WSJ: Pentagon Deliberately Spread UFO Myth, Then Tried to Cover It Up

False Briefings Given to Commanders Since the 1950s
Pentagon Admits: "A False Program Did Exist"

There have been reports that the U.S. Department of Defense deliberately spread false information for decades until 2023, claiming to have discovered an alien spacecraft and to be studying its technology, and subsequently concealed these facts to prevent them from becoming known.

On June 7 (local time), the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), a U.S. daily newspaper, published an investigative article under the headline "The Pentagon (U.S. Department of Defense) Fueled the UFO Myth, Then Tried to Cover It Up," detailing these revelations.

The U.S. Department of Defense, known as the "Pentagon." Photo by AP Yonhap News

The WSJ reported that it focused on information omitted from the report by the "All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO)," an organization under the Department of Defense, after it completed its investigation. AARO was established under the Department of Defense in July 2022, in accordance with legislation passed by the U.S. Congress. Its mission is to investigate the true nature of so-called "unidentified flying objects (UFOs)" or "unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAPs)" observed in all domains, including land, sea, air, and space.

According to the WSJ report, AARO began investigating so-called "UFO conspiracy theories" after physicist Sean Kirkpatrick, who had worked for many years at defense and intelligence research institutes and government agencies, was appointed as its first director. After reviewing government documents dating back to 1945 and directly interviewing former and current military officers, AARO investigators found that Department of Defense officials required new commanders assigned to Air Force top-secret projects to sign non-disclosure agreements and briefed them with "photos of alien spacecraft." These briefings had been conducted for decades and continued until 2023.

The commanders were told, "The U.S. government has discovered anti-gravity spacecraft from outer space and is conducting a project called 'Yankee Blue' to uncover its technology through reverse engineering. The project you are assigned to is part of this plan." They were also warned, "Under no circumstances should you disclose any of this information. If you do, you could be imprisoned or even executed without due process." These briefings began decades ago, were given to hundreds of people, and continued until 2023.

Dr. Kirkpatrick identified these facts and reported them to the Pentagon leadership, after which an order was issued in the spring of 2023 to halt such briefings. However, AARO investigators were unable to determine the exact reasons or motivations behind why these briefings had been conducted for decades within the Department of Defense and the military.

The revelations exposed by the WSJ were not included in the report released by the Department of Defense and AARO in March of last year. Instead, the report was said to contain information strongly suggesting the opposite. Dr. Kirkpatrick stepped down as director of AARO in December 2023, and four months later, a report omitting these details was released. At the time, the report stated, "To date, no verifiable evidence has been found that the U.S. government or corporations have accessed or reverse-engineered alien technology, nor has any evidence been found that UAPs are related to alien technology."

When the report was released, Tim Phillips, who was then acting director of AARO, stated, "AARO assesses that so-called hidden UAP programs are actually misidentified legitimate national security programs that either do not exist or are unrelated to alien technology." Regarding claims that the U.S. government concealed such programs, he said, "We view this as the result of a small number of individuals repeatedly sharing inaccurate claims they heard from others over decades."

Regarding the WSJ's investigative report, the Pentagon's public affairs office acknowledged the existence of the false program but argued that the reason it was not included in last year's report was "because the investigation was not yet complete." They added that "the information will be included in another report to be released later this year."