AATIP
From the UAP Encyclopedia, the open encyclopedia of UFO and UAP history · 🏛️ Program or study
Contents 7
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| Type | Program or study |
|---|---|
| Also known as | Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program |
| On the Timeline | 14 events, 1998–2022 |
The Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP) is the name most often given to a secret U.S. Department of Defense effort to investigate unidentified aerial phenomena. Its existence was revealed on 16 December 2017 in simultaneous reports by The New York Times, Politico and The Washington Post, which said the program had received $22 million over five years, starting in 2007 at the urging of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.[1][2][3] Later records showed that the funded contract was formally called the Advanced Aerospace Weapon System Applications Program (AAWSAP), run by the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), and that "AATIP" was used for related work afterwards. The revelations led directly to the modern era of U.S. government UAP study.
Origins and funding
The program grew out of the interest of Senator Harry Reid of Nevada and his friend, the aerospace businessman Robert Bigelow. With support from Senators Ted Stevens of Alaska and Daniel Inouye of Hawaii, Reid arranged funding in classified defence appropriations. Most of the money went to Bigelow Aerospace Advanced Space Studies (BAASS) in Las Vegas, which modified buildings to store materials said to be linked to UAP, according to the Times.[1][4] In a letter dated 24 June 2009 to Deputy Defense Secretary William Lynn, Reid said the program had made "much progress" and asked that it be protected as a special access program; that request was not granted.[4] The Pentagon said funding ended in 2012.[1]
Research output
The program commissioned 38 technical studies, known as Defense Intelligence Reference Documents, on topics ranging from hypersonic flight and advanced propulsion to "Warp Drive, Dark Energy, and the Manipulation of Extra Dimensions" by Richard Obousy and Eric Davis, and invisibility cloaking by physicist Ulf Leonhardt. The DIA released the list of titles on 16 January 2019 in response to a Freedom of Information Act request by Steven Aftergood of the Federation of American Scientists.[4][5] In February 2020 Popular Mechanics published "Clinical Medical Acute & Subacute Field Effects", a paper by physician Kit Green on injuries reported by people near UAP.[4] BAASS also produced a 494-page "Ten Month Report", which has not been released.[4]
Luis Elizondo and the 2017 revelation
Luis Elizondo, a counterintelligence officer in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence, said he led AATIP from about 2010 until he resigned in October 2017 in protest at secrecy. He then joined To The Stars Academy of Arts and Science, which publicised three Navy infrared videos of unidentified objects. The Times article, "Glowing Auras and 'Black Money': The Pentagon's Mysterious U.F.O. Program", by Helene Cooper, Ralph Blumenthal and Leslie Kean, also quoted skeptics such as former NASA engineer James Oberg.[1][4]
Disputes about the program
The Pentagon's statements have been inconsistent. In 2017 spokeswoman Dana White described Elizondo as AATIP's director, but in 2019 spokesman Christopher Sherwood said Elizondo "had no responsibilities with regard to the AATIP program". In May 2019 Sherwood confirmed that the program "did pursue research and investigation into unidentified aerial phenomena".[4] Elizondo's supporters said work continued informally after the funding ended, and 2020 reporting by the Times said the effort continued under the Navy.[4][6] In September 2019 Pentagon spokeswoman Susan Gough confirmed that the Navy videos had been recorded by naval aviators.[4]
Aftermath
The revelations prompted classified congressional briefings, new Navy reporting guidelines for pilots in 2019, and the creation of the UAP Task Force in 2020, which later led to AARO.[4][7] In a 2019 interview Reid said he had wanted the program to focus on science, not "little green men". Skeptics such as Mick West, Benjamin Radford and Robert Sheaffer argued that ordinary explanations were likely for the reported sightings.[4] In March 2024, AARO's historical report reviewed AAWSAP and AATIP and found no evidence that they had obtained extraterrestrial technology.[8]
On the UAP Timeline
- Area 2 encounters at Nellis (October 1998) — A security airman at a Nevada nuclear depot describes a UAP encounter.
- 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.
- USS Princeton data recordings claim (14 November 2004) — USS Princeton radar staff say two men took the Tic Tac encounter data recordings.
- DARPA Advanced Aerospace System Concepts (June 2008) — A DARPA budget line describing advanced aerospace concepts becomes public.
- Kona Blue (February 2011) — A BAASS director reports to the DIA program about UAP studies.
- DeLonge on hidden crashes (April 2016) — DeLonge says advisers told him of multiple crashes hidden by counterintelligence.
- DeLonge's research groups (2016) (31 August 2016) — Tom DeLonge says he became involved with groups studying crashed craft and biology.
- Navy underwater-object program claim (2017) (19 September 2017) — An astronomer with Navy contracts claims the Navy runs a secret underwater-object project.
- Elizondo on shoot-downs and recoveries (2019) (15 March 2019) — Lue Elizondo is asked about shoot-downs and recoveries and doesn't answer directly.
- Doty worked for Puthoff (8 February 2020) — Puthoff says Richard Doty worked for him on a program before AATIP.
- Elizondo on interference with AATIP (26 May 2021) — Elizondo says some officials interfered with AATIP's work.
- Coulthart on Elizondo's oversight role (29 June 2021) — Journalist Ross Coulthart says a source described Elizondo's role reviewing secret programs.
- Nuclear lure plan claim (18 March 2022) — A reporter says a plan exists to draw UAP out using nuclear materials.
- Elizondo's Space Force contract (23 August 2022) — The Pentagon confirms Elizondo works for the U.S. Space Force.
References
- "Glowing Auras and 'Black Money': The Pentagon's Mysterious U.F.O. Program", The New York Times (16 Dec 2017) · nytimes.com · archived copy
- "The Pentagon's Secret Search for UFOs", Politico (16 Dec 2017) · politico.com · archived copy
- "Head of Pentagon's secret 'UFO' office sought to make evidence public", The Washington Post (16 Dec 2017) · washingtonpost.com · archived copy
- Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
- DIA FOIA letter listing AAWSAP/AATIP research titles (16 Jan 2019) — Federation of American Scientists · fas.org · archived copy
- "No Longer in Shadows, Pentagon's U.F.O. Unit Will Make Some Findings Public", The New York Times (23 Jul 2020) · nytimes.com · archived copy
- "Inside the Pentagon's Secret UFO Program", Popular Mechanics (14 Feb 2020) · popularmechanics.com · archived copy
- AARO, Report on the Historical Record of U.S. Government Involvement with UAP, Vol. 1 (2024) · media.defense.gov · 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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