Unacknowledged special access program
From the UAP Encyclopedia, the open encyclopedia of UFO and UAP history · 📖 Term
Contents 4
| Type | Term |
|---|---|
| Also known as | USAP, unacknowledged special access programs, Unacknowledged Special Access Programs |
| On the Timeline | 1 event, 1998 |
An unacknowledged special access program (USAP) is a U.S. special access program whose very existence is secret, known only to people with authorised access and to a small number of members of Congress. Claims about secret UFO crash-retrieval programs often assert that they are hidden as USAPs.[1]
Definition
Ordinary special access programs (SAPs) add extra protection to highly classified information. An acknowledged SAP can be publicly known to exist even though its details are secret; an unacknowledged one cannot. Within the Department of Defense, some unacknowledged programs are waived: the Secretary of Defense can exempt them from most reporting requirements, so that only the chairs and ranking members of the House and Senate Armed Services and Appropriations committees must be informed, and that notice is often given orally.[1]
In UAP debates

Former intelligence officer David Grusch told Congress in 2023 that the government ran secret programs to recover and study non-human craft, and Michael Shellenberger's 2024 testimony described an alleged unacknowledged program called "Immaculate Constellation". The Pentagon's All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office reported in March 2024 that it had found no evidence that any such UAP reverse-engineering program existed.[2][3]
On the UAP Timeline

- CSETI on unacknowledged special access programs (22 August 1998) — CSETI says a covert group using unacknowledged programs manages the UAP issue.
References
- Special access program — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
- Immaculate Constellation — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
- Brad Dress, "Pentagon report throws cold water on UFOs, alien visits", The Hill (8 Mar 2024) · thehill.com · 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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