Document · D-007

Senator Reid's letter asking to protect AATIP with a special access program

Letter from Senator Harry Reid to Deputy Secretary of Defense William Lynn III, June 24, 2009

United States Senate – Senator Harry Reid · Jun 24, 2009 · USA · Letter

What it contains

Reid writes that since the previous September the Senate has tasked the DIA with assessing advanced foreign aerospace threats and that the program, which the letter calls both “AAITP” and AATIP, has led to the identification of “several highly sensitive, unconventional aerospace-related findings.” He therefore asks Deputy Secretary Lynn to establish, for parts of AATIP, a restricted special access program with a named access list. The attachment gives fiscal years 2009–2013 as the preliminary duration and lists people from the government and from BAASS, largely with the names redacted.

What it shows and what it does not

It proves that in 2009 the name AATIP appeared in Reid's official correspondence and that the senator attributed sensitive findings to the program; it does not prove what those findings were, and the DIA, which had read the reports, found nothing that justified a SAP. According to AARO's historical report, Lynn rejected the request on the recommendation of James Clapper (memo of November 17, 2009), but neither that memo nor the DoD's reply to Reid has been published: a FOIA request closed on December 15, 2025 produced only the letter. George Knapp has argued that Elizondo is one of the names redacted in the attachment, which the document does not make it possible to verify.

How it came to light

Released by the DIA under FOIA and published in its electronic reading room; previewed by KLAS in 2018 with the names redacted. Copy hosted by The Black Vault.

The document

Open the document (documents2.theblackvault.com)

Sources

1. DoD, FOIA response 19-F-0948 (December 15, 2025): only Reid's letter provided (primary source)
2. The Black Vault, June 14, 2019 – the Pentagon: Reid's memo changes nothing about Elizondo's role (analysis)
3. The Black Vault, December 26, 2025 (updated May 18, 2026) – the DoD's reply to Reid remains untraceable (analysis)

On this site

People 4

• Harry Reid
• Luis Elizondo
• George Knapp
• Susan Gough

Claims 2

• Luis Elizondo: Writes that AATIP was an official program that was never closed, that when the funds ran out he continued to… Contradicted
• Luis Elizondo: Claims to have directed for almost a decade a sensitive aerospace threat identification program (AATIP)… Disputed

Inconsistencies 2

• Luis Elizondo: AATIP: official or informal program?
• Luis Elizondo: The dates of AATIP change depending on the setting

Official positions 3

• DIA (Defense Intelligence Agency) (2009): In a memo prepared for the November 19, 2009 meeting with Senator Reid, the DIA wrote…
• Pentagon (Department of Defense) (2019): The Pentagon reiterated that Elizondo had no assigned responsibilities for AATIP at…
• AARO (Department of Defense) (2024): In the historical report AARO writes that AATIP was never an official DoD program, but…

Timeline 1

• Jun 24, 2009: Senator Reid requests special access program status for AATIP

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UAPgrade's entries are compiled with artificial intelligence (three verifiers with opposing roles) and checked against the sources listed above: how we work. Have a document that changes this entry? Bring it to the Investigations Unit.