BAASS
From the UAP Encyclopedia, the open encyclopedia of UFO and UAP history · 🏢 Organization
Contents 5
| Type | Organization |
|---|---|
| Also known as | Bigelow Aerospace Advanced Space Studies |
| On the Timeline | 15 events, 1974–2022 |
Bigelow Aerospace Advanced Space Studies (BAASS) was a subsidiary of Robert Bigelow's Bigelow Aerospace, set up in Las Vegas in 2008 to carry out the Defense Intelligence Agency's Advanced Aerospace Weapon System Applications Program (AAWSAP), a Pentagon-funded study of UFOs, anomalous phenomena and future aerospace technology.[1][2]
The AAWSAP contract
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In 2008 the Defense Intelligence Agency awarded the AAWSAP contract to BAASS after a public solicitation. The program had been initiated within the agency by scientist James Lacatski, with political support from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. BAASS employed investigators and analysts to collect and study UFO reports and other anomalies, and to examine Skinwalker Ranch in Utah, which Bigelow then owned.[1][3]
Technical reports
BAASS brought in physicist Harold Puthoff and his company EarthTech International as a subcontractor. Puthoff said he chose the topics for 38 technical studies, known as Defense Intelligence Reference Documents, on speculative subjects in propulsion, energy and physics; the Defense Intelligence Agency released 37 of them in March 2022.[4][5]
End of the program
Funding for AAWSAP ended after about two years. Critics have questioned how the program's budget, reported at about $22 million, was spent, while the insiders' account Skinwalkers at the Pentagon (2021), co-written by Lacatski and BAASS scientist Colm Kelleher, defended its work. Bigelow Aerospace itself laid off its entire remaining workforce in March 2020.[2][3][6]
On the UAP Timeline
- Midwest engineers group claim (1974) (10 December 1974) — Kit Green tells Vallée 15 engineers in the Midwest secretly research UAP for the CIA.
- Proposal for a new Project Blue Book (2000) (24 January 2000) — Bigelow tells Vallée of an idea to push Congress for a new Project Blue Book.
- DIA interest in Skinwalker Ranch (21 October 2007) — Bigelow says the DIA expressed interest in strange events at Skinwalker Ranch.
- AAWSAP begins (2008) (2 October 2008) — Bigelow tells Vallée the DIA's AAWSAP project has started but promised access hasn't arrived.
- MUFON–BAASS contract (17 October 2008) — MUFON forms a technical team that signs a contract with Bigelow's company.
- BAASS "back door" approach (24 December 2008) — A BAASS team member says he tried to get 'back door' access to an aerospace contractor.
- Project Grudge data and the artifact file (23 January 2009) — A BAASS team member is said to be retrieving old Project Grudge data from Area 51.
- Georgia witness visited by agents (2009) (8 May 2009) — A Georgia UAP witness says government agents visited him twice.
- AAWSAP special access program request (29 November 2009) — BAASS gets clearances, but the Air Force won't talk without a special access program.
- BAASS investigations (2010) — A BAASS investigator for the DIA program looks into UAP cases.
- Kona Blue (February 2011) — A BAASS director reports to the DIA program about UAP studies.
- Homeland Security and BAASS (2011) (June-July 2011) — Homeland Security officials explore setting up BAASS as a UAP program in the government.
- EarthTech–BAASS industry collaboration claim (24 June 2018) — Eric Davis says BAASS and EarthTech collaborated with a major aerospace company.
- Atomic Energy Commission UFO materials claim (29 April 2020) — A journalist's source says the Atomic Energy Commission had UAP materials as early as 1947.
- AAWSAP DIRD release (25 March 2022) — The DIA releases 37 research papers from the AAWSAP program.
References
- Advanced Aerospace Weapon System Applications Program — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
- Bigelow Aerospace — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
- Robert Sheaffer, "Skinwalkers at the Pentagon — book review", Bad UFOs (30 Jun 2022) · badufos.blogspot.com · archived copy
- The Black Vault, "Dr. Hal Puthoff determines what topics 38 contracts / reports should address" · theblackvault.com · archived copy
- "The Advanced Aerospace Weapon System Applications Program (AAWSAP) Documentation", The Black Vault · theblackvault.com · archived copy
- "The Origins of AAWSAP", Metabunk · metabunk.org · archived copy
This page was last edited on 29 October 2026. Articles are written in our own words from the sources listed under References; disputed claims are attributed to the people who made them.
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