MYSTERY WIRE — A newly released document from the United State Air Force confirms the Pentagon’s Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program, better known as AATIP,  involved the study of UFOs and that three videos of unknown objects were released by the Dept. of Defense. 

With this new document, the Air Force is also confirming previous reports by Mystery Wire and other journalism outlets about the nature of the program and statements made to us by principal participants, including former Nevada Senator Harry Reid, and AATIP program manager Luis Elizondo. The new document has been released in response to a public records request from Vice’s Motherboard.

Former Defense Department official Luis Elizondo speaks at the event announcing “To The Stars Academy” in 2017.

The first hints about the AATIP program surfaced in October 2017 when former intelligence officer Lue Elizondo stepped onto a stage in Seattle and revealed that he had been in charge of a secret Pentagon study of encounters between U.S. military units and UAP’s, Unknown Aerial Phenomena, aka UFOs.

8 News Now was one of only two news organizations in the country to report on the event, organized by rock star Tom Delonge in order to launch his new project, To the Stars Academy, which Elizondo joined along with other former government insiders. 

Tic Tac UFO
This image is from the “Tic Tac” investigation.

The story picked up steam two months later when the New York Times reported the name of the program AATIP or Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program. At the same time, two previously unreleased videos were made public.. One of the videos captured a 2004 encounter between warplanes from the USS Nimitz carrier group and a vastly superior UFO dubbed the ‘Tic Tac.’

READ: Tic Tac UFO Executive Report

“I think we have a much better understanding of the depth and scope that the Department of Defense has played in recent times, not historical 40s and 50s. I’m talking very recently regarding the UFO phenomenon,” Elizondo added, “I think people will be surprised just how frequent and the volume in which these things are apparently recorded and observed by active duty military people on missions, around the world, by the way.”

RELATED: Luis Elizondo broke the dam holding back UFO info

Elizondo resigned from his Pentagon position eft the military and went to work for rock star Tom DeLonge, whose organization To The Stars Academy was instrumental in convincing the New York Times to publish the story about the Pentagon study. The Times’ story set off a tsunami of other mainstream media coverage of UFOs, much of it critical of the work Elizondo says he did for the government.

The new document, according to Motherboard, was obtained from the Air Force Office of Special Investigations (AFOSI), shows that after that New York Times article, AFOSI looked into the classification of the released videos, called ‘GoFast,’ ‘Gimble,’ and ‘FLIR.’  (FLIR’ is now known as the “Tic Tac” video.) Originally, it found “all three videos were classified” and that, though a declassification request had been made for these videos, it was never granted.

Still image form U.S. military footage of the Gimbal UFO incident.

In December 2017, the program.s primary congressional sponsor, former Sen. Harry Reid, gave his first on camera interview to Mystery Wire and confirmed to reporter George Knapp that the a primary goal of the program was to determine the origin of UFOs and the technology that has been demonstrated. In subsequent interviews with Mystery Wire, Reid called for formal congressional hearings into the mystery of UFOs. Reid’s interest in UFOs dates back 30 years, but he kept it quiet until the New York Times story. 

I think I’ll be remembered for other things but hey, listen, if I am known as somebody that kind of got the ball rolling here, I’ll take it. 

Fmr. U.S. Senator Harry Reid (D) NV

The ball started rolling in 2007. Reid and fellow senators Daniel Inouye and Ted Stevens authorized a black budget study of UFOs known as the Advanced Aerospace Weapons Systems Application Program (AAWSAP). In 2008, a contract was awarded to BAASS, an offshoot of Bigelow Aerospace in North Las Vegas.  $22 million was spent over three years.

RELATED: Former Sen. Harry Reid talks UFOs in sit-down interview

Since the New York Times story broke, Pentagon spokespersons have provided multiple conflicting statements about both AAWSAP, and its successor, AATIP. In some statements, the Pentagon denied the programs had anything to do with unidentified flying objects and also denied that Elizondo was involved.  Reid says the UFO mystery was always the primary focus, starting with the first meeting he had with a scientist from the DIA, Defense Intelligence Agency.

WATCH – Tom DeLonge left Blink-182 for something ‘I probably shouldn’t ever try’ — Part 1 of 8

In July 2018, KLAS TV was first to release a series of documents related to the Pentagon programs released government documents , including a list of certain reports it produced as well as full copies of some reports.  Later in 2018, the Defense Intelligence Agency confirmed the list when it released a letter from late Senator John McCain, who had requested all available materials from AATIP for his armed services committee.

RELATED: Key documents related to Pentagon UFO study released

While the DOD has issued multiple conflicting statements and denials concerning both AATIP, AAWSAP, and Elizondo, this new document, which reveals a separate investigation by the Air Force, confirms statements made by Reid and Elizondo to Mystery Wire.  And according to the AFOSI, it “considers this matter closed and will forward the appropriate documentation to the Under Secretary of Defense Intelligence, Pentagon, Washington DC for action.”