Secret Pentagon program that investigated military encounters with unidentified aerial objects
The Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP) was a classified Pentagon program that investigated military encounters with unidentified aerial phenomena from 2007 to 2012. The program was funded with $22 million in "black budget" money, largely at the initiative of Senator Harry Reid, and was managed by Luis Elizondo within the Defense Intelligence Agency.
AATIP's existence was revealed in December 2017 through reporting by The New York Times, accompanied by the release of three declassified Navy videos showing encounters between military aircraft and unidentified objects. The revelation was significant not for claiming aliens exist, but for confirming that the U.S. government was taking the phenomenon seriously enough to fund a dedicated investigation — something officials had denied for decades.
Luis Elizondo resigned from the Pentagon in October 2017, citing frustration with excessive secrecy and internal resistance to investigating UAP encounters. He subsequently became a prominent public advocate for greater transparency. The Pentagon initially disputed Elizondo's role in the program before confirming it. The program's successor, the Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force (UAPTF), was formally acknowledged in 2020, followed by the establishment of the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) in 2022.
