The Pentagon performed a secret program from 2007 to 2012 to examine UFO reports by military workers.(Shutterstock)
Believers in aliens checking out Earth’s friendly skies through Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs) could not request for more: A deceptive government group backed by federal “black money,” a talkative previous U.S. military intelligence authorities, fighter-jet video of odd things doing out-of- this-world maneuvers and an area magnate supposedly real estate leftovers of unknown aerial craft.
It all has the feel of moving open a leading drawer in a brand-new “X-Files” TELEVISION episode.
Yes, “the truth is out there,” a maxim made all the complete stranger by reports last month by both The New York Times and Politico Magazine of the deceptive Advanced Aviation Threat Identification Program, or AATIP for brief. Along with the reporting, a video was launched by the Department of Defense revealing a 2004 encounter near San Diego including 2 Navy F/A-18 F fighter jets and an unidentified things. [UFO Watch: 8 Times the Government Looked for Flying Saucers]
Behind the scenes
AATIP was stemmed already-UnitedStates Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev), who gathered taxpayer dollars to begin the program in 2007, together with the assistance of the late senators Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii) and Ted Stevens (R-Alaska).
But behind the scenes is Robert Bigelow of BigelowAerospace, a Harry Reid political donor inNevada A significant portion of the AATIP’s $22 million budget plan over 5 years was supposedly provided to Bigelow’s business to employ subcontractors and perform research study for theprogram
Now toss into the mix LuisElizondo, the previous intelligence officer who ran the AATIP, which at first was under the wing of the Defense IntelligenceAgency He resigned from the task last October, recommending CNN post-departure that it was his individual belief “that there is very compelling evidence that we may not be alone.”
Elizondo likewise informed CNN that the craft studied by AATIP “are displaying characteristics that are not currently within the U.S. inventory nor in any foreign inventory that we are aware of.” [7 Things Most Often Mistaken for UFOs]
Turning point
JanHarzan, the executive director of the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON), sees the mind-blowing reporting as a “turning point in the study of UFOs.” He stated his company is thrilled about the occasions starting to unfold “and feel[s] the public and everyone on this planet should be as well.”
MUFON has actually been examining and looking into the UFO phenomenon considering that 1969, Harzan stated. The group’s analysis of over 100,000UFO reports over the previous 5 years has actually revealed 3 things to be real, he has actually specified:
1. UFOs are genuine
2. UFOs represent exceptionally sophisticated innovation
3. Tremendous advancements will take place if we make it safe for our researchers and engineers to study this phenomenon unobstructed. These advancements include the fields of propulsion, energy, interaction, biology and awareness, to call simply a couple of.
The just recently launched fighter-jet cam video of craft off the coast of San Diego “is just the tip of the iceberg,” Harzan stated. “Our military vaults are full of such videos and data on these objects. Now that the spill gates have been opened a little, it is time for the rest to come out in an orderly fashion,” he included, “and in so doing make it safe for our scientists and engineers to study this phenomenon without fear of ridicule or retribution, but with funding provided by Congress and private industry.” [UFO Watch: 8 Times the Government Looked for Flying Saucers]
No nationwide security hazard
The brand-new revelation about the AATIP is proof that the United States government has actually been looking into and taking this problem seriously for years, in spite of declaring no interest in the phenomenon considering that 1969, stated Alejandro Rojas, spokesperson for the Scientific Coalition for Ufology (SCU).
Indeed, in between 1952 and its termination in 1969, the United States Air Force’s authorities UFO- examination program, called ProjectBlue Book, pertained to the following set of conclusions: No UFO reported, examined and examined by the Air Force has actually ever provided any indicator of hazard to our nationwide security; there has actually been no proof sent to or found by the Air Force that sightings classified as “unidentified” represent technological advancements or concepts beyond the variety of contemporary clinical understanding; and there has actually been no proof showing that sightings classified as “unidentified” are extraterrestrial lorries.
Advanced innovation
Rojas backs the clinical research study of the UFO phenomenon and thinks that details concerning unknown aerial things need to be launched so that the information can be effectively evaluated by the clinical neighborhood.
“Remember, the ‘U’ is for unidentified, not alien,” stated Rojas, who is likewise director of operations for Open MindsProduction
“We don’t know what these things are,”Rojas informedSpace com. “Just because we get uncomfortable with the idea of aliens does not mean we should not investigate when the people who pilot our most advanced technology say they encounter something that outclasses their aircraft. It would be highly negligent not to investigate.”
Another striking point in the current disclosure, Rojas included, is that the occurrences “are very similar to events that have been recorded by the U.S. Air Force and other governments for decades.”
Toneof proof
There is one head-scratcher: Why release this details now? Some see it as a trial balloon to take the pulse of residents’ responses. Is the general public being established for the actually huge news about alien visitors?
“I can’t say I know why things are coming out at this time,” stated Stanton Friedman, a retired nuclear physicist and a veteran detective and speaker on the UFO phenomenon.
“I appreciate the courage of those former officials who came forth,”Friedman stated. He slammed debunkers who promote listening for alien signals “but ignore the tone of evidence of alien visitors.”
Smallprogram, little to reveal
RobertSheaffer is an author and one of the leading doubtful detectives of UFOs.
In his summary of current occasions, Sheaffer keeps in mind that Robert Bigelow has actually been a strong follower in UFOs and alien visitors all his life. He was a project factor toSen Reid and some of Reid’s causes and encouraged Reid that the military budget plan should consist of funds for the research study of UFOs.
The AATIP is a little program by Pentagon requirements, Sheaffer stated; it eventually invested simply $22 million over 5 years.
“Who knew it apparently only takes three senators to set up a secret Pentagon project?”Sheaffer stated.
Funding for the AATIP activity was ceased in 2012, Sheaffer stated, “because it was not producing any results, just reams of paper, although the investigation is reported to still be continuing, but without funding, if that is possible.”
“They have only released two very blurry infrared videos of objects that appear to be distant jets, without sufficient information to do a really good analysis of them,” he included. “So, ultimately, all you have are a few UFO believers in and outside government who were able to get away with funneling a few million Pentagon dollars to themselves for UFO research, and have very little to show for it.” [Ten Alien Encounters Debunked]
UFO artifacts
Sheaffer stated that what is actually intriguing is the declaration in TheNew York Times story that, under Bigelow’s instructions, the aerospace business “modified buildings in Las Vegas for the storage of metal alloys and other materials that Mr. Elizondo and program contractors said had been recovered from unidentified aerial phenomena.”
If that holds true, Bigelow apparently has real artifacts from UFOs, Sheaffer stated, “and in fact has such a large quantity that he needs to modify his buildings to accommodate them? That is just utterly bizarre. We need an explanation of exactly what buildings were modified at federal expense, and what do they contain?” he stated.
Purposeof the program
“Threat identification is obviously an important task,” stated Steven Aftergood of the Project on Government Secrecy at the Federation of American Scientists in Washington, D.C.
“But the fact that this program was initiated at the request of Senator Reid — not the Air Force — suggests that national security was not the paramount motivation here,”Aftergood stated. This impression, he stated, is strengthened by the truth that a constituent ofSen Reid (RobertBigelow) got financing through the program.
“It is somewhat dismaying to see how quickly ‘unidentified’ aerial phenomena are publicly interpreted and portrayed as UFOs of possibly extraterrestrial origin,”Aftergood concluded. His guidance: “Collectively, we should all be becoming more intelligent and more perceptive, not more stupid and gullible.”
Serious research study
“It is complicated, and I am still trying to make sense of things,” stated Mark Rodeghier, president and clinical director of the J. Allen Hynek Center for UFO Studies in Chicago, Illinois.
The center was begun by Hynek, who functioned as the huge expert to Project BlueBook Hynek himself was at first suspicious of the entire UFO service, however after choosing through hundreds of reports by witnesses, he ended up being persuaded UFOs merited of major research study.
In broad terms, the getaway of the AATIP and its examination of military UFO sightings “confirms something that has been believed for many years … that these sightings are still happening,” Rodeghier stated. “We just were not learning about them.”
Blip in UFO history?
Rodeghier stated he hopes the core of AATIP details that has actually been collected can be launched to the general public and provided for clinical analysis.
“It would be extremely disappointing and frustrating if these reports are not released for scrutiny. We need high-quality data about UFOs to do better science,”Rodeghier stated.
“If those reports are never released, all of this is going to be blip in UFO history,” he included. “But even if it’s only a blip in history, it’s still a darn interesting blip.”
LeonardDavid is author of “Mars: Our Future on the Red Planet,” released by NationalGeographic The book is a buddy to the National Geographic Channel series “Mars.” A long time author forSpace com, David has actually been reporting on the area market for more than 5 years. Originally released on Space com.
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