Ben Kugielsky

Background

Benjamin Kugielsky is a systems engineer with extensive experience in aerospace and defense sectors. He has served as Principal Engineer at Ampcus, where his work focuses on systems architecture, requirements management, and DOORS database administration. Prior to this role, Kugielsky held positions as Team Lead Systems Engineering at RTX (formerly Danbury Mission Technologies) and as Systems Engineer & Project Engineer at Goodrich Aerostructures, where he specialized in aerospace components, systems integration, and spacecraft architecture.

UAP Research with UAPx

Beginning in 2021, Kugielsky became associated with UAPx, a non-profit scientific research organization dedicated to studying unidentified anomalous phenomena through rigorous methodologies. Working alongside academic physicists from the University at Albany—Matthew Szydagis, Kevin Knuth, and Cecilia Levy—Kugielsky contributed his systems engineering expertise to a landmark field expedition in Laguna Beach, California, designed to systematically document and analyze potential UAP activity.

Scientific Contributions

Kugielsky's contributions to the UAPx research include software development, validation protocols, methodology design, formal data analysis, and resource provision. The collaborative team employed weather radar data and radiation detectors alongside optical and infrared imaging to create a robust scientific framework for UAP investigation. Their work culminated in a peer-reviewed publication in Progress in Aerospace Sciences (June 2025), titled "Initial results from the first field expedition of UAPx to study unidentified anomalous phenomena."

This research represents an important intersection of aerospace/defense technical expertise and scientific UAP investigation, bringing systems engineering rigor to a field often dismissed by mainstream science. Kugielsky exemplifies the growing cohort of engineers and technical professionals bringing disciplined methodologies to UAP research.