Documents / FOIA release
This FOIA release from DoD Washington Headquarters Services collects 2017 memoranda by Garry Reid, Director for Defense Intelligence in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence. The memoranda concern the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP) and former employee Luis Elizondo. According to Reid, Elizondo had no AATIP job responsibilities and inflated his role, and the program ended in 2012. The release also includes both of Elizondo's resignation letters and notes that AFOSI opened an inquiry into whether he mishandled classified information.
“The Pentagon”3 pages
• (IR= On October 12, I learned of a video featuring Mr. Elizondo that was posted on YouTube by the "To the Stars Academy for Arts and Sciences," which appears to be his current employer. He asserts "for nearly the last decade I ran a sensitive Aerospace Threat Identification Program focusing on unidentified aerial technologies," and later says "we are (also) planning to provide never before released footage from real US government systems." Following discovery of the YouTube video, I requested an informal review' 1of Mr. Elizondo's conduct by the Air Force Office of Special Investigations (AFOSI), which is responsible for providing investigative support to the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD), including investigation of assigned personnel. In late November AFOSI advised that absent more tangible indicators of possible misconduct they did not have enough information to open a case on Mr. Elizondo. • (U/ On December 7, DoD was contacted by the New York Times (NYT) seeking information regarding the AATIP and noting that Mr. Elizondo's recent resignation was submitted "to protest what he characterized as internal opposition and lack of resources for continued research." • (U/M On December 15, based on information contained in the NYT inquiry, I notified the OUSDI Security Officer that Mr. Elizondo may have misused government systems and may intend to release USG footage or information that he obtained during his employment with OUSD (I). • (U= On December 17, Mr. Elizondo appeared on national news programs providing commentary on a video that appears to be camera footage taken by a US military aircraft showing what he claims is an unidentified flying object. In the TV interview, Mr. Elizondo affirms his alleged role in leading the AATIP program and says "we are not alone..." . (U=I On December 18, OUSDI located a classified email generated by Mr. Elizondo in August 2017, in which he requested assistance from a Navy civilian employee to declassify one or more videos. The video attached to the email is the same footage broadcast on national news on December 17. The email chain is incomplete, so we have yet to determine if the video was properly declassified, what process was followed, and how it ended up in the possession of the national media. We continue to research these email transactions. • (U// On December 21, I met with AFOSI agents to initiate a formal inquiry into Mr. Elizondo's possible mishandling of classified materials. Attachments: As stated
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FOIA release, cited by the archive. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is above. 8 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.