(howls)
- This week on Buzzfeed
Unsolved, we once again tackle
the age-old question, do aliens exist?
To attempt to answer that question,
we'll take a deep dive
into the government's
newly uncovered Advanced Aerospace
Threat Identification Program
and in particular, we'll
examine some recent
video evidence that has emerged from
the program, and it's good footage.
- Is this some good stuff?
- I think--
- You got your little peepers on it?
- Dare I say, is it undeniable?
- I have to say this
every single time we do
an episode about aliens,
but I do believe in aliens.
- And I have to say
this every time as well,
he believes in aliens,
but in a very boring way.
- I just don't think they're bipedal.
I think they're probably
clouds or little bacteria.
- They're intelligent.
- Do you think they have belly buttons?
- Not gonna play this game with you.
I'm not, I refuse.
I know what you're--
- I just wanna know if you
think they have belly buttons.
- I know what you're trying
to do right now, and--
- I just wanna know if you
think they have belly buttons.
- I'm opening the file.
We're gonna get into it.
- Didn't answer it.
- [Ryan] In 2007, three senators,
Ted Stevens, a Republican from Alaska,
Daniel K. Inouye, a Democrat from Hawaii,
and Harry Reid, a Democrat from Nevada,
and the Senate Majority
Leader at the time,
worked to secure funding for a new secret,
but not classified, government program,
to investigate reports of UFOs,
or as they've been more recently dubbed,
UAPs, Unidentified Aerial Phenomena.
- Yeah, I guess people like you
have sort of tarnished the--
yeah, that makes sense.
- [Ryan] Senator Reid's interest
in the unexplained phenomena stemmed from
a meeting with Nevada
billionaire, Robert Bigelow,
who has stated that he is
absolutely convinced aliens
have visited Earth.
Years after their
meeting, Bigelow received
a letter from a senior member of
a federal national
security agency with a PhD.
According to Reid, the
letter expressed interest
in Bigelow's fascination with UFOs.
The individual told Senator Reid,
after meeting with both him and Bigelow,
that studies should be done on the matter,
and he created an outline for what
should be covered in the study.
It was then that Reid connected
with fellow senators, Stevens and Inouye,
both of whom had long been a part
of the Defense
Appropriations Subcommittee.
The three met for what Reid described as
"one of the easiest meetings I ever had."
Stevens' interest in UFOs stemmed
from his time in the military.
He said that he never reported
seeing suspicious things
for fear of damage it may cause
to his reputation or career.
To fund the project,
Reid, Stevens, and Inouye
decided to use black
money, as Reid calls it,
or black budget, as it's
more commonly referred to,
which is government money used for
classified programs and projects.
That way, the formation of the program
would not be debated on the Senate floor,
and just like that, the Advanced Aerospace
Threat Identification
Program was created in 2007.
- "I'll have a sesame",
and the person behind
the counter just says, like,
"We're all out of sesame."
and then you have to say something like,
"Oh, love a sesame on a Tuesday."
And then they're like,
"Right this way, sir."
- I think it would be cleaner if you
just had to order a specific order.
Like, "I'll take a bagel
with lox and two chives."
- Oh, two chives.
- And they'll say,
"The cold brew's right over there."
And you take the cold brew handle.
- Cha-chunk, a big pneumatic tube
comes down and you get sucked up.
- You sucked up and it
has that great noise,
like, thunk.
- Yeah, thunk.
- [Ryan] In all, at least $22 million
was spent on the project, with most of it
going to Bigelow's
company, Bigelow Aerospace.
The company's underground Las
Vegas complex would be home
to the research it
conducted for the program,
while the program itself was
operated out of the Pentagon.
In 2010, military intelligence official,
Luis Elizondo, took over the program.
Elizondo was an experienced
Department of Defense employee
who worked on classified
counterintelligence missions,
and operated with top-level
security clearance.
He claims that the
program was so secretive
that even some of those
inside the Pentagon
were unaware of its existence.
The program's mission was to investigate
detection, eye-witness sightings,
and/or military footage of unknown items,
identify them, and then,
according to Elizondo,
"ascertain and determine
if that information
"is a potential threat
to national security."
Anomalous aircrafts that would
operate outside the normal
laws of aerodynamics
would be investigated.
Elizondo describes aircrafts, "that don't
"have any obvious flight services,
"any obvious forms of propulsion,
"and maneuvering in ways that include
"extreme maneuverability beyond,
"I would submit, the healthy G-forces
"of a human or anything biological."
The information the program collected
came mainly from military personnel.
In particular, military pilots who
witnessed the bizarre occurrences.
- What do you-- you
think they're all pooled
in some kind of rally or something?
These are trained professionals.
- Yeah, but you said they go nuts,
they go crazy for these UADs.
What are they called, UAPs?
See, this is not catchy enough.
What is it called?
UAPs.
- UAPs.
It's not supposed to be catchy.
- Should be somewhat catchy.
- If it gets catchy then it starts
to slip into the, you know, I guess--
- Start saying UAPs all the time.
Let's make it just as crazy as UFOs.
- Jesus Christ.
- Yeah.
- [Ryan] Those investigating the incidents
were highly trained and qualified.
According to Elizondo, " We had PhDs,
"we had CI people, we had trained
"intelligence officers
and human case officers -
"pretty much a full range of talent.
"Most of us tend to be, by nature,
"skeptical, because we are in the field
"of intelligence and national security.
"But I think once you get into
"the data itself and the specifics
"regarding what we're actually seeing,
"we begin to realize that
there may be something here,
"a little bit more than
just what people think
"are drones or whatever
people may chalk it up to be."
"He went on, "There's a
lot of rigor and diligence
"that's placed in looking at these.
"We look and say, 'Oh,
that's XYZ, and the reason
"why it looks this way is because of ABC.'
"But unfortunately, there are some
"other incidents that can't be explained,
"and what our job is
to do is to figure out,
"really it's very simple: what
is it, and how does it work?"
The previous director of
The Advanced Aerospace
Threat Identification Program created
a briefing summary in 2009 on the program
that stated, "What was once considered
"science fiction is now science fact."
- What was science
fiction, is science fact.
- The cadence was all off.
- Yes, it's gonna be good.
- Nailed it, now dial
it back, dial it back.
His wife walks in on him
when he's practicing--
"Ahhh, I was just, uh--
- "Hey, you heard of
knocking around here?"
(laughter)
"It's a big day for me."
- Yeah, I'm sure he delivered it with
some kind of gravitas, I don't know.
- Even better if zero gra-vee-tahs.
- Gra-vee-tahs?
- Grah-vi-tahs?
- It's grah-vi-tahs.
- Gra-vee-tise?
- [Ryan] Around the same time,
promising discoveries
were made by the program,
and in an attempt to limit
access to the information,
Reid requested that it be
given a special designation
of "Restricted Special Access Program",
but his request was denied.
The brief summary also
stated that if some of
the technology were to
be used against the US,
we would have no way of
defending ourselves against it.
According to Elizondo, the
sightings often took place
near nuclear facilities, be
it power plants or ships.
The program investigated unidentified
flying objects and metal alloys and other
debris picked up from encounters.
Elizondo said of the program
and the objects investigated,
"If you're asking my
personal opinion from here,
"look, I've got to be honest with you,
"I don't know where it's from.
"But we're pretty sure it's not here.
"Now what does that
mean, it's 'out there'?
"Whether or not it's
Russian or Chinese inside,
"or little green men from Mars,
"or frankly, your neighbor's dog,
"I wanted to steer away from that
"because I wanted to focus
on truly the raw science:
"what were we seeing and did it pose
"a threat to national security?"
- [Ryan] Now that we've
covered the genesis
of The Advanced Aerospace
Threat Identification Program,
let's get into a few of
its many discoveries.
We'll dissect three
videos recently released
by To the Stars Academy
of Arts and Science
from the Department of Defense that are
both exciting and, dare I say, unearthly.
For the first video, dubbed GIMBAL,
little information has been
released to the public.
What we do know is that
it is footage taken
from a Navy F/A-18 Super Hornet
during an encounter with
an unidentified object.
However, there is audio
capturing real military
pilots' reactions to what they're seeing.
- It was interesting when you
see it just sort of rotate.
- Yeah, yeah.
- You know?
- That was merely to wet your appetite.
Is your appetite wet now?
(lips smacking)
Are you ready for some more?
- Yeah, I'm excited for more videos.
(laughing)
It was a good one.
- [Ryan] The next video, known as Go Fast,
was released by the Department
of Defense in March of 2018.
What we know about Go
Fast is that this video
was taken in 2015, somewhere
along the East Coast.
The footage is also from
a F/A-18 Super Hornet
and has audio of the pilots
experiencing the encounter.
- Yeah, it would look like
it was going very fast.
It looked very small.
- Yeah, I mean, it's from a distance.
- Were they up very, very high and
it was allegedly closer to the water?
- Yeah, it was closer, and most
people have the same description.
And that kind of looked
like the other object,
where they kind of look like Tic Tacs.
- Yeah.
- Like flying little Tic Tacs.
And once again, no signs
of visible propulsion.
- Wouldn't it be cool if
aliens were really small?
- Like a coffee cup?
- Like a coffee cup.
- Like if we were shooting this episode
and something just hovered
by our head, right here?
- Yeah, that'd be cool
if they were real little.
And then a cat, like, jumps up
and grabs it and (crunches).
(laughter)
- [Ryan] Now, on to the last and perhaps
most compelling video, titled FLIR1,
also known as the Nimitz incident.
On November 14, 2004,
Commander David Fravor,
a commanding officer of
the VFA-41 Black Aces,
and Lieutenant Commander Jim Slaight,
were told to go check out mysterious
aircraftS that had been spotted
multiple times over past two weeks.
Interviews and reports
about the craft noted
aerial feats that the US
military was not capable of.
Maneuvers such as dropping
from more than 60000 feet
to just about 50 feet above
water at supersonic speeds,
then stopping abruptly and
hovering in that position.
As Fravor and Slaight made
their way to the aircrafts,
Fravor says that he
looked down at the ocean
and saw a disturbance in
the water that looked like
boiling water over something
that just barely submerged.
Above that, he noticed an
oval-shaped hovering aircraft,
just 50 feet above the
water, measuring about
40 feet in length, which
he likened to a Tic Tac.
The aircraft seemed to be moving
irregularly over the
water in all directions.
Fravor started to descend
in a circular motion
toward the mysterious aircraft,
but it began ascending.
When he tried to go directly
toward the object, it darted off.
"It accelerated like
nothing I've ever seen."
The pilots were then
instructed to make their way
60 miles to a meetup point,
known as the cap point.
Moments later, the pilots were radioed,
"Sir, you won't believe it,
"but that thing is at your cap point."
The aircraft had
reappeared in their radar.
The two pilots were still over
40 miles out from the point.
The object had disappeared
before the pilots
were able to reach the meetup point.
- This is a great example of, you know,
they're being called out there to go--
it's not like they were just, like,
doing something else and they
saw the Tic Tac flying by,
like, "What's a Tic Tac doing here?"
Someone called them and
said, "Hey, we got Tic Tacs.
"We need you out here, stat."
and they're like, "Oh,
we got a Tic Tac call.
"Let's go check out these Tic Tacs."
- Well, they also asked them,
"Do you guys have missiles on board?"
in case they had to
blow it out of the sky.
- "These are some serious Tic Tacs,
"with some tactical Tic Tacs.
"We need your missiles out there."
So they get out there,
they're hunting down Tic Tacs,
and they don't bring better cameras?
They just got this dumb thing?
- It's in the moment.
- Yeah, I know, but-- and frankly,
the camera that locks onto
it, it's less impressive.
Get a nice wide shot--
- Oh, my God.
- of that thing zipping past.
- [Ryan] Upon his return
to the USS Nimitz,
Fravor became the butt of jokes
as news of his encounter
made its way around the ship.
Fravor told another
pilot about the incident,
"I have no idea what I saw.
"It had no plumes, wings, or
rotors and outran our F-18s.
"I want to fly one."
Those ranking higher than Fravor
did not investigate the incident further.
In 2017, Fravor recalled
his experience, saying,
"I don't think I was a nut-job
as an officer in the Navy.
"I wasn't drunk.
"I don't do drugs.
"I got a good night's
rest, it was a clear day.
"I think someone should
have looked into it.
"Having talked to some of the other folks,
"it's a big frustration
that it's coming out
now and wasn't discussed back in 2004."
Fravor spoke of the technology
he witnessed, saying,
"This is revolutionary technology to be
"able to accelerate, go up and down.
"Think about the advances
that would bring to mankind.
"What if it actually starts to get
"people to think outside the box?"
- Can you imagine seeing the ocean boil,
and then just having to-- you know,
you get back and everyone's like,
"Oh, yeah, you saw the ocean boil?
"Oh, yeah, did you?"
- Oh, my God.
- And you're like--
- I'll tell you what.
If you're out there and--
- I saw the ocean fuckin boil.
- If you're out there and you
see something extraordinary,
and you look around yourself and you see
that you're the only person
seeing this extraordinary feat,
just know that you are going
to be crazy from then on.
That's what you're gonna be labeled as,
no one's ever gonna
believe you saw anything,
and that is the most
frustrating thing on Earth.
And on that note, let's
get into some theories
as to what these pilots
could have been seeing.
There seems to be two camps.
There are those very encouraged by these
encounters and what they could mean
for the existence of extraterrestrials,
and then there are those that are not
so convinced that they indicate anything.
Let's start with the latter.
The first theory is that perhaps
these unexplained phenomena are simply
unexplained happenings that don't
specifically indicate
anything, including aliens.
MIT astrophysicist Sara Seager
on unknown object origin:
"When people claim to observe
truly unusual phenomena,
"sometimes it's worth
investigating seriously.
"What people sometimes
don't get about science
"is that we often have phenomena
that remain unexplained."
It's also possible that these encounters
are of completely terrestrial origin.
Another country could
be creating and testing
advanced technology that
we are simply unaware of.
An anonymous former congressional staffer
claims this was a reason
for forming the program
in the first place, posing the question,
"Was this China or Russia
trying to do something,
"or has some propulsion system
we are not familiar with?"
Andrew Siemion, the director of the Search
for Extraterrestrial Intelligence
Institute Center in Berkeley says
that after years of
studying, we're still short
on research indicating
that aliens do exist.
"Objective description of any phenomena
"should be backed up
by compelling evidence,
"and despite many decades of reports
"of various UFO and abduction phenomena,
"we don't have much evidence.
"Moreover, astronomers spend their lives
"looking at the sky with a wide variety
"of telescopes and
techniques, and we have never
"snapped a picture of an
unexplained spaceship."
And Neil deGrasse Tyson simply says,
"Call me when you have a
dinner invite from an alien."
- Well, I'll tell you what.
I don't like being lumped in with him.
- Why is that?
You're not on the Neil
deGrasse Tyson train?
- He's always a little
too pleased with himself.
And I know I'm often
pleased with myself, too.
- You're quite pleased with yourself.
I think you dig the
smell of your own farts.
- That's not true.
Good theory, though.
(laughter)
- [Ryan] The second theory
is that the encounters,
like the ones shown in these videos,
perhaps suggest extraterrestrial life.
People in this camp claim the videos
are just scratching the
surface and are grounds
for even more research into the topic.
Those who come out about their involvement
with the program all seem to criticize
the government and its
research, or lack thereof.
Elizondo states that there were
senior officials in the
Department of Defense
that objected to the
program for various reasons.
Elizondo explained, "In the end, however,
"I couldn't carry out that
mission because the department,
"which was understandable overstretched,
"couldn't give the resources that
"the mounting evidence deserved."
Christopher Mellon, the Deputy Assistant
Secretary of Defense for Intelligence
under both Clinton and Bush,
cites embarrassment or potential damage
to reputation as a reason for the lack
of attention on the issue
within the Pentagon.
"Nobody wants to be 'the alien guy'
"in the national security bureaucracy;
"nobody wants to be ridiculed or sidelined
"for drawing attention to the issue.
"This is true up and down
the chain of command,
"and it is a serious and
recurring impediment to progress."
In the end, the government said
the program was shuttered in 2012.
However, its existence was not
made public until late 2017.
That means the program was mostly hidden
from public knowledge for 10 years.
Spokesperson Thomas
Crosson for the Pentagon
on the closing of the program:
"It was determined that there were other,
"higher priority issues
that merited funding,
"and it was in the best interest
"of the DoD to make a change."
However, since its official closing,
program supporters say
officials that worked
on the project continue their work
in investigations on top of their other
assigned tasks in the defense department.
Elizondo resigned in
October 2017 as a protest
to the secrecy surrounding the project.
Elizondo wrote a resignation letter
to Secretary of Defense, Jim Mattis,
in which he described the problems with
the government's operation of the program.
"Despite overwhelming evidence at both
"the classified and unclassified levels,
"certain individuals in the Department
"remain staunchly opposed
to further research
"on what could be a tactical
threat to our pilots,
"sailors, and soldiers, and perhaps even
"an existential threat to
our national security."
Elizondo entered the private sector
to continue the research he wasn't
able to further with the government.
"I left to find an environment
where investigating
"these phenomena is priority number one."
This is typical.
You know, in every disaster
movie or alien movie
or whatever, something along those lines,
there is a character in it
that everyone thinks is crazy.
- Oh, always.
- And then everything goes to hell
and now people are running to this dude
for answers and he's not so crazy.
I'm just saying, I know that's a movie,
obviously, but it seems
that, you know, reality
is mimicking fiction, here.
- Yeah.
- [Ryan] Along with a few
other people involved in
the program, including Christopher Mellon,
Elizondo has gone on to become part of
the To the Stars Academy
of Arts and Science
to continue their study
of the unexplained.
The academy's president
and CEO is Tom DeLonge,
formerly of the band Blink-182.
The corporation's mission is to look into
"exotic science and
technologies" by blending
and utilizing science,
aerospace, and entertainment.
Mellon claims that those
involved in the military
are approaching To the Stars Academy
to investigate more happenings
similar to those he's described,
because of the Department of Defense's
poor handling of reported incidents.
It's admirable...
to maybe hang your hat on your belief
so strongly and devote this amount of time
and research to the aid of everyone else.
I'm gonna assume he's doing
it to aid everyone else,
not just to be like, "I told you so."
- Well, but at the same time, these people
probably have fat stacks, right?
Blink-182 sold a lot of albums.
- Yeah, they sold a lot of albums.
They had a lot of records.
- He's living a cozy life.
- What if aliens-- this is
bringing it back full circle.
- Bring it back.
- What if aliens are small,
like you said before--
- I'd still love that, dude.
- And Tom DeLonge sings
All the Small Things,
and we look back at All the Small Things,
and we see that inside
the song is actually
a coded message that explains
aliens are small things.
Let's examine the lyrics after this,
but I think we might find a code in there.
I think we can National Treasure this.
- [Ryan] So, do aliens really exist?
Despite numerous sightings, it seems that
no one can agree on this topic.
Until we get a clear
visual, hard evidence,
and maybe even a declaration
from aliens themselves,
the mystery will remain unsolved.
(eerie music)
When it comes to trying to
prove aliens' existence,
this program and its findings are
the best chance we have at doing that.
It's definitely offered
the best case, I would say.
- Yeah, it seems like they're going
about it in a somewhat respectable way.
- Well, because think about it.
When you're trying to prove
aliens, what do you need?
You need--
- Proof, number one.
- You need--
- Paramount,
- You need video and you
need people of stature,
or people with credentials,
to believe that proof.
This has both of them.
I feel like the videos
speak for themselves.
I feel like they show
things that are clearly
unexplainable and I think that's enough
to make the jump, at least to say,
"Maybe we should research
this a little more."
- I think we should research it more.
'Cause we don't know what it is.
- Probably aliens.
- No, can't say that.
- It might be aliens.
- Could be.
Could be 1000 things.
Could be a billion things.
- I'll take it, I'll take it.
(eerie music)
