Although the reverse-engineering of extraterrestrial craft has remained within the realm of conspiracy theories, a new report shows that the Department of Defense (DOD) had been asked to consider investigating the issue.
A study by the U.S. Department of Defense’s All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO)—first reported by Politico—examined unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP), commonly referred to as UFOs, from 1945 until the present. The study was released on Friday.
The report found “no evidence that any [U.S. government] investigation, academic-sponsored research, or official review panel has confirmed that any sighting of a UAP represented extraterrestrial technology,” according to The Washington Post.
According to the report, these alleged alien craft could be written off as “ordinary objects and phenomena, and the result of misidentification.”
Although the report largely debunked UAP sightings, it found that a program titled “Kona Blue” was proposed to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in the 2010s, which would have examined the benefits of reverse-engineering recovered extraterrestrial craft.
According to the report, the proposal was rejected by DHS “for lacking merit” because there was no craft recovered.
“It is critical to note that no extraterrestrial craft or bodies were ever collected, this material was only assumed to exist by Kona Blue advocates and its anticipated contract performers,” the report stated.
Kona Blue was first declassified in AARO’s report.
According to AARO’s acting director, Tim Phillips, the program was never approved because no department “possessed any material or information.”
‘Misrepresentations’
Mr. Phillips later attributed the sightings to misrepresentations of popular culture and classified military programs.
“These are rational people making observations and just relating to what they know,” Mr. Phillips said. “We were able to go back to the program owners in that range and ask, ‘by the way, what were we flying during this week?’ My God, I would have thought it would have been a UAP myself when I actually saw the picture of it.”
The report contradicts much of what David Grusch, a former intelligence officer turned whistleblower, said throughout 2023 when discussing what the U.S. government knew about extraterrestrial technology.
He alleged that covert factions within the U.S. government possessed alien craft and bodies.Mr. Grusch, who has been openly critical of AARO, spoke about the UAP Disclosure Act, legislation that was being considered in Congress that could allow for greater transparency regarding what the government knows about UAPs.
According to Mr. Grusch, the legislation was modeled after the President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act of 1992, which directed the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) to establish the Assassination Records Review Board to collect all records related to the assassination of President Kennedy.
Though the board never met the expectations of those questioning the official narrative, Mr. Grusch said this bill had more “teeth” to “force the issue.”
In November 2023, Reps. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.), Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.), Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.), and Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.) held a press conference in which they vehemently criticized the stalling of the legislation. Some pointed out their issues with the legislation itself, which allows for the collection of UAP records to be disclosed to the public 25 years after the date of record creation unless the president deems such disclosure a threat to national security.
Most recently, an unclassified report from the Pentagon’s inspector general claimed that the DOD had no “coordinated approach” to investigate the UAP issue. Due to this lack of coordination, the report stated that it left the United States open to external military threats, which compromises national security.
Reversed-Engineered Technology
There have been multiple testimonies of government officials claiming that recovered UAP craft have been reverse-engineered for technological advancement.
In 1997, Lt. Col. Philip Corso made a striking claim in his memoir “The Day After Roswell.” He alleged that during his tenure as a member of President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s National Security Council and as head of the foreign technological desk at the U.S. Army’s Research and Development Department, he led the Army’s reverse-engineering project. This project allegedly utilized recovered technology from the 1947 Roswell crash and disseminated the information to major corporate firms.
Using the provided information, these firms manufactured “lasers, integrated circuitry, fiber-optics networks, accelerated particle-beam devices, and even the Kevlar material in bulletproof vests,” Lt. Col. Corso wrote.
The Roswell incident was initially reported as a confirmed recovered flying saucer by the U.S. Army Air Forces before the story was quickly retracted and reported as a fallen weather balloon.
Caden Pearson contributed to this report.
