Events
5 events in this investigation
UAP Disclosure
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24 events from 1989 to 2024
Lazar claimed to have worked at S-4, a facility near Area 51, reverse-engineering extraterrestrial spacecraft in 1988-1989.
The FLIR1 video from the Nimitz encounter was one of three videos officially released by the Pentagon.
Commander Fravor was the primary witness of the 2004 Tic Tac encounter, directly observing the object from his F/A-18F.
Reid secured the initial $22 million in black budget funding for AATIP with support from Stevens and Inouye.
Elizondo directed AATIP from within the Pentagon, investigating military UAP encounters and producing classified reports.
TTSA members coordinated the release of declassified videos and insider testimony that made the NYT story possible.
Mellon served as an advisor to TTSA and helped coordinate the release of Navy UAP videos.
Mellon helped facilitate the transfer of declassified Navy UAP videos to the New York Times.
Elizondo was a primary source for the 2017 NYT article and helped arrange the release of declassified videos.
After resigning from the Pentagon, Elizondo joined TTSA and helped facilitate the release of Navy UAP videos.
TTSA first published the three Navy UAP videos before the Pentagon officially released them.
Rubio helped mandate the creation of AARO's predecessor UAP Task Force through intelligence authorization acts.
Gillibrand authored the NDAA amendment that established AARO within the Department of Defense.
AARO is the institutional successor to AATIP and the UAP Task Force, with broader mandate across all domains.
Kirkpatrick served as AARO's first director from 2022 until December 2023.
Rubio confirmed that multiple firsthand witnesses, consistent with Grusch's claims, approached the Senate Intelligence Committee.
Fravor testified before Congress about the 2004 Nimitz Tic Tac encounter.
The dramatic testimony at the July 2023 hearings built momentum for the Schumer UAP Disclosure Act amendments.
NDAA amendments required AARO to produce reports and established UAP disclosure framework.
Graves testified about routine UAP encounters by Navy pilots during East Coast training exercises.
Grusch testified under oath before Congress about alleged government UAP crash retrieval and reverse-engineering programs.
Burchett was a key organizer of the July 2023 House Oversight UAP hearing.
Schumer introduced the UAP Disclosure Act as an amendment to the FY2024 NDAA.
Kirkpatrick's AARO historical review contradicted Grusch's claims, finding no verifiable evidence of crash retrieval programs.
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2004 USS Nimitz "Tic Tac" Encounter
Encounter
In November 2004, the USS Nimitz Carrier Strike Group encountered unknown aerial objects over a two-week period off the coast of San Diego. Commander David Fravor and Lt. Commander Alex Dietrich were vectored to intercept a target and observed a white, tic-tac-shaped object approximately 40 feet long hovering above a churning patch of ocean. The object demonstrated extraordinary maneuverability — accelerating from a near hover to disappearing from radar in seconds. The encounter was captured on the FLIR1 infrared video. The USS Princeton's advanced SPY-1 radar system had been tracking groups of anomalous objects for days.
3 connections
2017 New York Times UAP Revelation
Disclosure
On December 16, 2017, the New York Times published "Glowing Auras and Black Money: The Pentagon's Mysterious U.F.O. Program," revealing the existence of AATIP and featuring declassified Navy videos of UAP encounters. The article was accompanied by Politico and Washington Post reporting. This marked the first time a major mainstream outlet reported on an active Pentagon UAP program with official confirmation, fundamentally shifting the public discourse around UAP from fringe conspiracy to legitimate national security concern. The story was facilitated by Luis Elizondo, Chris Mellon, and TTSA.
3 connections
2023 Congressional UAP Hearings
Congressional
On July 26, 2023, the House Oversight Committee's Subcommittee on National Security held a historic hearing on UAP featuring testimony from David Grusch, Ryan Graves, and David Fravor. Grusch testified under oath that the U.S. government possesses non-human craft and biologics, and that he was aware of people who had been harmed or injured in efforts to conceal this information. Graves described routine UAP encounters by Navy pilots, and Fravor detailed the 2004 Nimitz encounter. The hearing drew massive public attention and bipartisan congressional interest.
5 connections
NDAA UAP Disclosure Amendments (2023)
Legislation
In 2023, Senator Schumer and Senator Mike Rounds introduced the UAP Disclosure Act as an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act. The original bill would have created an independent review board with eminent domain authority over UAP materials and a 25-year mandatory disclosure timeline. While key provisions including eminent domain and the review board were stripped during conference committee — reportedly due to lobbying by defense contractors and opposition from House Armed Services Chairman Mike Rogers — the final NDAA still included provisions requiring government UAP records preservation and establishing a disclosure framework.
3 connections
Pentagon Confirms Navy UAP Videos (2020)
Disclosure
On April 27, 2020, the Department of Defense officially released three Navy UAP videos — FLIR1 (Nimitz 2004), Gimbal (East Coast 2015), and GoFast (East Coast 2015) — confirming their authenticity. The videos had been previously leaked through TTSA and published by the New York Times in 2017-2018. This marked the first time the Pentagon formally acknowledged that unidentified aerial phenomena had been captured on official military sensor systems, lending unprecedented legitimacy to UAP reports.
2 connections