Micah Hanks is an American writer, podcaster and researcher based near Asheville, North Carolina. He hosts The Micah Hanks Program, a weekly podcast on science and unexplained mysteries, and co-founded The Debrief, an independent science and technology news site where he is editor-in-chief. He says he has studied unidentified aerial phenomena since 2010, and in 2026 he was active as a commentator, conference host and panelist in the disclosure debate.

According to his website, Hanks spent six years in radio as a producer and on-air presenter before taking up podcasting in the early 2010s. His long-running show, previously called The Gralien Report, became The Micah Hanks Program and covers UAP, SETI, archaeology, artificial intelligence and cryptozoology. He has also co-hosted the current-events podcast Middle Theory and the Seven Ages archaeology podcast, and co-founded Seven Ages Research Associates, a group of independent scholars. His books include The UFO Singularity (New Page Books, 2012), Magic, Mysticism and the Molecule and The Complete Guide to Maverick Podcasting, along with collaborations with the folklore writer David Weatherly. He also works as a musician.

Hanks co-founded The Debrief in 2020 with the journalists Tim McMillan and MJ Banias, and the publication's masthead lists him as director of operations and editor-in-chief. His website says that in 2016 he began developing a UAP classification system based on the work of the researcher Allan Hendry, and that he contributes to the Scientific Coalition for UAP Studies. In July 2026 the coalition announced him as master of ceremonies for its Toronto conference on science and government in UAP research. That April he reviewed recent UAP stories on Ryan Sprague's Somewhere in the Skies, from James Lacatski's interview on Weaponized to the Chuck Clark video and Bob Lazar's claims, in an episode that credited him with "measured skepticism."

Hanks also plays lead guitar and sings in Hitchhiker, a band whose lineup includes the engineer Travis Taylor on lead vocals and the former UAP Task Force director Jay Stratton on rhythm guitar. The band released two original songs in July 2026. In September Hanks spoke at PhenomeCon in Vernal, Utah, and joined Stratton on a disclosure panel there. In October, after Avi Loeb asked publicly why Stratton had not answered an invitation to speak to the UAP Science Advisory Council, Hanks said on his podcast that Loeb had been dismissive when Hanks introduced him to Stratton backstage at the conference. He also disputed Loeb's written account of the meeting, while saying the two of them had always been cordial.

Hanks has spent more than a decade in independent UAP media, as a podcaster and author and as editor of a news site that covers the subject alongside physics, aerospace and defense. In 2026 he also took the stage at UAP conferences as a host and panelist, and released music with Stratton and Taylor as a member of Hitchhiker.