The past few days of the 2016 election cycle have been rife with shocking moments that may shape the outcome in the race for the White House. But there's one small story that, while comparatively unimportant, is charming enough that it shouldn't fall through the cracks. It brings together Hillary Clinton, popular 2000s pop-punk band Blink-182, and nothing less than UFOs.

Confused? Let's discuss!

So, there are a lot of complex issues at stake in this election that could shape US policy for years to come, but I’d like to focus on UFOs. What’s this I hear about Hillary's UFO email leaks?

You’re probably referring to The New York Times piece, published in May, about Hillary Clinton's UFO policies. In short, Secretary Clinton has said that if elected, she "want[s] to open the files as much as we can," in regard to UFOs, commenting that "There’s enough stories out there that I don’t think everybody is just sitting in their kitchen making them up."

So Hillary Clinton believes in UFOs?

Well, maybe. She’s certainly knowledgeable and curious about the subject. But the source of the Clinton campaign’s extraterrestrial enthusiasm goes deeper. For that, we need to look at John D. Podesta.

I'm sorry, who?

John D. Podesta is Hillary Clinton’s campaign manager and a former White House advisor to both President (Bill) Clinton and President Obama. He’s also a big believer in government transparency when it comes to UFOs and extraterrestrial sightings.

To use an apt metaphor, if Hillary is the Scully-like credulous skeptic here, Podesta is the Mulder-esque true believer.

How into UFOs is Podesta, exactly?

In the past Podesta has commented to CNN that he felt "the U.S. government could do a much better job in answering the quite legitimate questions that people have about what’s going on with unidentified aerial phenomena." Also, in 2014, while serving with President Obama, he referred to his biggest failure that year as "Once again not securing the #disclosure of the UFO files."

It’s not quite clear whether he truly believes there’s life beyond the stars, but it seems that he feels there’s more to the story than the government has disclosed so far.

This is the part where Tom DeLonge comes in.

That name sounds oddly familiar. Is DeLonge a scientist? Or astronomer?

Tom DeLonge is the former lead singer of Blink-182. Yes, that Blink-182. Apparently, he’s been interested in UFOs for a while and seems to firmly believe that extraterrestrial life is out there.

After the first Blink-182 break up in 2005, DeLonge started a new musical project called Angels & Airwaves, following a three-week "spiritual journey." The new band has a space rock sound, and has released far more conceptual work than Blink-182’s alternative-punk style, including the two-part Love concept album (which had an accompanying sci-fi movie that’s sort of about a stranded astronaut) and The Dream Walker (which is part of a multimedia "Poet Anderson" universe focusing on lucid dreaming).

Okay. How does he fit in with the aliens?

DeLonge was a member of both Angels & Airwaves and Blink-182 for a while after Blink-182 reunited in 2012. The reunion was short-lived, and DeLonge had a falling out with the band, ultimately leaving Blink-182 again to work on more of his multimedia projects over at his new company, To The Stars. One of these projects was Sekret Machines, an ongoing multimedia project focusing on government conspiracies, UFOs, and extraterrestrial contact.

So far the project consists of a novel, Sekret Machines Book 1: Chasing Shadows, written with author AJ Hartley, along with an accompanying EP of Angels & Airwaves music, but DeLonge has said that he's working on further entries, including a documentary.

What does Hillary Clinton have to do with the Blink-182 guy's UFO music?

DeLongue is marketing the book as a "work of … fiction?" based on actual events, and claims to have talked to sources "within the military and intelligence community" while working on it.

Which brings us back to Hillary Clinton and John Podesta. The latest batch of Clinton emails leaked by WikiLeaks revealed emails from DeLonge to Podesta discussing Podesta’s interview with DeLongue for a documentary, updates regarding "The Novels, Films and NonFiction works" in the project — presumably Sekret Machines — making it extremely likely that Podesta is one of DeLonge's book Sekret Machines sources.

So just to recap, the lead singer of Blink-182 contacted Hillary Clinton’s chief of staff about a project that may or may not claim that UFOs are real and the government is hiding things from us?

I mean, yes, but also that’s generalizing things greatly and making some assumptions–

I knew it! Wait, how do I know you’re not part of the conspiracy?!

I’m not. Also, there probably isn’t a conspiracy.

That’s exactly what you’d say if you were part of one!

I think we’re done here.