Book · 7 October 2023
Inside the US Government Covert UFO Program: Initial Revelations
Also known as Inside the U.S. Government Covert UFO Program, Initial Revelations
James T. Lacatski, Colm A. Kelleher & George Knapp · RTMA, LLC · ISBN 979-8-9891146-1-0
Glimpses
He stated that the United States was in possession of a craft of unknown origin and had successfully gained access to its interior.
Book 2 in the authors' AAWSAP series. The archive doesn't hold the book itself, which is copyrighted. It can be bought or borrowed through the links above. The archive does hold the Pentagon's clearance file for the manuscript (DOPSR case 22-SB-0151) and the AAWSAP contract records and DIRDs from PURSUE.
The DOPSR letter names a working title, not the published one. Its identification with this book rests on the "Book 2" label, the same three authors and the 2022 copyright line on the manuscript. Clearance means DOPSR found nothing classified to remove; it does not confirm that the content is accurate.
According to Kelleher, where Skinwalkers at the Pentagon reported the program's effects on humans, this book covers UFO performance: lift, propulsion, power generation and what the authors call spatial-temporal translation, drawn from historical cases. Its most-cited passage is chapter 9, in which Lacatski states that the U.S. holds a craft of unknown origin and accessed its interior, which he has confirmed on WEAPONIZED and to 8 News Now without going further. AARO's 2024 report disputes the wider picture: it says the program was cancelled for lack of merit, KONA BLUE was never approved, and no craft or bodies were ever collected.
Sources: DOPSR case 22-SB-0151 (released under FOIA 24-F-0088); Google Books; Liberation Times (October 17, 2023); WEAPONIZED #38 (2023) and WEAPONIZED with Lacatski (2025); KLAS 8 News Now (November 2025); AARO Historical Record Report, Vol. 1 (2024).
Facts and claims
- claimed A book by James T. Lacatski, Colm A. Kelleher and George Knapp, published by RTMA, LLC on October 7, 2023 (ISBN 979-8-9891146-1-0). It follows their 2021 book “Skinwalkers at the Pentagon”. It is a commercial, copyrighted book and is not held in this archive. Source: books.google.com (archived)
- documented On April 24, 2023, the Pentagon's Defense Office of Prepublication and Security Review (DOPSR) cleared for public release the authors' “Book 2” manuscript, titled “The U.S. Government's Secret UAP/UFO Program: The Beginning - Initial Planning and Investigations”. The letter adds that the clearance does not “imply Department of Defense (DoD) endorsement or factual accuracy of the material.” Source: doc-dopsr-22-sb-0151.pdf
- claimed The book says that at the end of a 2011 meeting in the Capitol with a U.S. Senator and an agency Under Secretary, Lacatski “stated that the United States was in possession of a craft of unknown origin and had successfully gained access to its interior.” It describes the craft as having no intakes, exhaust, wings or control surfaces, and apparently no engine, fuel tanks or fuel. — James Lacatski Source: liberationtimes.com (archived)
- claimed Asked by George Knapp on the WEAPONIZED podcast (October 2023) whether he had been allowed to say that the government has a UFO and has been able to access its inside, Lacatski affirmed it. He declined Jeremy Corbell's offer to dispute the implication that he had stepped inside it. Kelleher said there was not enough data for a firm assessment. — James Lacatski Source: liberationtimes.com (archived)
- claimed In a November 2025 interview with KLAS 8 News Now, Lacatski again said the government holds at least one recovered craft of unknown origin, with no wings, engine, fuel or fuel tanks. Asked whether he was convinced it was a craft or machine, he answered: “Yes.” — James Lacatski Source: 8newsnow.com (archived)
- claimed On WEAPONIZED, after George Knapp read the chapter 9 passage, Lacatski said “The wording that you read is correct” and that the 2011 meeting happened: “it's true. Yes.” — James Lacatski Source: Inside the DIA's Secretive UFO Investigation: Lacatski and Kelleher on WEAPONIZED #38 (October 2023) at 14:40
- claimed Kelleher says this book covers the program's other track, UFO performance, analysing historical cases for lift, propulsion, power generation and what the authors call spatial-temporal translation. — Colm Kelleher Source: Inside the DIA's Secretive UFO Investigation: Lacatski and Kelleher on WEAPONIZED #38 (October 2023) at 25:03
- claimed Lacatski says he did not coin the name AATIP; he believes “who we called Axelrod, or perhaps Lou Elizondo” or their colleagues did, after the program's name was marked secret on a congressional funding document. — James Lacatski Source: Inside the DIA's Secretive UFO Investigation: Lacatski and Kelleher on WEAPONIZED #38 (October 2023) at 5:24
- claimed Kelleher says the UAP Task Force “had access to the … electronic version of the OSAP database”, but that he has no personal knowledge that AARO used it. — Colm Kelleher Source: Inside the DIA's Secretive UFO Investigation: Lacatski and Kelleher on WEAPONIZED #38 (October 2023) at 57:52
- claimed In 2025 Lacatski said the books, four planned in all at about 1,200 pages, “factually detail the results” of the program, “assembled only from official government files at DIA and approved for release”, and that AAWSAP and its successor KONA BLUE were “Both classified programs”. — James Lacatski Source: “He ran the Pentagon's secret UFO program, and says we've been played”: James Lacatski, part 1 (WEAPONIZED, November 2025) at 3:17
- claimed He also says “Deliberately false, not just incorrect documents have been created about OSAP and Kona Blue and are currently in government files”, that he reported some to the Inspector General, and that AAWSAP ended after two years because BAASS “was too successful” and Senator Reid could not secure the money in the 2010 election year. — James Lacatski Source: “He ran the Pentagon's secret UFO program, and says we've been played”: James Lacatski, part 1 (WEAPONIZED, November 2025) at 8:50
- documented Counter-evidence: AARO's 2024 report says DIA “cancelled the program in 2012 due to lack of merit and the utility of the deliverables”, that the KONA BLUE proposal “was never approved or stood up”, and that “no extraterrestrial craft or bodies were ever collected—this material was only assumed to exist by KONA BLUE advocates”. Source: AARO Historical Record Report, Volume 1
Connected files
Places
- Skinwalker Ranch (related to)
People
- James Lacatski (authored by)
- Colm Kelleher (co-author of)
- George Knapp (authored by)
Programs
- Advanced Aerospace Weapon System Applications Program (about)
- KONA BLUE (about) — Lacatski calls AAWSAP and its successor KONA BLUE “Both classified programs”; AARO says KONA BLUE was never approved
Documents
- DOPSR case 22-SB-0151: prepublication clearance of Lacatski, Kelleher & Knapp's “Book 2” (April 24, 2023) (subject of)
Books
- Inside the U.S. Government Covert UFO Program: New Insights (followed by)
- Skinwalkers at the Pentagon: An Insiders' Account of the Secret Government UFO Program (follows)
Concepts
- Crash retrieval & reverse engineering (related to)
Videos
- Inside the DIA's Secretive UFO Investigation: Lacatski and Kelleher on WEAPONIZED #38 (October 2023) (subject of)
- “He ran the Pentagon's secret UFO program, and says we've been played”: James Lacatski, part 1 (WEAPONIZED, November 2025) (subject of)
- “The Government UFO Boss”: James Lacatski, part 2, on New Insights (WEAPONIZED, November 2025) (discussed in)
- “This is UFO disclosure, as far as it can go”: James Lacatski on Future Visions (WEAPONIZED, April 2026) (discussed in)
Mentioned in this file
- Department of War (Department of Defense) (Organization)
- Defense Intelligence Reference Documents (DIRDs) (Document)
- PURSUE — Presidential Unsealing and Reporting System for UAP Encounters (Program)
- AARO Historical Record Report, Volume 1 (Document)
- All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (Program)
Mentioned in videos
- Inside the DIA's Secretive UFO Investigation: Lacatski and Kelleher on WEAPONIZED #38 (October 2023)
More books
- Inside the U.S. Government Covert UFO Program: Future Visions
- Imminent: Inside the Pentagon's Hunt for UFOs
- In Plain Sight: An Investigation into UFOs and Impossible Science
- Unacknowledged: An Exposé of the World's Greatest Secret
- Hunt for the Skinwalker: Science Confronts the Unexplained at a Remote Ranch in Utah
- UFO Crash/Retrievals: Status Reports I–VII