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Time of India
an hour ago
- Politics
- Time of India
Pentagon planted UFO myths to hide secret weapons programs?
A new Department of Defense (DoD) report reviewed by The Wall Street Journal reveals that the U.S. military deliberately fueled UFO conspiracy theories—including those linked to Area 51—to conceal top-secret weapons programs such as the F-117 Nighthawk stealth fighter during the Cold War. The report, compiled by the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO), found that the Pentagon spread disinformation, including doctored photographs of flying saucers, and intentionally withheld information from witnesses who had unknowingly seen classified military tests. One striking example uncovered in the 2024 report involves a retired Air Force colonel who, during the 1980s, visited a bar near Area 51 and handed the owner fabricated images of flying saucers. The colonel later admitted to Pentagon investigators that he was acting under official orders to spread false information and divert attention from the F-117 stealth jet tests being conducted at the site. Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like How Much Does It Cost to Rent a Private Jet - The Prices May Surprise You! Private Jet I Search Ads Learn More Undo The AARO, created in 2022 to investigate decades of UFO-related claims, discovered a culture of misinformation and even internal pranks. Its first director, Sean Kirkpatrick, led a wide-ranging investigation into decades of Defense Department memos, briefings, and classified communications. Among the findings: Air Force officers routinely hazed new recruits with fake briefings about a fictional unit called 'Yankee Blue' tasked with investigating alien spacecraft. The briefings came with strict orders never to speak about them. Many recipients believed the stories for years, unaware it was an elaborate ruse. The Pentagon only issued an order to end the practice in 2023. Live Events The motive behind the fake briefings remains unclear, though some speculate it was used as a loyalty test or a deeper tactic to seed confusion and misdirection. The report also highlights how real eyewitnesses were misled. Former Air Force captain Robert Salas, for example, has long claimed he saw a UFO hover over a Montana nuclear missile silo in 1967, disabling all 10 warheads and shutting down electrical systems. He was later ordered to remain silent about the incident. Kirkpatrick's team found that what Salas actually witnessed was an early electromagnetic pulse (EMP) test intended to evaluate whether U.S. silos could withstand nuclear radiation and still retaliate. The test failed—and rather than admit to the vulnerability, officials opted to let witnesses draw their own, more otherworldly conclusions. The AARO report also confirms that several well-known UFO rumors, including the Area 51 legend, were seeded to distract the public and foreign adversaries from ongoing experimental aircraft development. These revelations explain why last year's transparency report from the Pentagon omitted crucial details about the origins of these myths. The Department of Defense has acknowledged that not all AARO findings have been made public but has pledged to release a follow-up report later this year. 'The department is committed to releasing a second volume of its Historical Record Report, to include AARO's findings on reports of potential pranks and inauthentic materials,' the Pentagon said in a statement. While the revelations help explain the origins of several Cold War-era conspiracies, they also cast doubt on the authenticity of more recent UFO footage released by the military, including the viral 2020 Navy pilot videos.
New York Post
12 hours ago
- Politics
- New York Post
The Pentagon secretly planted Area 51 UFO conspiracy theory to hide secret weapons program
Some of the most prevalent UFO conspiracy theories — including about aliens being housed a Area 51 in Nevada — were fueled by the Pentagon in an attempt to provide cover for secret weapons programs, according to a bombshell report. A review by the Department of Defense found that in the 1980s, an Air Force colonel visited a Nevada bar near Area 51 and gave the owner fabricated photos of flying saucers near the secret government base, according to a review of the 2024 report by the Wall Street Journal. The incident renewed local fervor over UFOs, with the now-retired colonel confessing to Pentagon investigators that he was on an official mission to spread disinformation and hide the true purpose of the site, where the government was testing the first-ever stealth warplane, the F-117 Nighthawk. 5 The Pentagon found that at the origin of some of the UFO conspiracy theories came from the Department of Defense itself, the details of which were kept out of last year's transparency report. AP 5 Several of the theories stemmed from the agency's need to keep its newly developed aircraft and weapons programs concealed near Area 51. AP The military reasoned that the best way to keep its new technology hidden from the Soviet Union's prying eye during the Cold War was to bury it amid the trove of conspiracy theories surrounding Area 51, investigators found. The incident is just one of several where government agencies allegedly played up America's UFO mythology for the purpose of protecting its military assets, according to the 2024 report. Other military attempts to obscure secret projects with conspiracy theories were not made public. Sean Kirkpatrick, the first director of the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO), was the man tasked by the government to dissect countless UFO theories in 2022. As his office probed decades of documents, memos and messages across the Defense Department, he found several conspiracy theories that circled back to the Pentagon itself. 5 The report raises questions about new reports of UFOs released by the Pentagon, including this 2020 footage from Navy pilots. DoD/AFP via Getty Images 5 The Area 51 conspiracy theory was planted to hide the development of the F-117, the world's first stealth fighter jet. REUTERS In one instance, Kirkpatrick's team found that the Air Force hazed members with briefings introducing them to a fake 'Yankee Blue' unit that purported investigated alien aircraft. The briefings came with a direct order never to mention the details to anyone, with many of the targets of the prank never learning it was all a ruse, according to interviews with Kirkpatrick's team. The bizarre practice was still taking place during the investigation, with the Pentagon eventually sending an order across the DOD in 2023 to finally put an end to it. It remains unclear why officials presented subordinates with the fake briefings, with rumors speculating it could have been used as a loyalty test or to spread misinformation. Kirkpatrick also found that the government deliberately left people in the dark when they witnessed secret military projects, according to the WSJ. Robert Salas, a former Air Force captain, was one of those people. Salas claims he witnessed a UFO descend over a nuclear missile testing site in Montana in 1967. During the event, a flashing light was able to disable all 10 nuclear missiles at the bunker, along with all electrical systems. 5 One the rumors stemmed from years of officers hazing subordinates about the existence of a supposed UFO program, a well-known practice the Pentagon put a stop to in 2023. AP He was ordered to never discuss what he saw, with Salas maintaining that he witnessed alien visitors chiming in on the Cold War. Kirkpatrick's team, however, discovered that Salas was never told that what he actually saw was a test of a fledging electromagnetic pulse test to see if American silos could withstand the radiation of atomic weapons and retaliate if the Soviet Union ever attacked first. With the test failing, officials decided that it was best no one knew the secret of the vulnerability, so Salas and the other witnesses were intentionally left in the dark to make their own conclusions. The DOD has acknowledged that not everything has been made public about the AARO's discoveries, but the military claims it will be more transparent in its follow up report scheduled for later this year. 'The department is committed to releasing a second volume of its Historical Record Report, to include AARO's findings on reports of potential pranks and inauthentic materials,' the DOD said in a statement.
