A DIA FOIA AATIP/AAWSAP response - nearly four years on

Searching for information

One of the earliest Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests regarding the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP), of which I am aware, was submitted by Melbourne researcher Paul Dean. After seeing the initial announcement of the establishment of To The Stars Academy of Arts & Science in October 2017, Paul submitted an FOIA request to the Office of the Secretary of Defense in the USA on 15 October 2017, even though he did not know the exact name of the program. The request was assigned the number 18-F-0082 and read as follows:

"I am requesting documents which would include mission statements, program overviews, fact sheets, program briefs etc. relating to the so called Unidentified Aerial Threats for the Office of the Secretary of Defense. The name of this program (Unidentified Aerial Threats) may not be the EXACT title. However, to aid you, the manager or director of the program was a Luis Elizondo. He also served as the Director for the National Programs Special Management Staff in the Office of the Secretary of Defense. What I am essentially looking for are documents which would describe the program findings and goals, any high level and general correspondence with interested parties, fact sheets and summaries of the program history, and any other records that describe what the program has achieved, what resources it used, etc."

The four year's later response

On 24 November 2021 Paul received an email attachment from the FOIA Division, Pentagon, Department of Defense. With Paul's consent I provide an image of the attached letter. Note his address shown here is an old one. 

"This is a final response to your October, 15, 2017 Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, a copy of which is enclosed for your convenience. We received your request on October 16, 2017, and assigned it FOIA case number 18-F-0082...Please note that your request for information pertaining to the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP) was misdirected to this office for processing. This FOIA office only processes requests for the office of the Secretary of Defense and the Joint Staff. There is no central FOIA processing point for the entire Department of Defense (DoD). FOIA processing is decentralized and delegated to those officials of the Military Department and various DoD Components who generate and/or maintain the records being sought or reviewed. In this instance, Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) which operates its own FOIA program, would have cognizance over the information you have requested. In consideration of this fact, we have forwarded your request to DIA for their direct response to you. For your convenience, contact information for DIA FOIA.....This action closes your request with this office....."

Enter the DIA

Also the same day, Paul got another email; this time from the DIA, which read:

"This email is to inform you that we received a consultation from OSD in regards to an FOIA request you had submitted to the agency. As a result they found there were no equities within their agency and referred your request to the Defense Intelligence Agency. This request, was also submitted by you on March 28, 2018 to our agency. For this reason, the consultation referral was not opened and no further action regarding that consultation will be taken, as it is a duplicate. Please note, your current request with DIA is FOIA 022-2018....This case is currently being tasked out to other elements within the agency and are currently being processed. We will make every effort to process your request as soon as possible and solicit your patience and understanding. However, please keep in mind we are backlogged with over 1,900 FOIA cases and work on the cases based on date they are received and complexity of each case."

In short, please wait a little while longer

So, nearly four years on, and Paul's 28 March 2018 separate request directed to the DIA is still being processed. 

The DIA FOIA request log

The DIA maintains an FOIA request log for each year, the latest available being 2018. An inspection of the 2018 log shows Paul's DIA request. This time asking for documents about the Advanced Aerospace Weapon System Applications Program (AAWSAP) as by then he was aware of the difference between AATIP and AAWSAP.

I welcome hearing from anyone who has had a positive response from their 2017/2018 DIA FOIA request for AATIP/AAWSAP documents. My own such requests still await a final response. 

The Airborne Object Identification and Management Synchronization Group (AOIMSG)

Background

On 25 June 2021 the Deputy Secretary of Defense, Kathleen Hicks issued a memorandum, which in part, directed the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security "...to develop a plan to formalize the mission currently performed by the UAPTF."  (Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force.)  Dated 23 November 2021 is a U.S. Department of Defense media release, which provides details of the new UAP entity. Here is the full text of this release.

Media release

"DoD Announces the Establishment of the Airborne Object Identification and Management Synchronization Group (AOIMSG.)

Today, Deputy Secretary of Defense, Kathleen Hicks, in close collaboration with the Director of National Intelligence directed the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security to establish within the Office of the USD(I&S) the Airborne Object Identification and Management Synchronization Group (AOIMSG) as the successor to the U.S. Navy's Unidentified Aerial phenomena Task Force. 

The AOIMSG will synchronize efforts across the Department and the broader U.S. government to detect, identify and attribute objects of interest in Special Use Airspace (SUA), and to assess and mitigate any associated threats of flight and national security. 

To provide oversight of the AOIMSG, the Deputy Secretary also directed the  USD(I&S) to lead an Airborne Object Identification and Management Executive Council  (AOIMEXEC) to be comprised of DoD and Intelligence Community membership, and to offer a venue for U.S. government interagency representation.

Incursions of any airborne object into our SUA pose safety of flight and operations security concerns, and may pose national security challenges. DoD takes reports of incursions - by any airborne object, identified or unidentified - very seriously and investigates each one. This decision is the result of planning efforts and collaboration conducted by OUSD(I&S) and other DoD elements at the direction of Deputy Secretary Hicks, to address the challenges associated with assessing UAP occurring on or near DoD training ranges and installations highlighted in the DNI preliminary assessment report  submitted to Congress in June 2021. The report also identified the need to make improvements in processes, policies, technologies and training to improve our ability to understand UAP.

In coming weeks the Department will issue implementing guidance, which will contain further details on the AOIMSG Director, organizational structure, authorities and resourcing."

The directive

I reproduce images of the two page direction dated 23 November 2021.

The full text of the directive reads:

"The presence of unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP) in Special Use Airspace (SUA), designated in accordance with 14CFR Part 73, represents a potential safety of flight risk to aircrews and raise potential national security concerns. Accordingly, I direct the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security (USD(I&S) to establish the Airborne Object Identification and Management Synchronization Group ((AOIMSG) to synchronize efforts across the Department and with other Federal departments and agencies to detect, identify and attribute objects of interest in SUA, and to asses, and as appropriate, mitigate any associated threats to safety and national security . To provide oversight and direction of the AOIMSG, I establish the Airborne Object Identification and Management Executive Council (AOIMEXEC). The USD(I&S) will be the lead DoD official responsible for this process, will co-chair the AOIMEXEC along with the Director of Operations, Joint Staff, and will invite Principal-level participation from the Office of the Director of National intelligence. Resourcing for this requirement will be addressed in the Program Budget Review process.

The Director, AOIMSG (hereafter referred to as "the Director" ) will synchronize the activities among the Office of the Secretary of defense (OSD) and DoD components, and with other U.S. Government departments and agencies, to minimize safety of flight and national security concerns associated with UAP or other airborne objects in SUA. The Director, with support from the OSD and DoD components heads, will address this problem by standardizing UAP incident reporting across the Department; identifying and reducing gaps in operational and intelligence detection capabilities; collecting and analyzing operational, intelligence and counterintelligence data; recommending policy, regulatory or statutory changes, as appropriate; identifying approaches to prevent or mitigate any risks posed by airborne objects of interest; and other activities as deemed necessary by the Director. Additionally the Director, in coordination with the OSD and DoD Component heads, will identify requirements and recommend changes in doctrine, organization, training , materiel, leadership, personnel, workforce, facilities and resources to be brought to the AOIMEXEC for review, consideration and implementation , as appropriate, by the applicable DoD Component Head.

Effective immediately, the AOIMEXEC, in coordination  with the OSD and DoD component heads will manage the transition of the current UAP Task Force to the AOIMSG. The AOIMEXEC will designate an acting Director of the AOIMSG, and will submit implementation  guidance for my approval. This guidance will specify organizational membership, roles, responsibilities and authorities for the AOIMSG, AOIMEXEC, and OSD and DoD Components."

Maralinga, South Australia, atomic tests - and UAP

 Introduction

Given all the current discussions about the connection between UAP and nuclear testing/nuclear missile sites etc. I thought that I would take a look at any sightings from Maralinga, South Australia, the site of British atomic bomb tests, in the period 1956-1963. Maralinga is 845 kilometres north-west of Adelaide, the capital city of South Australia, and 54 kilometres north-west of Ooldea, South Australia. 

I found details of three UAP sightings from Maralinga, one in each of 1956, 1957 and 1960. I will provide details of these below. I welcome any additional cases which blog readers might know.

1 June 1956

The following is the testimony of one Harry Woolfall. "I was a leading hand trucks driver at Airstrip, (a Maralinga outpost). We were taking boxes of cameras to Rockwell where the scientists were making ready for the explosion. That night we were on our way to Watson railway siding to pick up more boxes. 

It was 9.40pm on June 1, 1956. We were working around the clock. Then I saw this very bright object, very long and a bit like a rocket, travelling from west to east, with lights like windows along the side. We stopped on top of sandhills and I got out to see if I could hear anything. Well, I couldn't but the thing appeared to be above Watson about 6 kilometres away.

Nothing fast about the way it travelled. It really moved quite slowly actually until it went below our horizon. Fellows in the trucks behind us stopped to watch it too. Chips one of my mates saw it at Watson and a bulldozer further down the track saw it too. We talked about it, but we were flat out and didn't think much of it at the time."

[Source: "Sunday Mail" newspaper, Adelaide, South Australia. 27 September 1987. Woolfall contacted the newspaper after seeing an item about the 1957 sighting.]

October/November 1957

"Consider for example, this account from a former RAF Corporal stationed at Maralinga - site of the British nuclear tests in Australia - during September and October 1957. The incident was absent from the official RAAF files. 

During September and October 1957 the nuclear weapons' test series codenamed ANTLER were undertaken at Maralinga with kiloton range nuclear explosions occurring on September 25 and October 9.

The site was subjected to intense scrutiny, however, during October and November 1957, when the integrity of the facility was challenge in an extraordinary fashion. Just before dusk one evening the RAF Corporal and some colleagues were called out of the Maralinga village canteen to witness a UFO hovering, apparently silently over the airfield. It was described as a "magnificent sight" being silver-blue in colour, a metallic luster, with a line of "windows" or "portholes" along its edge. The Corporal stated the object could be seen so clearly that he and his companions could make out what appeared to be plating on its surface.

The air traffic control officer on duty also supposedly witnessed the spectacle. He allegedly checked Alice Springs and Edinburgh airfields which reported they did not have anything over their areas. No photo's were taken purportedly because the top secret status of the area required that all cameras be locked away. These had to be signed in and out when used.

After about 15 minutes the aerial object left swiftly, and silently, as dusk began to fall. The witness told Jenny Randles, "I swear to you as a practicing Christian this was no dream, no illusion, no fairy story - but a solid craft of metallic construction."

[Chalker, W. "The NW Cape Incident." International UFO Reporter, January/February 1986, pp 9-12.]

15 July 1960

At 1900 hours a Constable Maxwell was at Roadside, located 13 miles from the Maralinga village, when he reported seeing a light in the sky, in the direction of Wewak. It appeared the brightness of bright moonlight, and playing on the ground. 

At 1905 hours at a location named Wewak, 15 miles from Maralinga village, a Constable Scarborough, saw a white light in the sky, travelling from east to west. It grew large in apparent size and turned red. Estimated duration of sighting was 30 seconds. It did not illuminate the area around him.

Four people in Maralinga village itself also reported the light, in the direction of Wewak. Estimated durations ranged from 2-15 seconds. The light was not associated with a rocket firing from Woomera.

O. Harry Turner, a nuclear physicist, who had a long term interest in the topic, since 1954 or before, who was a health safety officer at the test site, conducted his own investigations and concluded that it was a UFO.

[National Archives of Australia file series A6456, control symbol R029/284. "Maralinga Project - General - Policy and administration." pp74 and 76.]

Rice university archives important UAP papers

 Archives 

Thanks to a lead from Twitter user @JackFrostvc I came across the fact that Rice University, in Houston, Texas, houses an unusual set of UAP related archives - "The Archives of the Impossible." Professor of Religious Studies, Jeffrey Kripal is the driving force behind the collection. 

Image courtesy of Amazon Books

The Woodson Research Center at Rice University houses a collection of material, which includes the following:

Richard F. Haines Ufology papers

"The Richard F. Haines Ufology papers (Collection MS706) includes documents that cover the period between the 1970's and 2010's. It includes personal and professional correspondence, administrative documents of NARCAP and drafts of its research papers, Haines' own drafts and projects for conference presentations. It also contains a large set of UFO photos with notes and photo analyses, as well as audio tapes with interviews of UFO witnesses. The audio cassettes have been digitized and once complete will be filed on the Woodson Research Center nearline service and accessible by request. The recordings will also be transcribed."

The material is open for research - 17 linear feet. There is also an inventory of the material. 

Jacques Vallee UFO and paranormal phenomena papers

(Collection MS672). "Background files include relevant topics, social trends, cults, related phenomena, scientific topics relevant to ufology assembled by Vallee in support of his research over the years. Also contains field notes and press documents about related topics such as cattle mutilations, and face-to-face meetings of NIDS and BAASS as well as various research proposals.

Correspondence includes letters exchanged with Aime Michel, Dr. Hynek, Dr. Guerin and many leading researchers and investigators starting in the late 1950's to the mid 2010's.

Analysis files are planned for donation in the future and will include research studies, often field investigations, documents research about specific UFO topics."

Not available for access until 24 January 2028, except for specific academic exceptions. - 38 linear feet. There is a container inventory available.  This inventory is well worth a look through. 

Anne and Whitley Strieber Collection (MS702).

"Contains correspondence, transcripts relating to The Communion and correspondence and reviews of Strieber's other works."

9 liner feet - "The material is being made available for non-profit education use."

There is a container inventory.

Larry W. Bryant UFO research collection (MS915.)

"The Larry W. Bryant UFO research collection contains personal papers such as correspondence, photographs, and articles written by Larry Bryant, as well as papers from his participation in UFO organizations like MUFON and CAUS, includes board meeting minutes, budget notes and quarterly reports. A large section of the collection is devoted to Bryant's research into ufology using court cases against the government and Freedom of Information Act."

96 linear feet. "Once processed the collection will be open for research."

A container inventory is not yet available. 

Frederick Portigal

I am back from my self-imposed break from the subject. A four week long "fishing" trip. Now back to it. Firstly, I have updated my blog posts titled "The Australian Department of Defence and UAP - the latest." The update includes a full Hansard transcript of the relevant discussion; and the reason why Australian Senator Whish_Wilson asked the questions he did. Secondly, occasionally on social media, someone surfaces, who has seemingly impeccable credentials, but with a fantastic account.

Enter Frederick Portigal

Recently, one Frederick Portigal surfaced. In a series of tweets dated 25 October 2021 Portigal wrote the following:

"In my last position before retiring I worked for the Air Force Research Laboratory at Kirkland AFB as a senior Research Physical Scientist in Albuquerque, New Mexico. (LinkedIn says April 2011-present -KB).

Air Force research laboratory

Space Vehicles Directorate

Battlespace Environment Division

Battlespaces Surveillance Information Center

Spectral Surveillance technologies Section.

My primary research was to support the Hypertemporal Imager (HTI) space experiment. I invented a Hypertemporal  video detection algorithm for tracking from space through sunlit cloud to the ground that has 10 times the s/n as the algorithm used in the space experiment.

I designed and carried out the developing of the Hypertemporal Imaging Spectrometer (HTIS) to support the HTI space experiment and other fascinating surveillance activity

The instrument was composed of two 10 inch telescopes one for the two high speed video cameras (VIS & SWIR) and the other for the two imaging spectrometers (VIS & SWIR.) Basically hypertemporal and spectral binoculars that cost $750,000.

After I retired the instrument went to NASIC and WPAFB for testing.

The actual name for the HTIS were the "Alien Hunting Binoculars" designed based on my analysis of telescope video of Alien Space vehicles in the atmosphere.

My agency AFRL/RVBYI new about this but kept it quiet because the DIA and NASIC were interested in the project.

Officially the instrument was the hyper-Temporal Imaging Spectrometer (HTIS) and not the Alien Hunting Binoculars (AHB.)"

LinkedIn

Partigal has an extensive LinekdIn page which provides detail about his professional career.

Here he says:

"I am an expert in the analysis of hyperspectral  imagery to solve environmental, geologic, medical and military intelligence problems in the UV, VNIR, SWIR and Long Wave."

Hyperspectral imagery

"The goal of hyperspectral imagery is to obtain the spectrum for each pixel in the image of a scene."

What does Portigal say re UAP?

He has presented two papers and associated video's, so far via Twitter; plus a number of other videos and photographs. As the two papers are quite detailed, I provide their abstracts and conclusions below:

1. 1 August 2008 titled ""Star-like object in High Atmosphere Expelling a Plasma Stream."

The paper's abstract reads:

"On August 1st, 2007 in, Albuquerque New Mexico, a star like object was observed in the western sky, 22:30 MST. The object would have been easily mistaken as a star except for the unusual spectral content and high frequency fluctuation atypical of stars. The object was first noticed by eye and confirmed through binoculars as being unusual. A series of photographs were taken showing the object moving in synchronicity with the stars leading one to believe that it was simply another bright but unusual star. Inspection of the Stellarium sky chart confirmed that there were no stars in this position that could account for the observed brightness. On inspection of these photographs a single image caught the “star” ejecting a stream of plasma as bright and wide as the object itself. This spherical object was causing ionization of the atmosphere and was of similar magnitude to that of Procyon. This warranted further telescope video investigation. After extensive processing, the telescope video revealed what appears to be a plasma-like sphere spawning off disks and other classic shapes from UFO mythology." 

Portigal concluded:

"Processing the video data revealed complex structures within the “star” with a variety of disk shapes seemingly to be spawned off the primary structures at very high frequency. The video reveals that there are at least two large craft that are illuminated as the ionization plasma fluctuates. The size of the plasma field can be estimated if one assumes that it is located in the ionosphere at about 300 km. The telescope FOV is 1 degree and the plasma is about 15 pixels in diameter making it about 800 feet in diameter. The star appears to function as a space station; disks and other classic shapes from UFO mythology are spawned off the large stationary craft at a rate greater than the 30 Hz video can temporally resolve. The plasma ejection observed in the photographs is most likely caused by one of these space vehicles leaving pulling the plasma in its wake."

The processed video itself may be viewed here. 

2. 21 May 2009. "Near Surface Plasma-Like Phenomenon Travelling at 48,000 Kilometers Per Hour."

The paper's abstract read:

"Telescope video data from January 29th, 2008 recorded extraordinary phenomena of plasma-like objects travelling at speeds that defy the imagination in the vicinity of Petroglyph National monument in Albuquerque New Mexico...Twin spherical plasmas remain stationary as giant spherical plasma passes by at an estimated speed of 48,000 Kilometer per hour. As they pass by the stationary plasmas they appear to drop off and pick up cargo...The cargo moves rapidly to and from the stationary plasma-like spheres where they instantaneously disappear from the telescope FOV."

Portigal concludes:

"The video clearly shows objects materializing within a frame or two of giant giant plasmas flying past. After transit the plasmas disappear suggesting a link with the appearance of the cargo and giant plasmas."

The processed video itself may be viewed here.

NASIC

In a tweet dated 28 October 2021 Portigal tweeted " The first two videos with papers were confirmed with NASIC through back channels to be real and very sensitive. Fortunately I created and own them thus they can be released to the public." (NASIC is the US National Air and Space Intelligence Center.)

Fact checking

1. The Hypertemporal imaging space experiment was a funded project. 

2. The object described in the 2008 papers was captured using a Nikon D40 camera, and the telescopic data via a " Celestron 8 inch Newtonian reflector coupled with a Celestron CCD Solar System Imager." The objects described in the 2009 paper were captured using a "Celestron 8 inch Newtonian reflector with a Celestron Solar System Imager. The video camera is a Celestron NextImage using the Philips Toucam without optics designed to fit the telescope eye piece." They were not captured using the Air Force Research Laboratory equipment.

3.  Social media advises that Portigal had passed around images of his US passport to verify his identity.

4. Research gate has several papers concerning spectral imaging, listing Portigal as an author. 

What do others think of the claims?

There is a long discussion on UFO Reddit. A percentage of people think one video (not the ones with papers) show car headlights; and another shows an aircraft. 

1. JunkTheRat - a Reddit user wrote concerning the videos: "What I am saying is your algorithm is simply an interpretation of the visual data...it's just your algorithm interpreting the data and providing that geometry."

2. User Vade, with a background in graphics and video processing says "I'm 99.9% convinced these "ships" are artifacts of using an image processing techniques to artificially show structure. When zoomed in to that amount, the image appears muddy, and gradients are used to create shape. Using something like a scan line processor to use luminance to create an extrusion you can get similar shapes by filming out of focus LEDs and post processing them."

3. Quite a few others agree that the processing system used, produced artifacts which have apparentt "structure." They suggest that Portigal then made his own interpretations as to what they represent.

The response on Twitter has been along the same lines, that it is Portigal's interpretation that is not correct. On 7 November Portigal Tweeted "I am sick of the lying, redirection and disinformation. I will release a bunch more then it is off my chest and I can quit Twitter. It is no place for Scientific discussion."

No doubt this debate will continue for a while.