This page has been validated.
- propulsion, the use of unconventional materials and controls, and signature reduction.[62]
- Although investigating UFO/UAP was not specifically outlined in the contract's statement of work, the selected private sector organization conducted UFO research with the support of the DIA program manager. This research included: reviewing new cases and much older Project BLUE BOOK cases, operating debriefing and investigatory teams, and proposals to set up laboratories to examine any recovered UFO materials.[63]
- AAWSAP/AATIP also investigated an alleged hotspot of UAP and paranormal activity at a property in Utah—which at that time was owned by the head of the private sector organization—including examining reports of "shadow figures" and "creatures," and exploring "remote viewing" and "human consciousness anomalies." The organization also planned to hire psychics to study "inter-dimensional phenomena" believed to frequently appear at that location.[64]
- DIA did not seek, nor specifically authorize, this work though a DIA employee set up and managed the contract with the private sector organization.[65]
- On 24 June 2009, Senator Reid sent a letter to then Deputy Secretary of Defense William Lynn III requesting that AAWSAP/AATIP be made a DoD Special Access Program. Deputy Secretary Lynn declined to do so based on the recommendation of then-Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence, James R. Clapper, Jr., that such a designation was not justified.[66]
- Just prior to DoD's cancellation of the program, the private sector organization proposed as a new line of effort to host a series of "intellectual debates" at academic institutes to influence the public debate, which included hiring supportive reporters and celebrity moderators. The goal of this proposed public relations campaign was to assume that "E.T. visitations are true" and that the moderators would steer debate away from "dead-end discussions" and the "morass" about discussing "evidence."[67] A stated goal of this proposal was to increase public interest in government "disclosure" around the "E.T. topic" and explore the consequences of disclosure on the public.[68]
Results: The AAWSAP/AATIP contract with the private sector organization produced exploratory papers addressing the 12 scientific areas tasked in the contract's statement of work. These scientific papers were never thoroughly peer reviewed.
- AARO has yet to uncover any other substantive UAP case work conducted by AAWSAP/AATIP. Instead, AAWSAP/AATIP reviewed a large number of Project BLUE BOOK and private cases and conducted interviews of UAP observers and conducted unrelated work on alleged paranormal activities at the private sector organization's property in Utah.
- AAWSAP/AATIP was terminated in 2012 upon the completion of its deliverables due to DIA and DoD concerns about the project.
23
