Immaculate Constellation
From the UAP Encyclopedia, the open encyclopedia of UFO and UAP history · 🏛️ Program or study
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Immaculate Constellation is the claimed name of an unacknowledged U.S. government program that collects and holds evidence of unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP), described in a report by journalist Michael Shellenberger based on information from an anonymous whistleblower. The report became public in November 2024, around the House Oversight Committee's hearing on UAP on 13 November. The Department of Defense has said it has no record of any program by that name.[1][2]
The report
Shellenberger said he had been in contact with a whistleblower whose role and identity he withheld, and who had come across the material by accident: "This was not something they had expected to encounter," he said.[1] According to the report, Immaculate Constellation is an unacknowledged special access program (USAP) created by the Department of Defense in 2017, after The New York Times revealed the earlier AATIP effort. It allegedly gathers UAP sightings and intelligence reports, including first-hand accounts and imagery from military and intelligence sensors, and keeps them in an intelligence-community database without the knowledge or oversight of Congress.[1][3]
The report describes several types of encounter. Among them, it says spherical "orbs" surrounded an F-22 fighter and forced it out of its patrol area, and that a Navy aircrew watched an orange-red sphere descend from high altitude, after which crew members reported unease and a sense of having "snapped out of a trance".[1] Shellenberger said the whistleblower did not hand over any of the imagery itself, for fear of the consequences.[1]
The 13 November 2024 hearing
Shellenberger testified at the House Oversight subcommittee hearing "Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena: Exposing the Truth" on 13 November 2024, alongside former Pentagon official Luis Elizondo, former NASA associate administrator Michael Gold and retired Navy Rear Adm. Tim Gallaudet. His written testimony, which compiled hundreds of events and sources, forms the basis of this site's UAP Timeline.[4] Representative Nancy Mace raised Immaculate Constellation during the hearing; in a statement two days later she said Congress was not getting the full picture from the Pentagon.[5]
Response
Pentagon spokesperson Sue Gough said: "The Department of Defense has no record, present or historical, of any type of SAP called 'IMMACULATE CONSTELLATION'."[1] AARO had previously attributed claims of hidden programs to misidentification and "circular reporting" among a small group of people; Shellenberger said his source was not part of that circle.[1] Skeptics have questioned the account, noting that the whistleblower is anonymous and that no imagery or documents from the alleged program have been released.[2] Supporters reply that unacknowledged programs are designed to be denied, and some have pursued Freedom of Information Act requests about the name.[2]
Status
As of 2026, no official body has confirmed that Immaculate Constellation exists, and no evidence from it has been made public.
References
- "What we know about the report on 'Immaculate Constellation'", NewsNation · newsnationnow.com · archived copy
- "What is the Pentagon's alleged 'Immaculate Constellation' program?", NewsNation · digital-release.newsnationnow.com · archived copy
- "Immaculate Constellation: Witness alleges Pentagon has secret UAP program during congressional hearing", FOX 35 Orlando · fox35orlando.com · archived copy
- Michael Shellenberger, written testimony to the House Oversight Committee (13 Nov 2024) · oversight.house.gov · archived copy
- "Rep. Nancy Mace on Pentagon UAP report: we're not getting the full picture", office of Rep. Nancy Mace (15 Nov 2024) · mace.house.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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