FAA-Bigelow Aerospace UFO Reporting Partnership Revealed via FOIA
The Black Vault published FAA communications obtained via FOIA, revealing that Bigelow Aerospace and predecessor NIDS were listed as official contacts for commercial pilot UFO reports in FAA manuals from 2002 until 2014. The documents confirm a formal relationship between the aviation authority and the private contractor during the AATIP era.
Source context
This box summarizes currently attached sources and documents. It is not automatic verification and does not replace editorial review.
Background
On March 23, 2018, John Greenewald Jr. of The Black Vault released communications between the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Bigelow Aerospace, obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request filed in January 2018. The released documents establish that Bigelow Aerospace's National Institute for Discovery Science (NIDS) was first referenced in FAA Order 7110.65N on February 21, 2002, as a contact for UFO reports. This reference was later updated to Bigelow Aerospace Advanced Space Studies (BAASS) in Order 7110.65T dated February 11, 2010. The final FAA manual containing the BAASS reference was Order 7110.65U from February 9, 2012. Subsequent manual updates in 2014, 2015, and 2017 removed all Bigelow Aerospace references, coinciding with the reported cancellation of the Advanced Aviation Threat Identification Program (AATIP) in 2012. Notably, the FOIA response indicated that no UFO reports were forwarded from the FAA to Bigelow Aerospace during this period, suggesting pilots contacted the organization directly rather than through official channels.
Connections
More community notes about this entry
These are personal research notes that community members chose to publish. They are not an editorial publication by the platform.