Event · 16 December 2017
The New York Times reveals the Pentagon UFO program
Also known as NYT 2017, New York Times 2017, Glowing Auras and Black Money
The story that opened the current disclosure era. The 2017 articles covered a secret study program and the Navy encounters. They did not report a crash-retrieval or reverse-engineering program; the “black money” of the headline was the study program's classified budget, about $22 million under contracts from 2008 to 2011. Their only reference to physical material was the line about metal alloys stored in Las Vegas, which a co-author later walked back. The crash-retrieval allegations became public in June 2023, with David Grusch's whistleblower claims.
The articles are copyrighted and paywalled, so the archive links to them rather than hosting copies.
Sources: The New York Times (Dec 16, 2017); The Black Vault; Live Science.
Facts and claims
- documented On December 16, 2017, The New York Times published “Glowing Auras and ‘Black Money’: The Pentagon's Mysterious U.F.O. Program” by Helene Cooper, Ralph Blumenthal and Leslie Kean. It revealed the Pentagon's secret UAP study, AATIP, funded at Senator Harry Reid's request, and published U.S. Navy cockpit video of an unidentified object. Source: nytimes.com (archived)
- documented The article said the $22 million spent on AATIP was “almost impossible to find” in the Pentagon's budgets. Reid called it “so-called black money”, which the Times explained as “the Pentagon budget for classified programs”, and contracts obtained by the paper showed “a congressional appropriation of just under $22 million beginning in late 2008 through 2011.” Source: nytimes.com (archived)
- documented A companion article, “2 Navy Airmen and an Object That ‘Accelerated Like Nothing I've Ever Seen’”, told the November 2004 Nimitz “Tic Tac” encounter through Cmdr. David Fravor's account. Source: nytimes.com (archived)
- claimed The main article reported that Bigelow Aerospace “modified buildings in Las Vegas for the storage of metal alloys and other materials that Mr. Elizondo and program contractors said had been recovered from unidentified aerial phenomena.” — Luis Elizondo Source: theblackvault.com (archived)
- claimed Co-author Ralph Blumenthal later said that “no materials were provided” and that “they never were put into the warehouse”, walking back the impression that recovered material was stored in Las Vegas. Source: theblackvault.com (archived)
- claimed Hal Puthoff says To The Stars Academy helped Leslie Kean get the story out; Christopher Mellon helped bring the Navy footage to the Times. — Hal Puthoff Source: Joe Rogan Experience #2314: Hal Puthoff at 1:32:00
Connected files
Programs
- Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (about)
- Advanced Aerospace Weapon System Applications Program (about) — The Times named the program AATIP; AARO later identified it with AAWSAP
Incidents
- USS Nimitz “Tic Tac” encounter (about)
People
- Leslie Kean (reported by)
- Luis Elizondo (features) — Cites “Mr. Elizondo and program contractors” on alloys said to be stored in Las Vegas, a line a co-author later walked back
- Chris Mellon (helped by) — Hal Puthoff says Mellon helped bring the Navy footage to the Times
- Harry Reid (names) — It revealed AATIP, funded at Senator Reid's request
- David Fravor (features) — A companion article told the Nimitz encounter through Fravor's account
- Hal Puthoff (comments by) — Puthoff says To The Stars Academy helped Leslie Kean get the story out
Organizations
- To The Stars Academy of Arts & Science (helped by)
Events
Concepts
- Crash retrieval & reverse engineering (mentions) — Reported alloys that Elizondo and contractors said had been recovered from UAP; co-author Blumenthal later walked it back. It reported no crash-retrieval program
Videos
- Christopher Mellon on the Joe Rogan Experience (clip, 2021) (discussed in)
- The Sol Forum #1: Hal Puthoff, Jacques Vallée and Larry Lemke (discussed in)
- Christopher Mellon on UFOs, secrecy and what the public still doesn't know (The Chris Cuomo Project, 2025) (discussed in)
- UAP & National Security: Mellon, Gallaudet, von Rennenkampff & McConnell at Disclosure Forum 2026 (discussed in)
- Jay Stratton's first on-camera interview, recorded 2022 (WEAPONIZED, released October 2026) (discussed in)
- Hal Puthoff Presentation 06/08/2018 (discussed in)
Mentioned in this file
- David Grusch (Person)
Mentioned in documents and records
More events
- Capitol Hill UAP declassification press conference
- PURSUE Release 07: federal agents' triangle sighting and AAWSAP's working files
- Disclosure Forum 2026
- Pentagon officially releases three Navy UAP videos
- PURSUE Release 06
- PURSUE Release 05
Links
- NYT — Glowing Auras and ‘Black Money’: The Pentagon's Mysterious U.F.O. Program (Dec 16, 2017)
- NYT — 2 Navy Airmen and an Object That ‘Accelerated Like Nothing I've Ever Seen’ (Dec 16, 2017)
- The Black Vault — The UFO legend of unknown “metal alloys” housed in a secret Las Vegas warehouse
- Live Science / Scientific American — The truth about those “alien alloys” in the NYT story