https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NVm_K1cRMn4

“If you go back a little ways…honestly, I wanted to do something more spiritual, ya know? But I had to grow a really thick skin at the time because no one understood why I did that. I’m not the guy who goes out on Twitter and says ‘This is how I feel and I want you all to understand me…’ ya know? So people really, kinda had a lot of hate and they were angry, and I understand…I might’ve looked like I was full of ego…it wasn’t like that…but by the time ‘To the Stars…’ became ‘To the Stars Academy of Arts and Science’ where we bring on all these people from the government — from CIA and Department of Defense and the Office of the Secretary of Defense and all these other people, White House…they all come together. We do this thing. I was very aware, I was like ‘When we do this stuff, maybe their resumes will help people not be so vicious on something that’s so controversial’. And…like, well, ya know what? — that’s kinda what my role is. I will stand out in the front and take all the arrows for these guys because they’re making sacrifices that are frankly, well, I can’t really get into it — but making some big sacrifices to do what they’re doing. But you’re dealing with something that’s extraordinarily classified. So to bring it out is a big deal. So any case I put myself out there and I was already kinda prepared for people, ya know, throwing rocks and not understand it and sounding crazy, ya know? But I knew what was going on. I’ve been in multiple briefings about this stuff. I know what this is, and I know what we’re doing, and I know what’s coming. So when this stuff kinda came out this week, it’s spreading like wildfire. But I’m just sitting here kinda going ‘This is just the beginning’ so people need to prepare. You know what the funny thing is — I was telling these kids next to me ‘Somewhere in the Pentagon — in a classified room — there’s all these, like, admirals from the navy with stars on their shoulders kinda going ‘Who the fuck is this guy tom?’ and this other person probably goes in the background, like a younger soldier, and he’s like ‘Well, he ran around naked a lot, ya know, and he said this, and he did this, and here’s a video of him, well, no, you probably shouldn’t watch that’ and they’re like ‘wait, what?’ Ummm…but the truth is [and this is where the giggles stop and Serious Tom comes back to play]…

The truth is is that they knew who I was. They knew what was coming. And they knew all this is coming. I think it’s a really big deal for them to come out and do what they did. Because we pressured everyone in Congress and we set up the briefings for the Senate and all that stuff. It’s coming from the top down now, they don’t have a choice. And that’s the mechanism that we’ve been doing at the company.”

Interviewer then asks why Tom believes the USG has kept it a secret, to which Tom replies:

“I think…Well, I won’t even say I think. I know a bunch of the reasons but some of the stuff worth talking about is just, the technology is so extraordinary, ya know, a nuclear weapon can show up on the White House lawn in 10 seconds from across the world, I mean that’s how wild this stuff gets. And then, also, it’s kinda scary to a lot of people, ya know? And it attacks belief systems and religions and all that kinda stuff. It’s like such a big deal. It’s like how do we even start and where do we even start? And then I show up and I say ‘I have an idea — this is how we can do it’ and that’s what we’re doing.”