Projected AAWSAP funding
From the UAP Encyclopedia, the open encyclopedia of UFO and UAP history · 🗓️ Event
Contents 7

| Date | 29 October 2008 |
|---|---|
| Topics | Secrecy & cover-up (topic), Government programs (topic), Congress & law (topic) |
| People | Christopher "Kit" Green, Jacques Vallée, Harry Reid |
| Testimony | Shellenberger testimony, p. 168 |
| Year | 2008 in UFO history |
| Timeline | 2008 on the UAP Timeline |
| Sources | 22 |
According to Jacques Vallée's journals, in October 2008 former CIA physician Kit Green told him that funding for the Pentagon's new UFO study, the Advanced Aerospace Weapon System Applications Program (AAWSAP), might eventually reach $240 million, and that backers in Congress, including Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, wanted the program to continue for years. The program in fact received far less and ended after about two years.[1][2]
Actual funding

Reid, with Senators Ted Stevens and Daniel Inouye, had added $22 million to the 2008 supplemental appropriations for the effort. In July 2008 Reid briefed the Defense Intelligence Agency's director on $10 million in start-up funds, and the DIA awarded the contract to Bigelow Aerospace Advanced Space Studies that September. The Pentagon later said that the program's appropriations ran out in 2012, though the Bigelow contract itself expired in December 2010.[2][3][4]
Failed expansion

Supporters tried to secure the program's future. In June 2009 Reid asked the Deputy Secretary of Defense to make it a restricted special access program, which would have protected it and its information; the request was refused that November, and in December 2009 defence officials told Reid that the work could not be done within the intelligence community and might suit another agency better. A later attempt to move a version of the program to the Department of Homeland Security under the name Kona Blue was ended in December 2011.[3][4][5]
Significance

The gap between Green's projection and reality illustrates the program's political fragility: it depended heavily on a few powerful senators, and it never won support within the Pentagon. Reid continued to back UAP research publicly, helped bring the program to public attention in 2017, and died in 2021.[2][6]
People and topics

- Christopher "Kit" Green — CIA physician and analyst who became a long-time contact of Jacques Vallée and studied UAP-related injuries.
- Jacques Vallée — Computer scientist and astronomer, author of the Forbidden Science journals and a central figure in UFO research.
- AAWSAP — The Defense Intelligence Agency's UAP research program of 2008–2010, carried out by Bigelow Aerospace Advanced Space Studies.
- Harry Reid — Senate Majority Leader who arranged funding for AAWSAP.
- Defense Intelligence Agency — The Pentagon's military intelligence agency, which ran AAWSAP.
- Unidentified anomalous phenomena — The U.S. government's current term for unidentified objects in the air, in space and underwater.
On the Timeline

- MUFON–BAASS contract (17 October 2008) — MUFON forms a technical team that signs a contract with Bigelow's company.
- Zurich AAWSAP meeting (24 November 2008) — Vallée meets possible AAWSAP partners in Zurich.
See every 2008 event on the UAP Timeline →
References
- "Forbidden Science — the journals of Jacques Vallée", Anomaly Archives · anomalyarchives.org · archived copy
- Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
- "The Advanced Aerospace Weapon System Applications Program (AAWSAP) documentation", The Black Vault · theblackvault.com · archived copy
- Justin Snead, "Timeline of modern UFO investigations: AAWSAP to AARO" · justinsnead.substack.com · archived copy
- "DoD releases 'KONA BLUE' documents", The Black Vault (16 Apr 2024) · theblackvault.com · archived copy
- Harry Reid — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
- Forbidden Science series — Anomalist Books · anomalistbooks.com · archived copy
- Kit Green in Vallée's journals — Forbidden Science Dispatches · tannerfboyle.substack.com · archived copy
- Kit Green, Garry Nolan and UAP-related injuries — IBTimes · ibtimes.co.uk · archived copy
- Former CIA officer on UFO-related injuries — TweakTown · tweaktown.com · archived copy
- Glowing auras and 'black money': the Pentagon's mysterious UFO program — New York Times (2017) · nytimes.com · archived copy
- The origins of AAWSAP — Metabunk · metabunk.org · archived copy
- DIA FOIA reading room (AAWSAP technical reports) · dia.mil · archived copy
- Documents on the vetting of 'Skinwalkers at the Pentagon' — The Black Vault · theblackvault.com · archived copy
- Skinwalkers at the Pentagon: book review — Bad UFOs (Robert Sheaffer) · badufos.blogspot.com · archived copy
- AARO historical report finds no evidence of alien technology (2024) — Space.com · space.com · archived copy
- AARO Report on the Historical Record, Volume I — The Black Vault · theblackvault.com · archived copy
- Review of Forbidden Science 6 — SFCrowsnest · sfcrowsnest.info · archived copy
- Forbidden Science Dispatches — Tanner Boyle (journal summaries) · tannerfboyle.substack.com · archived copy
- Kit Green — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
- Garry Nolan on UFO materials and Kit Green's patient studies (Vice interview) · exo.substack.com · archived copy
- amazon.com · amazon.com · archived copy
Further reading
- Robert Bigelow — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
- Jacques Vallée — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
- Harry Reid — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
- U.S. congressional hearings on UFOs — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.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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