain/handler upon recruitment into PPD. He describes feeling shocked but accepting it as part of his classified duties. He has no independent memories of these events and relies on the military's disclosure to him.
Receiving Abduction Data
The closest Sherman comes to "abduction experiences" is his operational role as an "intuitive communicator":
- Later in his assignments, he began receiving transmissions from a second alien contact (nicknamed "Spock").
- These included short strings of codes that he interpreted as abduction reports: dates, locations (latitude/longitude), and sometimes indicators of pain or distress levels experienced by abductees.
- This distressed him morally—he felt complicit in ongoing abductions sanctioned under alleged government-alien agreements (post-Roswell era).
- It contributed to his decision to seek discharge from the Air Force (using the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy as a pretext) and go public with his story.
Sherman emphasizes that abductions were still occurring during his service in the early 1990s, and the U.S. government was notified in advance or received reports, tying into broader claims of treaties allowing limited abductions in exchange for technology or cooperation.
Personal Context and Aftermath
- Sherman reports no childhood abduction memories or missing time episodes that he attributes to aliens.
- After leaving the military and publishing his book, he received one threatening phone call warning him to stop discussing the program.
- In interviews, he expresses no ongoing intuitive abilities post-service and maintains a low-profile, matter-of-fact demeanor, avoiding sensationalism.
Sherman's account frames abductions as part of a larger genetic/hybrid program spanning generations, but his direct "experience" is second-hand: familial (mother/fetus) and professional (relaying data). This distinguishes him from typical abductee testimonies involving personal trauma. His story remains controversial—compelling to some in UFO communities for its specificity and ties to official programs, but unverified and dismissed by skeptics as unsubstantiated.
