Elizondo on a 1962 nuclear test retrieval
From the UAP Encyclopedia, the open encyclopedia of UFO and UAP history · 🗓️ Event
Contents 7
| Date | 10 June 2021 |
|---|---|
| Topics | Crashes & retrievals (topic), Nuclear & missile sites (topic), Government programs (topic) |
| People | Luis Elizondo |
| Testimony | Shellenberger testimony, p. 200 |
| Year | 2021 in UFO history |
| Timeline | 2021 on the UAP Timeline |
| Sources | 13 |
In a June 2021 interview, former Pentagon official Luis Elizondo was asked about a rumoured crash retrieval linked to a U.S. high-altitude nuclear test in 1962. He gave a non-committal answer that neither confirmed nor denied it.[1]
The 1962 tests
In 1962 the United States carried out Operation Fishbowl, a series of high-altitude nuclear tests launched from Johnston Island in the Pacific as part of Operation Dominic. Starfish Prime, detonated about 400 kilometres up on 9 July 1962, produced an unexpectedly strong electromagnetic pulse that knocked out streetlights in Hawaii and a radiation belt that damaged several satellites. Bluegill Triple Prime, after several failed attempts, was detonated about 48 kilometres up on 26 October 1962, and Kingfish and Tightrope followed in early November.[2]
The rumour
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The most developed version of the story was set out in 2024 by Australian intelligence officer Geoff Cruickshank in an interview with Ross Coulthart and in Liberation Times. He argued that declassified film of Bluegill Triple Prime shows a craft of apparently non-human origin tumbling from the blast, that a white triangle in one film was a censorship mask, and that logs of recovery ships showed anomalous debris and unusual radiation exposure.[3][4]
Rebuttal
In May 2025 researcher Douglas Dean Johnson argued that the falling object was the missile's 65-foot Thor booster, which a declassified report shows near the fireball; nuclear historians Alex Wellerstein and Peter Kuran said the triangle was part of the original footage, not a later redaction; the ship logs listed ordinary radioactive test hardware; and the inflated radiation readings were attributed at the time to faulty seals on film badges. Johnson found no contemporary documents linking the test to a UFO.[3]
Assessment
The tests themselves and their electromagnetic effects are well documented, but there is no documentary evidence that a UFO was brought down.[2][3]
People and topics
- Luis Elizondo — Former Army counterintelligence officer who says he ran AATIP.
- Unidentified flying object — An object in the sky that can't be identified; the older term for UAP.
On the Timeline
- Elizondo on interference with AATIP (26 May 2021) — Elizondo says some officials interfered with AATIP's work.
- Will Miller's secret groups claim (2020) (25 June 2020) — Retired Navy commander Will Miller says he believes secret groups control advanced craft.
See every 2021 event on the UAP Timeline →
References
- "Luis Elizondo — Advancing the UFO reality & cognitive human interface", Engaging The Phenomenon (YouTube, Jun 2021) · youtu.be · archived copy
- Operation Fishbowl — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
- "Australian intelligence officer argues large UFO knocked down by the Bluegill Triple Prime nuclear test", Metabunk · metabunk.org · archived copy
- "The hidden truth behind a 1960s nuclear test: a non-human craft fell down to Earth", Liberation Times · liberationtimes.squarespace.com · archived copy
- Luis Elizondo — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
- Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
- Starfish Prime — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
- The first time the US tested an EMP weapon — We Are The Mighty · wearethemighty.com · 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
- youtu.be · youtu.be · 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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