Person
Luis Elizondo
Also known as Lue Elizondo, Elizondo
- Former Army counterintelligence special agent; Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence (2008–2017)
Luis "Lue" Elizondo is a former U.S. Army counterintelligence special agent who became the public face of the Pentagon's UAP programs after he resigned in October 2017. He studied microbiology and immunology, served briefly in Army military intelligence, and became a civilian counterintelligence special agent and special agent in charge, working counterterrorism and counterespionage cases. From 2008 he worked in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence, where he says his last role was managing a special access program for the White House and the National Security Council.
He says that around 2009 he was recruited into the DIA-run AAWSAP effort and its informal successor, AATIP. He says he worked on AATIP with James Lacatski and Jay Stratton, describing Stratton as his equal, and it was the AATIP effort that handled the Navy's GOFAST, GIMBAL and FLIR videos. The Pentagon has disputed his role. In 2019 a spokesperson said he had "no responsibilities with regard to the AATIP program" while in his office, and AARO's 2024 report calls AATIP an informal community of interest with no staff or budget. Fellow insiders, including Stratton and David Fravor, have described him as part of the effort.
He says he resigned in protest at the secrecy around the subject. He then joined To The Stars Academy and was a central figure in The New York Times story of December 2017 that revealed the program and the Navy videos. He wrote Imminent (2024) and testified to Congress under oath in November 2024. There he said UAP are real, that the United States holds UAP technology and bodies, and that whistleblowers have been threatened. He moderated the May 2025 congressional briefing and appears in The Age of Disclosure (2025).
Sources: November 13, 2024 hearing (transcript) · Elizondo, Newsweek (2024) · The Intercept (2019) · AARO historical report (2024) · The New York Times (2017)
Facts and claims
- claimed Under oath in November 2024 he described his background: he studied microbiology and immunology, served briefly in Army military intelligence, then became a civilian counterintelligence special agent and special agent in charge (counterterrorism and counterespionage). Around 2009, back at the Pentagon after a tour with the Director of National Intelligence, he joined the program first called AAWSAP, which evolved into AATIP. — Luis Elizondo Source: Hearing transcript: “Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena: Exposing the Truth”
- claimed In the same testimony he said that in his last position he managed a special access program on behalf of the White House and the National Security Council. — Luis Elizondo Source: Hearing transcript: “Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena: Exposing the Truth”
- claimed Says he led AATIP at the Pentagon until he resigned in October 2017. — Luis Elizondo Source: nytimes.com (archived)
- claimed In a 2024 Newsweek essay he wrote that two members of an existing program approached him to join it: "the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP), a niche program under the umbrella of AWSAPP". He says he did not run it entirely on his own, but worked with James Lacatski, "who originally led AWSAPP", and "Jay Stratton, who took over after I resigned from AATIP in 2017". — Luis Elizondo Source: newsweek.com (archived)
- claimed Pentagon spokesperson Christopher Sherwood told The Intercept in 2019 that AATIP "did pursue research and investigation into unidentified aerial phenomena", but that "Mr. Elizondo had no responsibilities with regard to the AATIP program while he worked in OUSDI […], up until the time he resigned effective 10/4/2017", while acknowledging he "worked for other organizations in DoD". Source: theintercept.com (archived)
- documented AARO's 2024 historical report says AATIP "was never an official DoD program": after AAWSAP was cancelled, the name was used by an informal, unofficial UAP community of interest within DoD, with "no dedicated personnel or budget". Source: AARO Historical Record Report, Volume 1
- claimed Testifying in November 2024: "UAP are real. Advanced technologies not made by our government or any other government are monitoring sensitive military installations around the globe. Furthermore, the U.S. is in possession of UAP technologies, as are some of our adversaries." — Luis Elizondo Source: Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena: Exposing the Truth at 49:18
- claimed Asked under oath by Rep. Burlison whether the United States possesses bodies, he answered "Yes", adding that the collection predates his birth. — Luis Elizondo Source: Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena: Exposing the Truth at 2:00:44
- claimed Asked under oath by Rep. Mace whether government employees injured by UAP receive compensation, he answered “That is correct”, and said “I have seen the documentation by the U.S. Government for several of these individuals who have sustained injuries as a result of a UAP incident.” — Luis Elizondo Source: Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena: Exposing the Truth at 1:08:09
- claimed He testified that a contractor asked to divest material collected in the 1950s to Bigelow Aerospace during AAWSAP, but the transfer was blocked for want of a Secretary of the Air Force memo. — Luis Elizondo Source: Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena: Exposing the Truth at 1:57:30
Connected files
Books
Claims
- AATIP was an official Pentagon UAP program, and Luis Elizondo ran it (asserts)
- Programs dealing with UAP have been hidden from congressional oversight (asserts)
- The U.S. has recovered the bodies of non-human beings from crashed craft (asserts)
- The U.S. holds recovered craft of non-human origin and runs a secret program to reverse-engineer them (asserts)
- A craft of non-human origin crashed near Roswell, New Mexico, in July 1947, and the military recovered it (asserts)
- Close encounters with UAP have physically injured people (asserts)
Events
- The New York Times reveals the Pentagon UFO program (appears in) — Cites “Mr. Elizondo and program contractors” on alloys said to be stored in Las Vegas, a line a co-author later walked back
Documentaries
- The Age of Disclosure (narrated)
Hearings & briefings
- Congressional briefing: Understanding UAP — Science, National Security & Innovation (moderated)
- Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena: Exposing the Truth (testified at)
Organizations
- To The Stars Academy of Arts & Science (employed by)
People
- Chris Mellon (worked with) — He met Elizondo around 2017 and joined him and Tom DeLonge in To The Stars Academy
- David Fravor (contacted) — Elizondo got in touch in 2016
- Eric Burlison (questioned by) — He asked Elizondo in November 2024 whether the U.S. possesses bodies; Elizondo answered “Yes”
- Garry Nolan (briefed) — Elizondo and Mellon showed him the Navy videos about three weeks before they went public in 2017
- Hal Puthoff (co-founded with) — Co-founders of To The Stars Academy in 2017
- Jared Moskowitz (comments by) — On Elizondo's crash-retrieval non-disclosure document: “you cannot talk about fight club if there is no fight club”
- Jay Stratton (worked with) — They worked together on AATIP; Elizondo calls Stratton his equal
- Leslie Kean (source for) — Elizondo and To The Stars Academy were sources for her 2017 story
- Michael Shellenberger (testified with) — They testified together on 13 November 2024
Programs
- Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (says he led) — His account; a Pentagon spokesperson said in 2019 he had no responsibilities for AATIP, and AARO says it was never an official program
- Advanced Aerospace Weapon System Applications Program (worked on) — He says he was recruited into AAWSAP around 2009; it evolved into AATIP
- Legacy program (statement about)
Videos
- House holds hearing on UFOs, government transparency | full video (discussed in)
- Inside the DIA's Secretive UFO Investigation: Lacatski and Kelleher on WEAPONIZED #38 (October 2023) (discussed in)
- Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena: Exposing the Truth (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)
- What Trump’s Files Are About To Expose About UAPs & Nonhuman Observers — Luis Elizondo Warns Us (appears in)
- The Biblical Truth of UFOs & Angels (Ft. Karl Nell & Diana Pasulka) (discussed in)
- Garry Nolan: UFOs and Aliens (Lex Fridman Podcast #262) (discussed in)
Mentioned in videos
- Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena: Exposing the Truth
- Eric Davis: “A US President Was Briefed on UFOs!”
- Joe Rogan Experience #2065 - David Grusch