Document · D-035
The Pentagon's emails on Elizondo and AATIP (2017–2019), released in 2025
Elizondo OIG Docs 2017–2019 (OSD/JS FOIA release 25-F-2554)
OSD and Joint Staff FOIA office (Department of Defense) · May 21, 2025 · USA · FOIA release
Original available
PDF read in The Black Vault's copy of the official response; the version in the Pentagon's FOIA reading room, already cited by the site, blocks automated requests.
- What it contains
- It contains the letter in which, on June 5, 2019, Elizondo disputed to the Pentagon press office the statements about his role, maintaining that AATIP was “an official program that was never shut down,” and the 2017 emails that he attached to it: among them a message of September 11 in which he writes to Neill Tipton that the “front office” knows that Tipton is now part of the initiative, and Tipton's reply, saying he wants to understand sooner or later what it really is. In the internal correspondence of June 2019 the press office summarizes that, according to DIA and OUSD(I), Elizondo had briefly supported the DIA office that ran the program but after the start of 2010 had no responsibility for AATIP; an official whose name is redacted replies that Elizondo facilitated contacts with other offices on problems similar to those of the Navy, without funding lines, and adds that the official personally accompanied the pilots to meetings requested by OSD leadership. There is also a May 2021 search of the Defense Central Index of Investigations (DCII) that finds no files in his name.
- What it shows and what it does not
- It documents that in 2017 Elizondo was dealing with UAP in contact with some offices and that in 2019 the Pentagon itself distinguished between an informal activity and the official program. The 2017 emails are copies attached by Elizondo and, according to The Black Vault, the DoD released them with a warning that it could not validate their authenticity. It does not prove that AATIP was an official program after 2012 or that Elizondo was its director; the DCII search with no results indicates only that as of May 2021 no investigations were indexed in his name.
- How it came to light
- Final response of May 21, 2025 to a request by The Black Vault: 78 pages forwarded by the Office of Inspector General and re-reviewed by AARO, the legal office, the press office and the Navy; the official version is in the Pentagon's FOIA reading room.
- The document
- Open the document (documents2.theblackvault.com)
Sources
- DoD, FOIA reading room – 25-F-2554, Inspector General documents on Elizondo 2017–2019 (primary source)
- The Black Vault, May 28, 2025 – the emails confirm the 2017 UAP briefings and clarify Elizondo's role (analysis)
- The Black Vault, April 23, 2024 – AATIP and the Pentagon: the dispute over the program's documents (analysis)
On this site
People 3
Claims 5
- Luis Elizondo: In the internal emails he claims to have laid the groundwork for the UAP work with the Secretary of… Partly verified
- Luis Elizondo: Claims to have left the Pentagon in protest against internal opposition and the lack of resources, and to… Disputed
- Luis Elizondo: Recounts that in the late 2000s he was asked to handle the security and counterintelligence of AATIP, a… Partly verified
- 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 under oath that a small group within the government created a culture of repression and intimidation… Partly verified
Inconsistencies 2
Official positions 1
Open in the interactive archive The whole section: Archive of primary documents
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.