What we currently know — and the many unknowns — about the Pentagon's classified UFO initiative.

"Keep watching the skies!" This iconic phrase ends the 1951 science fiction classic "The Thing from Another World," a film from RKO Radio Pictures. The plot revolves around an Unidentified Flying Object — or UFO — which is eventually revealed to be an extraterrestrial ship.

In the late 1940s and early 1950s, flying saucers frequently made news headlines. During this period, postwar America experienced a spike in UFO sightings. The U.S. Air Force responded by launching short-lived initiatives like 'Project SIGN' and 'Project GRUDGE' to investigate the phenomenon. This led to the creation of 'Project Blue Book,' an extensive government study that ran from 1952 to 1969.

Initiated by Major General Charles P. Cabell, a former Air Force intelligence director, Project Blue Book meticulously compiled 12,618 UFO sightings. However, as it became clear that most of these reports had natural explanations and insufficient data was available for others, support for the project dwindled.

Project Blue Book officially concluded in December 1969. But did this mark the end of the U.S. government's interest in unusual aerial phenomena? Apparently not. We discovered in December 2017 that the Pentagon had initiated another UFO investigation program in the late 2000s.

The news broke on Saturday, December 14, 2017, when reports from both Politico magazine and The New York Times emerged almost simultaneously. According to declassified documents, nearly $22 million was quietly allocated over a four-year period for a project named The Advanced Aviation Threat Identification Program (AATIP).

The primary advocate behind the program’s creation was Senator Harry Reid, a Democrat from Nevada who had retired by then. One of Reid's frequent campaign donors was businessman Bob Bigelow, a fellow Nevadan who owns the Budget Suites of America hotel chain and runs Bigelow Aerospace, a company focused on space station modules. Bigelow, a passionate UFO enthusiast, stated in a '60 Minutes' interview in May 2016 that he believes extraterrestrials have had a 'presence' on Earth.

Reid himself has an avid interest in cosmic enigmas. According to one of his former spokespersons, it's clear to anyone who has spoken to the former senator for 'over 60 seconds.'

At some point in 2007, Bigelow allegedly received a visit from a Defense Intelligence Agency official who expressed interest in his UFO research. According to an anonymous former congressional staffer quoted in Politico, there were concerns at the time that China or Russia might be developing advanced experimental aircraft that could pose a potential threat to U.S. national security.

Bigelow later informed Reid about the meeting, prompting the senator to reach out to the DIA. Upon learning the agency's interest in establishing a new government-funded UFO program, Reid decided to offer his support. To help launch the initiative, Reid approached two late senators: Daniel Inouye, a Democrat from Hawaii, and Ted Stevens, a Republican from Alaska. Stevens, who had once claimed to be pursued by an unknown aircraft during his time as an Air Force pilot in World War II, was particularly eager about the idea.

Reid, Inouye, and Stevens used the Pentagon's classified programs budget to discreetly allocate funds for the AATIP initiative. The majority of the funds were directed to Bigelow Aerospace, which then used the money to support research and hire subcontractors working on behalf of the government. Under Bigelow’s direction, several buildings in Las Vegas were repurposed as storage facilities for materials connected to UFO-related events.

The AATIP program was led by Luiz Elizondo, an intelligence officer within the Department of Defense. Although many aspects of the program remain classified, it is known that the team compiled a comprehensive, unpublished 490-page report detailing decades of UFO sightings both within the U.S. and internationally. In addition, the initiative collected 'video and audio recordings' documenting encounters between humans and mysterious flying objects.

AATIP began receiving taxpayer funding in late 2008. In the following year, Senator Reid sought to elevate the program's security status, but his efforts were unsuccessful. By 2012, the Pentagon completely cut off AATIP's funding. According to Pentagon spokeswoman Dana White, 'It was determined that there were other, higher priority issues that merited funding and it was in the best interest of the [Department of Defense] to make a change.'

Some sources continue to suggest that the Pentagon might still be investigating new UFO sightings reported by military personnel. If this is indeed the case, AATIP could still be active in some capacity, despite a lack of funding.

Elizondo, feeling the initiative wasn't receiving enough recognition within the Department of Defense, chose to resign after 22 years of service in October 2017. Before leaving, he convinced his colleagues to make public three previously classified videos, showing raw footage captured by cockpit cameras in U.S. fighter jets. These clips appear to depict unidentified objects moving at high speeds through the sky.

Elizondo believes the evidence points to the possibility that, in his own words, 'we may not be alone, whatever that means.'

On the other hand, some scientists have expressed skepticism. Astrophysicist Johnathan McDowell suggests that one of the objects in the released videos is likely just a reflection. Despite Elizondo's mysterious statements, MIT’s Sara Seager reminded The New York Times that unidentified shapes in the sky don’t automatically imply extraterrestrial craft. Additionally, astronomer Seth Shostak raised concerns that including Bigelow, who already has firm beliefs about alien visitations, might undermine the program's neutrality.

The question of whether we are alone in the universe remains unanswered. We simply don’t have enough information to resolve this mystery. For now, all we can do is stay vigilant, keep questioning, and continue looking to the skies.