WEBVTT - What Do (and Don't) We Know About the Pentagon's UFO Program?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff from How Stuff Works, Hi brain

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<v Speaker 1>Stuff Lauren Vogelbaum here. During the late nineteen forties and

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<v Speaker 1>early nineteen fifties, postwar America, possibly fueled by a burgeoning

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<v Speaker 1>sci fi film genre, went through a surge of reported

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<v Speaker 1>UFO sightings. In response, the U. S Air Force created

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<v Speaker 1>a couple of short lived programs called Project Sign and

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<v Speaker 1>Project Grudge to look into the phenomenon. They were followed

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<v Speaker 1>up by Project blue Book, a large scale government study

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<v Speaker 1>that lasted from nineteen fifty two to nineteen sixty nine.

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<v Speaker 1>Ordered into existence by Major General Charles P. Cable, a

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<v Speaker 1>former Director of Intelligence at the Air Force, Project blue

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<v Speaker 1>Book painstakingly gathered twelve thousand, six hundred and eighteen reports

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<v Speaker 1>about UFOs. After it was determined that the overwhelming majority

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<v Speaker 1>of these had natural explanations and that there wasn't enough

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<v Speaker 1>data to evaluate the others properly, support for the effort dwindled. Officially,

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<v Speaker 1>Project Bluebook was terminated in December of nineteen sixty nine.

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<v Speaker 1>But did the US government's interest in aerial aberrations die

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<v Speaker 1>with it? Evidently not, because we learned in mid December

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<v Speaker 1>that the Pentagon launched yet another UFO research program in

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<v Speaker 1>the late two thousands. The story was broken on December

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<v Speaker 1>fourteenth by near simultaneous reports that appeared in Political Magazine

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<v Speaker 1>and The New York Times. According to newly unclassified documents

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<v Speaker 1>obtained by the press, a total of almost twenty two

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<v Speaker 1>million dollars was quietly spent over a four year period

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<v Speaker 1>on a project dubbed the Advanced Aviation Threat Identification Program

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<v Speaker 1>or a TIP. The major driving force behind its creation

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<v Speaker 1>was the now retired Senator Harry Reid, a Democrat from Nevada.

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<v Speaker 1>One of Reid's repeat campaign contributors was businessman Bob Bigelow,

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<v Speaker 1>a fellow Nevaden who owns the Budget Suites of America

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<v Speaker 1>hotel chain, as well as a startup called Bigelow Airspace,

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<v Speaker 1>which develops space station modules. He's also a huge UFO enthusiast.

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<v Speaker 1>In a sixty minutes interview in May of sixteen, Bigelow

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<v Speaker 1>said that he believes extraterrestrial visitors have maintained a presence

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<v Speaker 1>on planet Earth. Read himself has a fascination with cosmic mysteries.

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<v Speaker 1>According to one of his former spokeswomen, this fact is

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<v Speaker 1>obvious to anyone who's ever talked to the retired senator

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<v Speaker 1>for over sixty seconds. At some point in two thousand seven,

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<v Speaker 1>Bigelow was reportedly visited by a Defense Intelligence Agency official

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<v Speaker 1>who expressed an interest in his UFO research. As an

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<v Speaker 1>anonymous ex congressional staffer told Politico, there was some concern

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<v Speaker 1>at the time that the Chinese or Russians might be

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<v Speaker 1>developing experimental new aircraft that could possibly pose a threat

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<v Speaker 1>to America's national security. Bigelow later told Read about the visit,

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<v Speaker 1>prompting the Senator to contact the d I A. When

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<v Speaker 1>Read learned the agency was interested in setting up a

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<v Speaker 1>new government funded UFO program, he decided to lend a

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<v Speaker 1>hand to get the project started. Read approached the late

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<v Speaker 1>senators Daniel in Away, a Democrat from Hawaii, and Ted Stevens,

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<v Speaker 1>a Republican from Alaska. It was an easy sell. Stevens

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<v Speaker 1>was particularly enthusiastic about the idea because he claimed to

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<v Speaker 1>have once been tailed by some unrecognizable aircraft during his

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<v Speaker 1>service as an Air Force pilot in World War Two.

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<v Speaker 1>Using the Pentagon's classified program's budget, Read in a way

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<v Speaker 1>and Steven's secretly set some money aside for the upstart.

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<v Speaker 1>A tip the bulk of the cash went to Bigelow Airspace,

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<v Speaker 1>which used it to finance research entire subcontractors on the

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<v Speaker 1>government's behalf. With the company's guidance, a few buildings in

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<v Speaker 1>Las Vegas were converted into storage facilities for objects with

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<v Speaker 1>alleged ties to UFO related incidents. The job of heading

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<v Speaker 1>a TIP fell to one Louise Alzando, a intelligence officer

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<v Speaker 1>with the Department of Defense. Although many aspects of the

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<v Speaker 1>program remain classified, we do know that staffers and contractors

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<v Speaker 1>put together and as yet unreleased, four hundred and ninety

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<v Speaker 1>page report chronicling several decades worth of UFO sightings in

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<v Speaker 1>the United States and elsewhere. What's more, the initiative rounded

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<v Speaker 1>up video and audio recordings from supposeded counters between human

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<v Speaker 1>onlookers and mysterious airborne objects. A TIPS started receiving tech

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<v Speaker 1>Pair funds late in two thousand and eight. The following year,

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<v Speaker 1>Senator Reid attempted to upgrade the program's level of security,

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<v Speaker 1>but his efforts failed. Then, in twelve, the Pentagon cut

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<v Speaker 1>off a TIPS cash supply altogether. According to Pentagon spokeswoman

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<v Speaker 1>Dana White, it was determined that there were other higher

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<v Speaker 1>priority issues that merited funding and that it was in

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<v Speaker 1>the best interest of the Department of Defense to make

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<v Speaker 1>a change. Yet, some sources claim that the Pentagon is

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<v Speaker 1>still quietly investigating new UFO reports made by those in

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<v Speaker 1>the Armed Forces. If this is true, then a TIP

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<v Speaker 1>may continue to exist in some form despite its current

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<v Speaker 1>lack of financial support. For his part, Alesando felt the

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<v Speaker 1>initiative wasn't getting enough respect within the d D. After

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<v Speaker 1>twenty two years of service, he resigned from the Pentagon

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<v Speaker 1>in October of seventeen. Before he left, however, Alesando persuaded

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<v Speaker 1>his colleagues to release three formerly secret videos to the public.

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<v Speaker 1>These were raw footage taken by cockpit cameras in US

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<v Speaker 1>fighter jets and a pew to show strange objects traveling

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<v Speaker 1>through the atmosphere at high rate of speed. To Alisando,

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<v Speaker 1>the evidence suggests that, in his own words, we may

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<v Speaker 1>not be alone, whatever that means. Meanwhile, a number of

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<v Speaker 1>scientists have given more skeptical assessments. Astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell says

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<v Speaker 1>the object in one of these newly released videos is

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<v Speaker 1>probably some sort of reflection. Despite Alisando's cryptic statements, Sarah

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<v Speaker 1>Seeger of m I T was quick to remind The

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<v Speaker 1>New York Times that unidentified shapes in the sky aren't

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<v Speaker 1>necessarily extraterrestrial vessels. And Furthermore, astronomer Seth Shostak believes the

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<v Speaker 1>decision to include Bigelow, someone with firm pre existing views

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<v Speaker 1>on alien visitations, raises doubts about the program's objectivity. So

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<v Speaker 1>are we alone in the universe or not? Humanity doesn't

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<v Speaker 1>have nearly enough data to answer that question. All we

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<v Speaker 1>can do right now is keep our minds sharp and

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<v Speaker 1>our eyes skyward. Today's episode was written by Mark Mancheni

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<v Speaker 1>and produced by Tristan McNeil. For more on this and

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<v Speaker 1>lots of other mysterious topics, visit our home planet, how

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<v Speaker 1>Stuff Works dot com. M