Is the Military 'Stove Piping' UFO Programs?

In a recent blog post, UFO historian and archivist Paul Dean presented his findings regarding a military organization called the National Air and Space Intelligence Center, or NASIC. Operating out of Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, NASIC is responsible for intelligence collection regarding airborne and space-based threats. Dean points out that NASIC’s mission mirrors that of the now (in)famous Advanced Aerospace Weapon System Application Program (AAWSAP) and Advanced Aerospace Threat and Identification Program (AATIP), which has been the subject of significant ufological discourse in recent years.
 
I spoke with Dr. Hal Puthoff to provide some further context. It became abundantly clear from our conversation, and Dean’s research, that the military is incredibly interested in exotic aerospace technology.
 
Dean states on his blog,
 
“I wanted…to demonstrate that NASIC may have been doing what AAWSAP/AATIP did, albeit on a much larger scale. Further, when I began reviewing official documentation and other reasonable sources of information, it became evident that AAWSAP/AATIP and Elizondo frequently use identical language to that of NASIC and its recent predecessors.”

In simple terms, NASIC’s role is to know what is going on in the skies and collect information on current and future threats and exotic aeronautics. Dean explains that there are multiple departments within NASIC, and each has a specific role in assessment and intelligence collection. He explains,
 
“The first mission of note is that of ‘Air and Counterair’, which aims to ‘…assess the capabilities of foreign aircraft, air-launched weapons, unmanned aerial vehicles and the likelihood of their employment against US forces...’. The second mission worth highlighting is ‘Space and Counterspace’ which, amongst other things, develops ‘…integrated, all-source space and counterspace threat assessment and provide detailed understanding of foreign threats...’. The third mission of note is ‘Disruptive Technologies’ which assesses ‘…emerging technologies that could potentially be used in an air, space and/or cyberspace warfighting capacity…’ against America. A fourth mission is that of ‘Ballistic Missiles’. Here, NASIC assesses ‘…land-based foreign ballistic missile systems with a range of 1000 km and greater, their subsystems, operational capabilities, effectiveness, proliferation, and technology transfer…’
 
Dean elaborates that the Pentagon run programs made public by the New York Times in 2017 seem to have a similar mission. Dean writes,
 
“…it should be apparent that some of what AATIP/AAWSAP did was similar to what modern day NASIC does. Despite not having detailed mission overviews, or a breakdown of specific programs, NASIC is clearly involved in the study of ‘advanced aerospace’ regimes which originate from outside the American theatre. Isn’t this at least close to, if not identical, as what some of AATIP/AAWSAP studied?”
 

​Moreover, NASIC has been around much longer than AAWSAP/AATIP, and has significantly larger funding and capabilities. This creates a few obvious questions:
 
First, why was AATIP/AAWSAP created if a very capable and well-resourced intelligence organization was already handling the advanced and exotic aerospace question?
 
Second, how many other NASIC style programs exist that we do not know about? AAWSAP/AATIP stayed under the radar for several years. Are there any more programs like it?
 
I reached out to Dr. Hal Puthoff who has served as an advisor on some advanced propulsion programs for the military. He explained to me that the AAWSAP/AATIP programs were not the only players in the game. He stated that,
 
“Without a doubt, the AAWSAP/AATIP program was just one among others.” 
 
Senator Harry Reid told George Knapp something similar in a January 2019 interview,
 
“Other programs that have been done and information they have, including different pieces of evidence.”
 
I expressed to Puthoff that there was a curious dichotomy between “official” culture, such as academic institutions and the mainstream media, and the military. If Puthoff and Dean are correct, then the military has significant resources sunk into investigating unknown aerospace “threats.” While academia and mainstream media may think UAP/UFOs are a junk endeavour, the military seems to disagree, at least unofficially. He stated,
 
“The military has access to unequivocal data, academia doesn’t.” 
 

Dr. Hal Puthoff

I pressed for more, but Puthoff is notorious for playing his cards close to his chest. Perhaps some of this information is classified. Perhaps it is being sat on for reasons related to To the Stars Academy or his own personal research. Perhaps it is something else entirely. Regardless, he didn’t let me in on any secrets, but I’ve learned to trust my gut. As a result, I’m leaning towards the real possibility that while there may exist some more interesting data concerning strange aerial phenomena, there isn’t a smoking gun hiding in an underground bunker. I have a hunch that data may exist which suggests weird things happen, but it is probably non-sensical and absurd (much like the phenomenon itself). In other words, no one, the military included, has any idea what is going on.
 
He explained that the reason for multiple programs has to do with the fact that different groups and organizations within the military have different objectives and goals. They function along “horizontal integration” or “vertical stove piping.” To me, it sounds a bit like the left hand not knowing what the right hand is up to. To Puthoff, “let’s just say ‘chosen perspectives’ of what needs doing.”
 
Dean’s research and Puthoff’s comments seem to corroborate the idea that AAWSAP/AATIP is merely one voice in a larger chorus. While the public has learned of one contemporary “UFO hunting program,” there are undoubtedly countless more projects with similar interests.
 
I have little doubt that this phenomenon, and whatever force is behind it, finds this all quite humourous (assuming it has a sense of humour). Whether we are dealing with a trickster, a cultural spectre, or some complex non-human intelligence, or something else entirely, it views the various attempts to understand it, both by us and by our various military programs such as NASIC and AAWSAP/AATIP, as quaint and charming. The UFO discourse and narrative portray a phenomenon that not only plays with us but adapts to our attempts at understanding. It is always just slightly out of reach, always just outside of what we deem rational, logical and reasonable. The very survival of the UFO as an objective phenomenon and socio-cultural construct hinges upon it remaining unidentified. It, for a lack of a better term, needs to be unknown. Otherwise, it loses its magic and potency. It loses its power. It becomes mundane and profane instead of “sacred.”
 
With all that being said, the military’s interest is clear. Moreover, they cannot be blamed. We all have our duties and functions. The purpose of the military is to protect, defend and, when it comes to it, attack. Being able to master the unknown is its job. While we can only speculate as to what the actual “unequivocal data” is, since none of it is public as yet, we know through the hard work of Paul Dean that the military has a vested interested in seeking out that data. These government programs exist and there may be many of them. We don’t need silly conspiracies of secret underground bases and handshake agreements with the Reptillians. Wasting time on the conspiracy is pointless. Rather, beginning to chip away at the very real programs and cultural ideologies of the military and broader UFO community will undoubtedly shed more answers than any Zetan channeller on Gaia TV ever can.
 
Trying to piece together the various groups and projects aimed at advanced propulsion and UAP is incredibly complex and nuanced. Furthermore, those who possess the data are clearly not interested in sharing it openly with the general public. I would argue that even the “insiders” who have access to information may be “outsiders” to other “insider” groups. As Puthoff told me, it seems that “stove piping” is pretty common in this environment. This web is tangled, and while researchers like Dean are valiantly pulling at the threads, the spider seems to be innumerable steps ahead yet seemingly unaware of where it is going.
 
 
- MJ Banias ​