Knowledge Tree
Pentagon
Facts (51)
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How the Pentagon Started Taking U.F.O.s Seriously | The New Yorker newyorker.com Apr 30, 2021 33 facts
perspectiveA former Pentagon official expressed skepticism regarding Leslie Kean's evidence, stating that her slides contained terminology not used by the Pentagon and that the evidence "doesn't pass the smell test."
quoteA former Pentagon official stated, “ ‘Unidentified’ doesn’t mean little green men—it just means there’s something there.”
accountA Pentagon report on unidentified aerial phenomena discussed the possibility of 'alien' or 'non-human' technology while also listing prosaic explanations for the sightings.
perspectiveA former Pentagon official stated that the government needed a system similar to post-9/11 fusion centers, where Department of Defense, F.B.I., and National Reconnaissance Office personnel could share information, to properly handle UAP intelligence.
claimThe U.A.P. (Unidentified Aerial Phenomena) issue is being taken more seriously by the Pentagon in 2021 compared to the period around 2018-2019.
quoteIn June 2011, Leslie Kean advised an audience of officials from NASA, the Pentagon, the Department of Transportation, congressional staff, and retired intelligence officials that the primary challenge regarding U.A.P. was "to undo fifty years of reinforcement of U.A.P. as folklore and pseudoscience."
accountOn December 16, 2017, Leslie Kean and two New York Times journalists published a front-page story in the New York Times revealing that the Pentagon had been running a surreptitious U.F.O. program for ten years.
claimAn anonymous former Pentagon official stated that some government personnel are convinced of the reality of U.F.O.s and are pushing for disclosure.
accountOn December 16, 2017, Leslie Kean and two New York Times journalists published a front-page story revealing that the Pentagon had been running a surreptitious U.F.O. program for ten years.
quoteA former Pentagon official stated, “If it turns out that everything we’ve seen is weather balloons, or a quadcopter designed to look like something else, nobody is going to lose sleep over it.”
claimHarry Reid requested Special Access Program (SAP) status for the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP) because he wanted the program to investigate potential retrieved UFO materials, but the Pentagon denied him the necessary clearance.
quoteA former Pentagon official stated: “If it turns out that everything we’ve seen is weather balloons, or a quadcopter designed to look like something else, nobody is going to lose sleep over it.”
claimThe Pentagon confirmed that the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP) had existed, but stated that it was closed in 2012 due to other funding priorities.
claimAn unnamed former Pentagon official stated that the purpose of using the term 'unidentified' for U.A.P.s was to help remove the stigma surrounding the topic and to admit that there are things in the sky the government cannot identify.
quoteSteven Greer stated at a press conference that he has had Pentagon officials and members of Congress weep while discussing the U.F.O. subject with him.
claimA former Pentagon official suggested that the primary impact of Leslie Kean's reporting on U.F.O.s was not the specific program disclosed, but rather that the widespread public fascination with the government's interest in U.F.O.s eventually compelled the government to actually begin caring about the subject.
quoteSenator Harry Reid stated: "I was told for decades that Lockheed had some of these retrieved materials. And I tried to get, as I recall, a classified approval by the Pentagon to have me go look at the stuff. They would not approve that. I don’t know what all the numbers were, what kind of classification it was, but they would not give that to me."
accountIn 2010, Luis Elizondo transformed an outsourced study of Utah cryptids into the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP), an in-house Pentagon initiative focused on the national-security implications of military U.A.P. encounters.
claimThe New York Times article "Glowing Auras and ‘Black Money’: The Pentagon’s Mysterious U.F.O. Program" focused on the existence of the covert U.F.O. initiative rather than the reality of the U.F.O. phenomenon, with the Nimitz encounter being the only case discussed at length.
perspectiveA former Pentagon official suggested that the U.A.P. program disclosed by Leslie Kean was less significant than the subsequent government interest it generated, noting that widespread public fascination eventually compelled the government to take U.F.O.s seriously.
perspectiveThe Pentagon was unenthusiastic about the new U.F.O. program funded by the 2008 Supplemental Appropriations Bill.
perspectiveThe former Pentagon official advocated for a U.A.P. reporting structure similar to post-9/11 fusion centers, which would facilitate communication between the Department of Defense, the F.B.I., and the National Reconnaissance Office.
quoteSteven Greer stated at a press conference: 'I know many in the media would like to talk about ‘little green men,’ But, in reality, the subject is laughed at because it is so serious. I have had grown men weep, who are in the Pentagon, who are members of Congress, and who have said to me, ‘What are we going to do?’ Here is what we will do. We will see that this matter is properly disclosed.'
claimA former Pentagon official stated that Mick West lacks access to the full scope of U.A.P. data, noting that there is classified information that West will never see.
claimA former Pentagon official claimed that the government possesses stark visual documentation of U.A.P.s, a sentiment also expressed by Luis Elizondo and Christopher Mellon.
claimA member of the Senate Armed Services Committee inserted language into the classified annex of the 2019 National Defense Authorization Act, passed in August 2018, that obligated the Pentagon to continue UAP investigations.
quoteA former Pentagon official stated: “ ‘Unidentified’ doesn’t mean little green men—it just means there’s something there.”
claimA former Pentagon official stated that there are many government employees who are enthusiasts regarding U.F.O.s, watch the History Channel, and consume related content constantly.
measurementOctober 3, 2017, was Luis Elizondo's last day of work at the Pentagon.
claimWithin one month of the publication of Leslie Kean's New York Times article, the Pentagon reassigned its UAP portfolio to a civilian intelligence official with a rank equivalent to a two-star general.
claimFollowing his resignation from the Pentagon, Luis Elizondo, along with Christopher Mellon, Hal Puthoff, and Steve Semivan, joined To the Stars Academy of Arts & Science, an organization founded by Tom DeLonge.
perspectiveA former Pentagon official expressed concern that the public appetite for disclosure regarding UAP/UFOs has been heedlessly stoked, stating, “The public, I would hope, doesn’t expect to see the crown jewels.”
claimA former Pentagon official stated that the Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (U.A.P.) issue is being taken more seriously by the government than it was two or three years prior to the article's publication.
Steven M. Greer - Wikiquote en.wikiquote.org 7 facts
claimSteven Greer claims that a whistleblower from a top-secret technology management office at the Pentagon acknowledged to him that operational systems on satellites in space exist that can track, target, and destroy objects in space, and that these systems have been fully operational for many years.
claimSteven Greer asserts that there is a large amount of evidence regarding unidentified aerial phenomena, including a Pentagon radar case involving a fighter jet tracking an object with unconventional movement.
quoteI have a man who is a very top secret technology management office whistleblower from the Pentagon who has acknowledged to me that we have operational systems on satellites in space that can track and target and destroy any object in space, and those have been fully operational for many years.... This is what we've discovered is the unacknowledged extra access projects are run off the books in an extra-constitutional way, and the leaders in Congress and in the presidency rarely have full access, never mind control, over those projects. This is something that needs correcting as soon as possible.
accountSteven Greer has conducted high-level meetings and briefings regarding UFO secrecy with the CIA Director, top Pentagon Generals and Admirals, and senior staff for President Barack Obama.
claimPentagon auditors have admitted that the military cannot account for 25% of its spending.
claimSteven Greer has conducted briefings regarding UFO secrecy with the CIA Director, Pentagon Generals, Admirals, and President Obama.
claimSteven Greer claims to have a whistleblower from the Pentagon who confirmed that the United States possesses operational satellite systems capable of tracking, targeting, and destroying objects in space.
Disclosure or deception? New UFO Pentagon office divides believers nbcnews.com Jan 8, 2022 5 facts
claimLuis Elizondo criticized the Pentagon's decision to place the new UAP office within the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence & Security in an op-ed in The Hill, stating that this location is ideal if the goal is to maintain 70 more years of secrecy regarding the topic.
perspectiveStephen Bassett views the new Pentagon UAP office not as a new psychological operations program, but as a planned effort to end the 'truth embargo' regarding extraterrestrial contact.
claimActivists express concern that the new Pentagon UAP office lacks civilian involvement and will likely classify significant findings, resulting in unclassified reports to Congress that serve as mere cover-ups.
perspectiveLuis Elizondo and Christopher Mellon support Senator Kirsten Gillibrand's amendment to create a UAP office, but they express concern that the legislation was watered down before final passage and might be buried by the Pentagon.
perspectiveMick West predicts that the findings of the new Pentagon UFO office will likely fuel further belief among UFO enthusiasts, either by being interpreted as government acknowledgment of aliens or as continued government cover-ups.
Ufology: From Fringe to Mainstream to Fringe? - Skeptic Magazine skeptic.com Feb 20, 2026 3 facts
accountLuis Elizondo recounted that a senior Pentagon official told him to read the Bible when he lobbied the official to take action on UAP, reflecting a belief that UAP are demonic and that studying them gives them energy.
claimHelene Cooper, a Pentagon correspondent for The New York Times, had no prior interest in UAP before working on the 2017 UAP story.
quotePentagon public affairs spokesperson Susan Gough stated in January 2020: "The Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP) was the name of the overall program. The Advanced Aerospace Weapons Systems Application Program (AAWSAP) was the name of the contract that DIA awarded for the production of all technical reports under AATIP."
Climate Shocks Are Redefining Energy Security energypolicy.columbia.edu Jul 15, 2025 2 facts
referenceSherri Goodman, a former Pentagon official, authored the book 'Threat Multiplier: Climate, Military Leadership in the Fight for Global Security,' which argues that combating climate change became central to the United States Department of Defense's mission.
referenceSherri Goodman, a former Pentagon official, authored the book 'Threat Multiplier: Climate, Military Leadership in the Fight for Global Security,' which details how combating climate change became central to the mission of the United States Department of Defense.
Unidentified flying object - Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org 1 fact
claimHelene Cooper, Ralph Blumenthal, and Leslie Kean reported on the Pentagon's mysterious UFO program in a New York Times article titled 'Glowing Auras and 'Black Money': The Pentagon's Mysterious U.F.O. Program' on December 16, 2017.