Claim · E-009
Luis Elizondo: Recounts that in the late 2000s he was asked to handle the security and counterintelligence of AATIP, a program that in Kloor's account appears to have been created in 2007, and that he later took over its leadership, keeping it alive until 2017 even though the official funding had ended in 2012.
Luis Elizondo · Jul 2018 · Interview with Keith Kloor at the MUFON symposium (summer 2018) (Interview)
Direct knowledge AATIP and AAWSAP
Partly verified
Support to the DIA office that ran the program is acknowledged by the DoD up to early 2010, whereas the 2007 date does not match the official documents and his leadership of the program is disputed.
- In support
- An internal email from the DoD press office (June 5, 2019) states that Elizondo briefly supported the DIA office that ran AATIP; Susan Gough (June 13, 2019) confirms that he interacted with that office.
- Against or denials
- The DIA's AAWSAP contract with Bigelow's company begins in September 2008 (documents released by the Pentagon on September 18, 2026); the DoD description attached to the Kona Blue documents places AAWSAP/AATIP in 2009–2012; according to Gough, he was never assigned to the DIA and did not lead the program; in the book Imminent he places AATIP in 2010–2017.
Sources
- Keith Kloor, “UFOs Won't Go Away”, Issues in Science and Technology, Spring 2019 (analysis, skeptical)
- DoD, FOIA 25-F-2554 – documents on Elizondo 2017–2019 (emails, letter of June 5, 2019, replies from the Navy and the press office) (primary source)
- DoD/DHS, declassified documents on Kona Blue, April 2024 (The Black Vault copy) (primary source)
- Watch The Stars – sixth tranche of the PURSUE files with the AAWSAP contract, September 2026 (press)
On this site
People 1
Claims 2
- Luis Elizondo: Claims to have directed for almost a decade a sensitive aerospace threat identification program (AATIP)… Disputed
- Luis Elizondo: Claims under oath that, after returning to the Pentagon around 2009, he soon became part of the program… Partly verified
Inconsistencies 1
Documents 2
- The AAWSAP contract between the DIA and Bigelow Aerospace Advanced Space Studies (September 22, 2008) and its modifications Original available
- The Pentagon's emails on Elizondo and AATIP (2017–2019), released in 2025 Original available
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