The Pentagon has admitted it ran a secret programme tasked with investigating sightings of unidentified flying objects, or UFOs, The New York Times reported.
The programme ran from 2007 to 2012, under the title of Advanced Aviation Threat Identification Programme. The estimated cost of the programme was about $22 million per year.
However, it is said that later the funding was shifted to other projects in 2012. Nevertheless, it remains unclear if Pentagon has continued to investigate sightings of mysterious vehicles.
Initial funding came largely at the request of former Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid, the Nevada Democrat long known for his enthusiasm for space phenomena, the newspaper reported.
Most of the money went to an aerospace research company ran by Robert Bigelow, a billionaire entrepreneur and longtime friend of Mr Reid.
“I’m not embarrassed or ashamed or sorry I got this thing going.”, Mr Reid told The New York Times.
The truth is out there. 🛸
Seriously. https://t.co/ytafycaZqe
— Senator Harry Reid (@SenatorReid) December 16, 2017
Politico news website was told by a former congressional staffer that the programme may have been established to monitor whether a rival foreign power had developed potentially threatening next-generation technology.
The Pentagon, however, openly acknowledged the fate of the programme when their Spokeswoman said, “the Advanced Aviation Threat Identification Programme ended in the 2012 timeframe”.
