New York Times reveals AATIP and releases Navy videos
Also: AATIP disclosure
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The visual record
Illustrations, recordings and archival references — each with its own provenance. A documented source is a starting point for investigation, not a verdict on its explanation.
GIMBAL
GIMBAL, one of the two videos published alongside the New York Times story of 16 December 2017 that disclosed the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program. Official sensor recording, later released formally by the Pentagon in 2020.
US military / DVIDS ↗Public domain — US government work; DVIDS usage terms applyLicence terms ↗Resized and WebP-converted for display; content unchanged.Luis Elizondo (2021)
Luis Elizondo, the former Pentagon official who said he had run AATIP and resigned in October 2017, weeks before the Times story. Portrait · context.
Max Moszkowicz · 2021 ↗CC BY 3.0Licence terms ↗American Alchemy · 0:02:06
Open the source at the cited time. The episode thumbnail is video packaging, not a photograph of the reported subject.
American Alchemy / Jesse Michels ↗YouTube-hosted preview and player; not relicensedAmerican Alchemy · 0:05:52
Open the source at the cited time. The episode thumbnail is video packaging, not a photograph of the reported subject.
American Alchemy / Jesse Michels ↗YouTube-hosted preview and player; not relicensedAmerican Alchemy · 1:51:29
Open the source at the cited time. The episode thumbnail is video packaging, not a photograph of the reported subject.
American Alchemy / Jesse Michels ↗YouTube-hosted preview and player; not relicensedOn 16 December 2017 the New York Times published a report by Leslie Kean, Ralph Blumenthal and Helene Cooper revealing the Pentagon's Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program, its $22 million funding via Bigelow Aerospace, Luis Elizondo's resignation and two Navy videos. Corpus guests repeatedly name it as the moment that changed their attention.
Read the full account
What was reported. The Times reported that from 2007 to 2012 the Defense Intelligence Agency ran the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program at the instigation of Senator Harry Reid, with most of its $22 million going to Robert Bigelow's company, and that Luis Elizondo, who said he ran it, had resigned in October 2017 in protest at secrecy. The article carried the FLIR1 and GIMBAL videos and Fravor's account. (FACT.)
What followed. Politico published a parallel story the same day. The Navy changed its reporting guidance in 2019 and confirmed the videos as UAP; the Pentagon released them in 2020; the UAP Task Force and then AARO followed. (FACT.)
What the corpus adds. A former Senate Armed Services staffer says the article was his starting point and that it carried actionable information about the Nimitz case. Avi Loeb dates his interest to 2017. Elizondo describes the Times as the trusted platform that shifted the conversation. The Mick West debate opens with the videos it published. (FACT about testimony.)
Explanations offered. Critics note that AATIP's official scope was aerospace threats and that Elizondo's role is disputed by the Pentagon; supporters cite the Times's sourcing and later confirmations. (INFERENCE.)
The event
| Date | |
|---|---|
| Place | 38.8719, -77.0563 exact · United States |
| Official response | The Pentagon confirmed to the Times that AATIP existed and said it ended in 2012; in 2019 a Navy spokesman confirmed the videos showed unidentified aerial phenomena and in 2020 the Department of Defense formally released them. |
Reported by
- Leslie Kean journalist co-author
- Ralph Blumenthal journalist co-author
- helene cooper journalist co-author
Who spoke about it later
- Kirk McConnell 0:02:06 “Tesla's Technology is Still Classified!" (Ft. Senate Staffer Kirk McConnell) ▶ 2025
- Avi Loeb 0:05:52 Harvard is Studying UFOs (Ft. Avi Loeb) ▶
- Luis Elizondo 1:51:29 “Multiple Alien Groups May Be Visiting Earth!” (Lue Elizondo Documentary) ▶ 2024
- Jesse Michels 0:04:20 UFO Skeptic Mick West Challenged To A Debate ▶ 2025
Mentioned in the corpus
Passages this record cites, with the stamp of the block each quote sits in.
“Tesla's Technology is Still Classified!" (Ft. Senate Staffer Kirk McConnell) 2 April 2025
- 0:02:06 ▶
seminal New York Times article in late 2017. And that's a starting place for many people who prior to that were not paying any attention to uh the UFO UAP phenomenon. And that was true for me and for
- 0:02:06 ▶ interview
- 0:02:36 ▶
it was that that New York Times piece where they had some very specific and what you would say actionable uh information in there about specific events uh that were ongoing at the time. Some like the Nimttz case from
- 0:02:06 ▶
“Multiple Alien Groups May Be Visiting Earth!” (Lue Elizondo Documentary) 10 October 2024
- 0:50:52 ▶ Jesse Michels
provided a $22 million contract to Bigalow Aerospace to basically study UFOs and paranormal phenomena at Skinwalker Ranch but as we've heard from UFO whistleblower David grush the original
- 1:51:29 ▶
one as the New York Times and that Story coming out has definitely was the beginning of the shift that were that allows
- 1:51:29 ▶ interview
- 0:50:52 ▶ Jesse Michels
UFO Skeptic Mick West Challenged To A Debate 26 January 2025
- 0:04:20 ▶ Jesse Michels
the gimbal and goast videos which were taken at the USS Ros Roosevelt 300 miles off the coast of Jacksonville. Um
- 0:04:20 ▶ interview
- 0:04:20 ▶ Jesse Michels
On the map
New York Times reveals AATIP and releases Navy videos, Skinwalker Ranch, Nimitz "Tic Tac" encounter, Roosevelt carrier group encounters (2014–2015), Pentagon formally releases FLIR1, GIMBAL and GOFAST, House Oversight UAP hearing (26 July 2023)… Open the full map filtered to this record.
Sources on this record
- 0:02:06 “Tesla's Technology is Still Classified!" (Ft. Senate Staffer Kirk McConnell) ▶
seminal New York Times article in late 2017. And that's a starting place for many people who prior to that were not paying any attention to uh the UFO UAP phenomenon. And that was true for me and for
- 0:02:36 “Tesla's Technology is Still Classified!" (Ft. Senate Staffer Kirk McConnell) ▶
it was that that New York Times piece where they had some very specific and what you would say actionable uh information in there about specific events uh that were ongoing at the time. Some like the Nimttz case from
- 0:05:52 Harvard is Studying UFOs (Ft. Avi Loeb) ▶
That was until 2017 when a New York Times journalist named Leslie Kean revealed that the government had a UFO investigation program called AATIP that had
- 1:51:29 “Multiple Alien Groups May Be Visiting Earth!” (Lue Elizondo Documentary) ▶
one as the New York Times and that Story coming out has definitely was the beginning of the shift that were that allows
- 0:04:20 UFO Skeptic Mick West Challenged To A Debate · Jesse Michels ▶
the gimbal and goast videos which were taken at the USS Ros Roosevelt 300 miles off the coast of Jacksonville. Um
- 0:50:52 “Multiple Alien Groups May Be Visiting Earth!” (Lue Elizondo Documentary) · Jesse Michels ▶
provided a $22 million contract to Bigalow Aerospace to basically study UFOs and paranormal phenomena at Skinwalker Ranch but as we've heard from UFO whistleblower David grush the original
- Glowing Auras and "Black Money": The Pentagon's Mysterious U.F.O. Program
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