The insider’s guide to the Pentagon and UFOs

From Star Wars, to the X Files and most recently, Khloe Kardashian’s quest for alien life in Calabasas, UFOs and extraterrestrial life are a popular topic in entertainment and pop culture. It’s a very different story for politicians. For decades, politicians have steered clear of this topic out of fear of being labeled tinfoil-hat-wearing kooks.

Even though lawmakers haven’t talked about it publicly, it doesn’t mean they weren’t interested. In 2008, then-Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid secured $22 million in funding for the Pentagon to start researching UFOs, which are now commonly referred to as unidentified aerial phenomena, or UAPs, in government and research circles. The Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program was largely kept secret because even members of the military didn’t want to be associated with UFO research.

Times have changed, and there is newfound acceptance in Washington, especially after footage of Navy pilots witnessing an UAP was leaked in 2017. By 2019, members of Congress started receiving classified briefings and members of the military started going public about strange sightings and experiences. The issue got even more credible when the Senate Intelligence Committee, led by Sen. Marco Rubio, ordered the director of national intelligence to work with the Pentagon on a public report on unidentified aerial phenomena by June 25, 2021.