Government programs

State and quasi-state efforts to investigate UFOs and UAP, from Project Sign through Project Blue Book, AATIP, AAWSAP and AARO, plus the alleged ones (Majestic-12) for completeness.

5 programs

USA, 1952–1969

Project Blue Book

Evidence rated Documented

The longest-running U.S. Air Force public investigation of UFOs, succeeding Projects Sign (1947) and Grudge (1949). Officially terminated by the 1969 Condon Report.

Headquartered at Wright-Patterson AFB and at various points run by Captain Edward Ruppelt, Major Hector Quintanilla, and others. Investigated 12,618 reports, 701 of which remained 'unexplained' at closure. Dr. J. Allen Hynek served as scientific consultant throughout. Officially terminated in 1969 after the University of Colorado's Condon Committee concluded that further study was unwarranted.

USA, 2007–2012

Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP)

Evidence rated Documented

A small Defense Intelligence Agency program (~$22M) studying UAP, public knowledge of which became the seed of the 2017 Disclosure era.

Established in 2007 within the DIA at the urging of Senator Harry Reid, with funding largely flowing to Robert Bigelow's Bigelow Aerospace Advanced Space Studies (BAASS). Luis Elizondo says he ran AATIP after 2010. Whether AATIP and the related AAWSAP contract are the same program is disputed by the DoD's public statements; Elizondo and supporters say they were continuous.

USA, 2008–2010

Advanced Aerospace Weapon System Applications Program (AAWSAP)

Evidence rated Documented

The DIA contract awarded to Bigelow Aerospace in 2008 to study advanced aerospace threats, including UAP and 'paranormal' phenomena at Skinwalker Ranch.

Solicited by the DIA in 2008 and won by BAASS, AAWSAP produced 38 Defense Intelligence Reference Documents on advanced propulsion, gravitational manipulation, and related topics. James Lacatski and Colm Kelleher, both involved in the program, published an inside account ('Skinwalkers at the Pentagon') in 2021.

USA, 2020 to present

UAP Task Force / AARO

Evidence rated Documented

The U.S. Navy and Office of the Director of National Intelligence task force established to track UAP encounters by U.S. service members; succeeded by the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) in 2022.

Mandated by the FY2021 Intelligence Authorization Act. Issued the June 2021 'Preliminary Assessment: Unidentified Aerial Phenomena' report covering 144 incidents 2004–2021. Reorganized as AARO in July 2022 with broader 'all-domain' scope (sea, air, space, transmedium).

USA

Majestic 12 (MJ-12)

Evidence rated Contested

An alleged ultra-secret committee of twelve scientists, military leaders, and government officials supposedly formed in 1947 to manage UFO recovery and concealment.

Documents purporting to describe MJ-12 surfaced in the mid-1980s via Jaime Shandera and were promoted by researcher Stanton Friedman. The FBI and other agencies labeled the documents 'completely bogus'; nonetheless, MJ-12 became the central icon of the crash-retrieval/cover-up narrative in modern ufology.