The Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP) was a U.S. Department of Defense program that investigated unidentified aerial phenomena and advanced aerospace concepts.
What was AATIP?
AATIP operated roughly from 2007 to 2012 with approximately $22 million in funding secured through a Senate earmark championed by then-Majority Leader Harry Reid. Much of the work was contracted to Bigelow Aerospace Advanced Space Studies (BAASS) under the Defense Intelligence Agency.
What did AATIP investigate?
The program studied military UAP encounters and produced a series of Defense Intelligence Reference Documents on advanced aerospace topics such as propulsion, materials, and warp-drive concepts. Luis Elizondo states he directed the program's UAP threat work.
Why is AATIP significant?
AATIP's existence, revealed in 2017, confirmed that the Pentagon had quietly studied UAP and helped trigger the modern era of official engagement.
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Tic Tac UAP (USS Nimitz Encounter)
A radar-confirmed UAP encountered by USS Nimitz carrier strike group pilots off California in November 2004, captured on FLIR footage.
Open file →Luis Elizondo
Former Army counterintelligence officer who says he ran the Pentagon’s AATIP program and resigned in 2017 to protest UAP secrecy.
Open file →Hal Puthoff
Physicist and former government contractor connected to AATIP-era research and advanced propulsion studies.
Open file →DIA (Defense Intelligence Agency)
The U.S. military intelligence agency that funded and oversaw AATIP-era research and produced reference documents on advanced aerospace topics.
Open file →FOIA and Declassification Process
How researchers use the Freedom of Information Act to obtain UAP records from agencies such as the DoD, CIA, FBI, and NSA.
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