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Open MindsPentagon’s UFO Program confusion and how the New York Times got it wrong
There has been confusion about the Pentagon's alleged secret UFO program exposed by the New York Times in 2017, due to factual errors and omissions in the article. The Pentagon's Advanced Aerospace Weapon Systems Applications Program (AAWSAP) under the DIA was created to research advanced aerospace weapon systems.
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PENTAGON’S UFO PROGRAM CONFUSION AND HOW THE NEW YORK TIMES GOT IT WRONG
Photo of Alejandro Rojas
[//secure.gravatar.com/avatar/2c469155ec5520224cf8e0307a343405c474766f6dfd58d83e36300e42c4c1d3?s=140&d=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.openminds.tv%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fbs_om_logo_wi.png&r=pg]/author/alejandro/
Alejandro Rojas [/author/alejandro/]April 30, 2025
6 minutes read
[/wp-content/uploads/Skinwalker_Ranch_10393732103-780x470.jpg]
There has been much confusion about the alleged secret Pentagon UFO program the
New York Times exposed
[//www.nytimes.com/2017/12/16/us/politics/pentagon-program-ufo-harry-reid.html]
in 2017, and the problems stem from factual errors and omissions in the article.
According to the contract solicitation
[//www.dia.mil/FOIA/FOIA-Electronic-Reading-Room/FileId/170057/], the Pentagon
created the Advanced Aerospace Weapon Systems Applications Program (AAWSAP)
under the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) to research “advanced aerospace
weapon system applications” to understand “the foreign threat out to the far
term.”
In 2009, then-Nevada Senator Harry Reid tried to get Special Access Program
(SAP) status for AAWSAP. In the request
[//www.dia.mil/FOIA/FOIA-Electronic-Reading-Room/FileId/170015/], he used the
Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP) as a nickname. James
Lacatski, the DIA program manager for AAWSAP, confirmed this in his book
[//amzn.to/41rgFT4] Skinwalkers at the Pentagon, co-written by Las Vegas
journalist George Knapp and AAWSAP lead scientist Colm Kelleher.
Regarding Reid’s SAP request, the book states: “A new unclassified nickname, the
Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP), was created for use
within the unclassified letter because it was decided for security reasons not
to use the AAWSAP acronym.”
The Pentagon denied the SAP request.
Despite selling the program to the Pentagon as a future aerospace tech analysis
program, Reid, Lacatski, and Nevada real estate tycoon Robert Bigelow intended
to conduct paranormal investigations. Lacatski outlined AAWSAP’s work in his
book. It does not align with the objectives outlined in the contract, nor do his
tales of the alleged paranormal adventures AAWSAP engaged in. From the
Pentagon’s perspective
[//www.dia.mil/FOIA/FOIA-Electronic-Reading-Room/FileId/170018/], AAWSAP was
delivering on the non-paranormal research they were tasked to do.
I received the official AAWSAP files delivered to the Department of Defense in
this FOIA request [//x.com/alejandrotrojas/status/1511068194156388356]. All of
them are within the scope of the contract.
For those of us who followed UFOs before the 2017 New York Times article, it was
shocking to see that the Pentagon awarded the AAWSAP contract to Bigelow’s
fledgling company, Bigelow Aerospace. The surprise was not only due to Bigelow’s
involvement with AAWSAP’s inception but also because we knew what Bigelow had
been up to, and UFO research was not the whole story.
At the time, Bigelow also owned Skinwalker Ranch, where a group of scientists
investigated alleged paranormal activity. In 2005, Knapp (a close associate of
Bigelow’s) and Kelleher wrote a book [//amzn.to/3QrRdGX] on this investigation
called Hunt for the Skinwalker. The ranch now has a new owner and is the subject
of a TV show on the History Channel.
We also knew that around 2008, Bigelow had changed the name
[//www.coasttocoastam.com/show/2008-09-28-show/] of his Skinwaler and paranormal
research group from the National Institute of Discovery Sciences (NIDS) to a
department in his new Bigelow Aerospace company called Bigelow Aerospace
Advanced Space Studies (BAASS). At this time, I was in a leadership position
with a non-profit called the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON). We had created a
partnership [//reason.com/2022/11/15/the-military-ufo-complex/] with BAASS. They
provided us with resources for our UAP investigations. I handled public
relations and was the only one in a leadership position who did not sign an NDA
with BAASS. I didn’t want the liability.
I don’t know who knew what at MUFON, but Knapp later reported
[//www.8newsnow.com/news/i-team-documents-prove-secret-ufo-study-based-in-nevada/]
that Bigelow created BAASS solely to win and manage the AAWSAP contract. The
MUFON partnership was short-lived and ended in less than a year.
Another thing many of us UFO enthusiasts knew was that despite their claims the
numerous paranormal phenomena they investigate are real, Bigelow’s researchers
have never been able to prove any of it.
In December 2017, the infamous NYT article claimed that a program called AATIP,
run by an agent in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence
and Security named Lue Elizondo, received $22M to investigate UFOs. This
conclusion has not aged well.
We know now:
* AAWSAP got the contract, AATIP was a nickname for AAWSAP
* Lacatksi
[//www.newsnationnow.com/space/ufo/special-report-confessions-of-a-ufo-hunter/]
and one of the lead scientists
[//www.reddit.com/r/UFOs/comments/1f2c9bf/lue_never_worked_for_aatip_according_to_a_new/?rdt=34412]
for BAASS deny Elizondo was involved with AAWSAP/AATIP – the program that was
budgeted the $22M
* The Pentagon did not create AAWSAP to investigate UFOs – Although AAWSAP did
investigate UFOs, it was one of the least fringy things they took it upon
themselves to look into, which is an important context the authors of the New
York Times article left out.
* Elizondo has claimed he was both part
[//www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/g2dy1prmro5kre3ukfxeo/Luis-Elizondo-IG-Complaint-Redacted.pdf?rlkey=hqn0iw0g5gdi4crs2h2e4eg6q&e=1&dl=0]
of AAWSAP and that he had nothing to do with
[//x.com/LueElizondo/status/1391802246388723712] AAWSAP
In 2018, a senior manager of BAASS, potentially wanting to set the record
straight, gave a strange statement
[//www.8newsnow.com/news/statement-from-a-senior-manager-of-baass/] to KLAS, the
news outlet Knapp works for, claiming “the [UFO] phenomenon also involved a
whole panoply of diverse activity that included bizarre creatures, poltergeist
activity, invisible entities, orbs of light, animal and human injuries and much
more.”
The NYT article seemed to confuse the Pentagon, and its initial messaging was
muddled. However, after further investigation, the Pentagon acknowledges the
history I just covered. Volume 1
[//media.defense.gov/2024/Mar/08/2003409233/-1/-1/0/DOPSR-CLEARED-508-COMPLIANT-HRRV1-08-MAR-2024-FINAL.PDF]
of the historical report created by the current Pentagon UAP program, the
All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO), states, “The primary purpose of
AAWSAP/AATIP was to investigate potential next generation aerospace technologies
in 12 specific areas—such as advanced lift, propulsion, the use of
unconventional materials and controls, and signature reduction.”
“Although investigating UFO/UAP was not specifically outlined in the contract’s
statement of work,” the report continues. “The selected private sector
organization conducted UFO research with the support of the DIA program manager
[Lacatski].”
The report also clarifies that the “DIA did not seek, nor specifically
authorize, this work though a DIA employee set up and managed the contract with
the private sector organization.”
In 2019, I asked one of the authors of the NYT article most familiar with the
UFO topic, Leskie Kean, about the omission of AAWSAP. She said
[//www.denofgeek.com/tv/the-x-files-revealed-unidentified-history/], “at the
time, our focus was AATIP. This was the name on the documents that we had, and
this is what Lue Elizondo had talked to us about in interviews with him, as did
others associated with the program.”
Elizondo told me his involvement was primarily with AATIP and the UFO side of
things, he did not feel at liberty to share AAWSAP information with the New York
Times.
So what did Elizondo do? These details are less clear. I say this despite having
interviewed him several times here on OpenMinds.tv. It appears he started a
group of interested parties inside the intelligence community to look at the
most interesting military UFO cases collected by AAWSAP. An effort I appreciate.
Elizondo and his associates adopted the AATIP name to conduct this non-funded
and apparent non-official work. Department of Defense spokesperson Susan Gough
recently told
[//www.newsnationnow.com/space/ufo/ex-pentagon-claims-recovered-non-human/?ipid=promo-link-block2]
News Nation, “Luis Elizondo had no assigned responsibilities for the Advanced
Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP) while assigned to the Office of
the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security.”
The successor to AAWSAP, the UAP Task Force (UAPTF), was set
[//www.defense.gov/News/Releases/release/article/2314065/establishment-of-unidentified-aerial-phenomena-task-force/]up
in 2020
[//www.defense.gov/News/Releases/release/article/2314065/establishment-of-unidentified-aerial-phenomena-task-force/]
and included AAWSAP personnel in leadership roles. Like Bigelow’s previous
efforts, members of the UAPTF continue to make extraordinary yet unsupported
claims
[//www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/jay-stratton-ufo-memoir-1235996607/].
These claims come after a 2021 UAPTF report
[//www.dni.gov/files/ODNI/documents/assessments/Prelimary-Assessment-UAP-20210625.pdf]
concluding that “the limited amount of high-quality reporting on unidentified
aerial phenomena (UAP) hampers our ability to draw firm conclusions about the
nature or intent of UAP.” UAPTF was short-lived and ultimately replaced by AARO.
Some former UAPTF members now appear on the The Secrets of Skinwalker Ranch TV
show.
For a more comprehensive analysis of this topic, I recommend you read: “On the
AAWSAP-AATIP Confusion
[//www.academia.edu/121609473/On_the_AAWSAP_AATIP_Confusion]” by V.J.
Ballester-Olmos and Luis Cayetano.
UPDATE: On May 28, 2025, John Greenewald posted Department of Defense
correspondence he received via a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request which
supports my reporting on the nature of the “AATIP” Elizondo refers to as an
unofficial, unfunded effort. In an email from June 5, 2019, a press official
writes:
> There is confusion — probably as a result of semantics/terminology
> — over whether the program “ended” or was “transitioned.” By the best
> information we’ve received, the formal AATIP program last received funding
> in the FY2010 NDAA, and those funds ran out, with the completion of the
> final 12 of 38 technical studies, in 2012. From the overall DoD
> perspective, that was the end of AATIP as a program. However, I’m beginning
> to think what happened is that some office in either OSD and/or Navy (e.g.,
> N2N6) continued to track/monitor UAP incidents — but not as an official
> program, just as a mission/function/duty of an office, with no funding line,
> and certainly not as “AATIP.” I think that is what Elizondo is referring to
> when he claims that he continued to work with/in AATIP until 2017.
Read Greenewald’s article and download the documents here: Defense Department
Emails Confirm 2017 UAP Briefings, Further Clarify Luis Elizondo’s Role in AATIP
[//www.theblackvault.com/documentarchive/defense-department-emails-confirm-2017-uap-briefings-further-clarify-luis-elizondos-role-in-aatip/]
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Alejandro Rojas [/author/alejandro/]April 30, 2025
6 minutes read
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[/category/articles/aatip-and-ttsa/]/Pentagon’s UFO Program confusion and how
the New York Times got it wrong
AATIP/TTSA [/category/articles/aatip-and-ttsa/]Articles [/category/articles/]Top
UAP Cases and Analysis [/category/articles/top-cases/]UFO News
[/category/articles/news-articles/]
PENTAGON’S UFO PROGRAM CONFUSION AND HOW THE NEW YORK TIMES GOT IT WRONG
Photo of Alejandro Rojas
[//secure.gravatar.com/avatar/2c469155ec5520224cf8e0307a343405c474766f6dfd58d83e36300e42c4c1d3?s=140&d=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.openminds.tv%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fbs_om_logo_wi.png&r=pg]/author/alejandro/
Alejandro Rojas [/author/alejandro/]April 30, 2025
6 minutes read
[/wp-content/uploads/Skinwalker_Ranch_10393732103-780x470.jpg]
There has been much confusion about the alleged secret Pentagon UFO program the
New York Times exposed
[//www.nytimes.com/2017/12/16/us/politics/pentagon-program-ufo-harry-reid.html]
in 2017, and the problems stem from factual errors and omissions in the article.
According to the contract solicitation
[//www.dia.mil/FOIA/FOIA-Electronic-Reading-Room/FileId/170057/], the Pentagon
created the Advanced Aerospace Weapon Systems Applications Program (AAWSAP)
under the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) to research “advanced aerospace
weapon system applications” to understand “the foreign threat out to the far
term.”
In 2009, then-Nevada Senator Harry Reid tried to get Special Access Program
(SAP) status for AAWSAP. In the request
[//www.dia.mil/FOIA/FOIA-Electronic-Reading-Room/FileId/170015/], he used the
Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP) as a nickname. James
Lacatski, the DIA program manager for AAWSAP, confirmed this in his book
[//amzn.to/41rgFT4] Skinwalkers at the Pentagon, co-written by Las Vegas
journalist George Knapp and AAWSAP lead scientist Colm Kelleher.
Regarding Reid’s SAP request, the book states: “A new unclassified nickname, the
Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP), was created for use
within the unclassified letter because it was decided for security reasons not
to use the AAWSAP acronym.”
The Pentagon denied the SAP request.
Despite selling the program to the Pentagon as a future aerospace tech analysis
program, Reid, Lacatski, and Nevada real estate tycoon Robert Bigelow intended
to conduct paranormal investigations. Lacatski outlined AAWSAP’s work in his
book. It does not align with the objectives outlined in the contract, nor do his
tales of the alleged paranormal adventures AAWSAP engaged in. From the
Pentagon’s perspective
[//www.dia.mil/FOIA/FOIA-Electronic-Reading-Room/FileId/170018/], AAWSAP was
delivering on the non-paranormal research they were tasked to do.
I received the official AAWSAP files delivered to the Department of Defense in
this FOIA request [//x.com/alejandrotrojas/status/1511068194156388356]. All of
them are within the scope of the contract.
For those of us who followed UFOs before the 2017 New York Times article, it was
shocking to see that the Pentagon awarded the AAWSAP contract to Bigelow’s
fledgling company, Bigelow Aerospace. The surprise was not only due to Bigelow’s
involvement with AAWSAP’s inception but also because we knew what Bigelow had
been up to, and UFO research was not the whole story.
At the time, Bigelow also owned Skinwalker Ranch, where a group of scientists
investigated alleged paranormal activity. In 2005, Knapp (a close associate of
Bigelow’s) and Kelleher wrote a book [//amzn.to/3QrRdGX] on this investigation
called Hunt for the Skinwalker. The ranch now has a new owner and is the subject
of a TV show on the History Channel.
We also knew that around 2008, Bigelow had changed the name
[//www.coasttocoastam.com/show/2008-09-28-show/] of his Skinwaler and paranormal
research group from the National Institute of Discovery Sciences (NIDS) to a
department in his new Bigelow Aerospace company called Bigelow Aerospace
Advanced Space Studies (BAASS). At this time, I was in a leadership position
with a non-profit called the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON). We had created a
partnership [//reason.com/2022/11/15/the-military-ufo-complex/] with BAASS. They
provided us with resources for our UAP investigations. I handled public
relations and was the only one in a leadership position who did not sign an NDA
with BAASS. I didn’t want the liability.
I don’t know who knew what at MUFON, but Knapp later reported
[//www.8newsnow.com/news/i-team-documents-prove-secret-ufo-study-based-in-nevada/]
that Bigelow created BAASS solely to win and manage the AAWSAP contract. The
MUFON partnership was short-lived and ended in less than a year.
Another thing many of us UFO enthusiasts knew was that despite their claims the
numerous paranormal phenomena they investigate are real, Bigelow’s researchers
have never been able to prove any of it.
In December 2017, the infamous NYT article claimed that a program called AATIP,
run by an agent in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence
and Security named Lue Elizondo, received $22M to investigate UFOs. This
conclusion has not aged well.
We know now:
* AAWSAP got the contract, AATIP was a nickname for AAWSAP
* Lacatksi
[//www.newsnationnow.com/space/ufo/special-report-confessions-of-a-ufo-hunter/]
and one of the lead scientists
[//www.reddit.com/r/UFOs/comments/1f2c9bf/lue_never_worked_for_aatip_according_to_a_new/?rdt=34412]
for BAASS deny Elizondo was involved with AAWSAP/AATIP – the program that was
budgeted the $22M
* The Pentagon did not create AAWSAP to investigate UFOs – Although AAWSAP did
investigate UFOs, it was one of the least fringy things they took it upon
themselves to look into, which is an important context the authors of the New
York Times article left out.
* Elizondo has claimed he was both part
[//www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/g2dy1prmro5kre3ukfxeo/Luis-Elizondo-IG-Complaint-Redacted.pdf?rlkey=hqn0iw0g5gdi4crs2h2e4eg6q&e=1&dl=0]
of AAWSAP and that he had nothing to do with
[//x.com/LueElizondo/status/1391802246388723712] AAWSAP
In 2018, a senior manager of BAASS, potentially wanting to set the record
straight, gave a strange statement
[//www.8newsnow.com/news/statement-from-a-senior-manager-of-baass/] to KLAS, the
news outlet Knapp works for, claiming “the [UFO] phenomenon also involved a
whole panoply of diverse activity that included bizarre creatures, poltergeist
activity, invisible entities, orbs of light, animal and human injuries and much
more.”
The NYT article seemed to confuse the Pentagon, and its initial messaging was
muddled. However, after further investigation, the Pentagon acknowledges the
history I just covered. Volume 1
[//media.defense.gov/2024/Mar/08/2003409233/-1/-1/0/DOPSR-CLEARED-508-COMPLIANT-HRRV1-08-MAR-2024-FINAL.PDF]
of the historical report created by the current Pentagon UAP program, the
All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO), states, “The primary purpose of
AAWSAP/AATIP was to investigate potential next generation aerospace technologies
in 12 specific areas—such as advanced lift, propulsion, the use of
unconventional materials and controls, and signature reduction.”
“Although investigating UFO/UAP was not specifically outlined in the contract’s
statement of work,” the report continues. “The selected private sector
organization conducted UFO research with the support of the DIA program manager
[Lacatski].”
The report also clarifies that the “DIA did not seek, nor specifically
authorize, this work though a DIA employee set up and managed the contract with
the private sector organization.”
In 2019, I asked one of the authors of the NYT article most familiar with the
UFO topic, Leskie Kean, about the omission of AAWSAP. She said
[//www.denofgeek.com/tv/the-x-files-revealed-unidentified-history/], “at the
time, our focus was AATIP. This was the name on the documents that we had, and
this is what Lue Elizondo had talked to us about in interviews with him, as did
others associated with the program.”
Elizondo told me his involvement was primarily with AATIP and the UFO side of
things, he did not feel at liberty to share AAWSAP information with the New York
Times.
So what did Elizondo do? These details are less clear. I say this despite having
interviewed him several times here on OpenMinds.tv. It appears he started a
group of interested parties inside the intelligence community to look at the
most interesting military UFO cases collected by AAWSAP. An effort I appreciate.
Elizondo and his associates adopted the AATIP name to conduct this non-funded
and apparent non-official work. Department of Defense spokesperson Susan Gough
recently told
[//www.newsnationnow.com/space/ufo/ex-pentagon-claims-recovered-non-human/?ipid=promo-link-block2]
News Nation, “Luis Elizondo had no assigned responsibilities for the Advanced
Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP) while assigned to the Office of
the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security.”
The successor to AAWSAP, the UAP Task Force (UAPTF), was set
[//www.defense.gov/News/Releases/release/article/2314065/establishment-of-unidentified-aerial-phenomena-task-force/]up
in 2020
[//www.defense.gov/News/Releases/release/article/2314065/establishment-of-unidentified-aerial-phenomena-task-force/]
and included AAWSAP personnel in leadership roles. Like Bigelow’s previous
efforts, members of the UAPTF continue to make extraordinary yet unsupported
claims
[//www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/jay-stratton-ufo-memoir-1235996607/].
These claims come after a 2021 UAPTF report
[//www.dni.gov/files/ODNI/documents/assessments/Prelimary-Assessment-UAP-20210625.pdf]
concluding that “the limited amount of high-quality reporting on unidentified
aerial phenomena (UAP) hampers our ability to draw firm conclusions about the
nature or intent of UAP.” UAPTF was short-lived and ultimately replaced by AARO.
Some former UAPTF members now appear on the The Secrets of Skinwalker Ranch TV
show.
For a more comprehensive analysis of this topic, I recommend you read: “On the
AAWSAP-AATIP Confusion
[//www.academia.edu/121609473/On_the_AAWSAP_AATIP_Confusion]” by V.J.
Ballester-Olmos and Luis Cayetano.
UPDATE: On May 28, 2025, John Greenewald posted Department of Defense
correspondence he received via a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request which
supports my reporting on the nature of the “AATIP” Elizondo refers to as an
unofficial, unfunded effort. In an email from June 5, 2019, a press official
writes:
> There is confusion — probably as a result of semantics/terminology
> — over whether the program “ended” or was “transitioned.” By the best
> information we’ve received, the formal AATIP program last received funding
> in the FY2010 NDAA, and those funds ran out, with the completion of the
> final 12 of 38 technical studies, in 2012. From the overall DoD
> perspective, that was the end of AATIP as a program. However, I’m beginning
> to think what happened is that some office in either OSD and/or Navy (e.g.,
> N2N6) continued to track/monitor UAP incidents — but not as an official
> program, just as a mission/function/duty of an office, with no funding line,
> and certainly not as “AATIP.” I think that is what Elizondo is referring to
> when he claims that he continued to work with/in AATIP until 2017.
Read Greenewald’s article and download the documents here: Defense Department
Emails Confirm 2017 UAP Briefings, Further Clarify Luis Elizondo’s Role in AATIP
[//www.theblackvault.com/documentarchive/defense-department-emails-confirm-2017-uap-briefings-further-clarify-luis-elizondos-role-in-aatip/]
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ufos [/tag/ufos/]
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Alejandro Rojas [/author/alejandro/]April 30, 2025
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