Organisations

The New York Times

An American daily newspaper that played a pivotal role in the public disclosure of US government UAP programmes through its December 2017 reporting.

government programme media

1851 · New York City, USA

The New York Times is an American daily newspaper of record that has published several significant reports concerning unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) and related US government programmes. Its most consequential contribution to the UAP field came on 2017-12-16, when the paper broke the story of the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP) online, with the story subsequently picked up by news platforms worldwide.¹ The following day, 2017-12-17, the Sunday print edition carried the front-page article titled “Glowing Auras and ‘Black Money’: The Pentagon’s Mysterious U.F.O. Program”, authored by Helene Cooper, Ralph Blumenthal, and freelancer Leslie Kean.²

The 2017 front-page report drew on interviews with programme participants and documents obtained by the paper, reporting that the Pentagon had operated a programme investigating reports of unidentified flying objects.³ Pentagon officials acknowledged the existence of the programme in response to questions from the paper.⁴ Contracts obtained by the Times showed a congressional appropriation of just under $22 million for the programme, beginning in late 2008 through 2011.⁵ The Department of Defense (DoD) had been contacted by the Times on 2017-12-07, which noted that Luis Elizondo had recently resigned “to protest what he characterized as internal opposition and lack of resources for continued research."⁶ The online version of the article included links to two unclassified UAP videos — the FLIR (Tic Tac) video and the Gimbal Video — posted on To the Stars Academy of Arts and Science’s YouTube page, with the Go-Fast Video released some months later.⁷ The 2017 NYT Pentagon UAP Article was accompanied by a second inside article that interviewed David Fravor and detailed the Tic Tac Sighting of 2004.⁸

Christopher K. Mellon has been identified as the source who released the UAP videos to the Times.⁹ Separately, it was reported that Leslie Kean had secretly met with Luis Elizondo one week before the To the Stars Academy of Arts and Science launch while he was still director of AATIP.¹⁰ The 2017 articles quoted Christopher K. Mellon, Harold Puthoff, and Luis Elizondo, as well as some individuals from the Pentagon.¹¹ David Fravor stated that he came forward publicly after being told his testimony would add credibility to the Times article, having been asked approximately six times before agreeing.¹²

The Times continued to report on UAP matters in subsequent years. In May 2019, the paper revealed UAP encounters with US military aircraft over the Atlantic Ocean off the Virginia Beach coast in late 2014.¹³ Ryan Graves told the Times that the publicly released Gimbal Video was part of a much longer, higher-resolution video he had viewed on board the USS Theodore Roosevelt.¹⁴ On 2020-07-24, Ralph Blumenthal and Leslie Kean authored a further Times article titled “U.F.O. Unit at Pentagon Will Publish Its Findings”.¹⁵ Also in 2020, Eric Davis told a Times reporter that the government was in possession of “off-world vehicles not made on this earth”, and that he had given a classified briefing to a Department of Defense (DoD) agency about retrievals from such vehicles.¹⁶

The Times’s UAP reporting has a longer historical record predating the 2017 disclosures. On 1945-01-02, the paper carried an Associated Press report describing “balls of fire” stalking US fighters in night assaults over Germany, among the earliest press accounts of what became known as the Foo Fighters WWII Sightings.¹⁷ In February 1960, the Times reported that an Air Force Inspector General pamphlet had described UFO objects as a “serious business”.¹⁸ The impact of the 2017 reporting was noted at the 2023 House Oversight Subcommittee UAP Hearing, where Representative Robert Garcia acknowledged the article as groundbreaking, and Ryan Graves testified that upon seeing it in 2017 he recognised the voices on the UAP video having previously been debriefed on it.¹⁹

References (19)

The NYT broke the AATIP story online on 2017-12-16, with every news platform subsequently picking it up.
“The news exploded that afternoon. The New York Times broke the news online and was followed seconds later by Politico, then the Washington Post. Then every news platform in the world seemed to pick it up.”
Imminent: Inside the Pentagon's Hunt for UFOs — Chapter 2 (image only) Chapter 21, news publication paragraph
The front-page article was published on 2017-12-17 by Helene Cooper, Ralph Blumenthal, and Leslie Kean.
“Helene Cooper, Ralph Blumenthal and Leslie Kean, 'Real U.F.O.'s? Pentagon Unit Tried to Know', The New York Times, 17 December 2017, p. A1.”
Ross Coulthart UAP Book - Prologue, Chapter 1 & Chapter 2 Chapter 16, endnote 10
The Pentagon programme investigated reports of unidentified flying objects, per DoD officials, programme participants, and records obtained by the Times.
“For years, the program investigated reports of unidentified flying objects, according to Defense Department officials, interviews with program participants and records obtained by The New York Times.”
Glowing Auras and 'Black Money': The Pentagon's Mysterious U.F.O. Program (2017) paragraph 3
Pentagon officials acknowledged the existence of the AATIP programme in response to questions from the Times in December 2017.
“In response to questions from The Times, Pentagon officials this month acknowledged the existence of the program”
Glowing Auras and 'Black Money': The Pentagon's Mysterious U.F.O. Program (2017) paragraph 15
Contracts obtained by the Times showed a congressional appropriation of just under $22 million for the programme beginning in late 2008 through 2011.
“Contracts obtained by The Times show a congressional appropriation of just under $22 million beginning in late 2008 through 2011.”
Glowing Auras and 'Black Money': The Pentagon's Mysterious U.F.O. Program (2017) paragraph 30
On 2017-12-07 the DoD was contacted by the Times regarding AATIP and Elizondo's resignation.
“On December 7, DoD was contacted by the New York Times (NYT) seeking information regarding the AATIP and noting that Mr. Elizondo's recent resignation was submitted "to protest what he characterized as internal opposition and lack of resources for continued research."”
FOIA Response 18-F-0324: AATIP and Luis Elizondo Documents page 5
The online article included links to the FLIR and Gimbal videos; the Go-Fast video was released some months later.
“The online story also included links to two of the unclassified UAP videos, which were posted on TTSA's YouTube page: the FLIR (aka Tic Tac) video and the GIMBAL video. (They released the GoFast video some months later.)”
Imminent: Inside the Pentagon's Hunt for UFOs — Chapter 2 (image only) Chapter 21, NYT articles paragraph
The Sunday print edition ran a front-page story revealing AATIP and a second inside story interviewing David Fravor about the Tic Tac incident.
“The Times stories appeared the following day on the cover of the print edition of the Sunday paper. They ran two articles, written by Leslie Kean, Ralph Blumenthal, and Helene Cooper. Their front-page story revealed the existence of AATIP—that is, a secret program investigating UAP—and my role. Inside the newspaper, a second story interviewed Dave Fravor and Jim Slaight and revealed details of the Tic Tac incident in 2004.”
Imminent: Inside the Pentagon's Hunt for UFOs — Chapter 2 (image only) Chapter 21, NYT articles paragraph
Christopher Mellon emerged as the source who released the UAP videos to the Times.
“he emerged as the source who released to The New York Times those now famous videos”
The UFO Phenomenon | Full Documentary 2021 | 7NEWS Spotlight 00:08:04
The Times revealed that Leslie Kean had secretly met with Elizondo one week before the TTSA launch while he was still AATIP director.
“The New York Times revealed in December 2017, journalist Leslie Kean had secretly met with former Department of Defence counterintelligence officer Luis Elizondo one week before the TTSA launch, while he was still the director of the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program.”
Ross Coulthart UAP Book - Prologue, Chapter 1 & Chapter 2 Chapter 16, paragraph 12
The AATIP articles quoted Christopher Mellon, Harold Puthoff, Luis Elizondo, and Pentagon individuals.
“The articles quoted Chris Mellon, Hal Puthoff, me, and some folks from the Pentagon.”
Imminent: Inside the Pentagon's Hunt for UFOs — Chapter 2 (image only) Chapter 21, articles summary paragraph
Fravor came forward publicly because a friend said his testimony would add credibility to the Times article, and he agreed after being asked approximately six times.
“I was pestered by a friend, and I asked why and he said, you are the one person that they cannot discredit, and you will add credibility to the New York Times article. And so after about six times I said OK.”
House Oversight Subcommittee UAP Hearing – 26 July 2023 printed_page 48
In May 2019, the Times revealed UAP encounters with US military aircraft over the Atlantic off Virginia Beach in late 2014.
“In May 2019, a story broke in The New York Times that revealed even more astonishing UAP encounters with US military aircraft, this time over the Atlantic Ocean off the coast from Virginia Beach, just a short flight from Washington DC.”
Ross Coulthart UAP Book - Prologue, Chapter 1 & Chapter 2 Chapter 17, paragraph 1
Ryan Graves told the Times the Gimbal video was part of a longer, higher-resolution video he had viewed aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt.
“Graves told both the TV documentary and The New York Times that the publicly released Gimbal video was part of a much longer, higherresolution video he viewed on board the Roosevelt.”
Ross Coulthart UAP Book - Prologue, Chapter 1 & Chapter 2 paragraph 3
Blumenthal and Kean authored a Times article on 2020-07-24 titled 'U.F.O. Unit at Pentagon Will Publish Its Findings'.
“Ralph Blumenthal and Leslie Kean, 'U.F.O. Unit at Pentagon Will Publish Its Findings', The New York Times, 24 July 2020, p. A17.”
Ross Coulthart UAP Book - Prologue, Chapter 1 & Chapter 2 Chapter 19, endnote 17
In 2020, Eric Davis told a Times reporter the government held 'off-world vehicles not made on this earth' and had briefed a DoD agency on retrievals.
“In 2020, he was plucked from obscurity when he told a New York Times reporter that the government was in possession of 'off-world vehicles not made on this earth.'”
Imminent: Inside the Pentagon's Hunt for UFOs — Chapter 2 (image only) Chapter 4, paragraph 19
An Associated Press report in the Times on 1945-01-02 described 'balls of fire' stalking US fighters over Germany — early Foo Fighter sightings.
“Associated Press report, 'Balls of Fire Stalk U.S. Fighters in Night Assaults Over Germany', The New York Times, 2 Jan 1945, pp. 1 and 4.”
Ross Coulthart UAP Book - Prologue, Chapter 1 & Chapter 2 Chapter 2, endnote 1
The Times reported in February 1960 that an Air Force Inspector General pamphlet had called UFO objects a 'serious business'.
“UPI wire story, 'Air Force Order on Saucers Cited. Pamphlet by the Inspector General Called Objects a "Serious Business"', The New York Times, 28 Feb 1960, p. 30.”
Ross Coulthart UAP Book - Prologue, Chapter 1 & Chapter 2 Chapter 4, endnote 12
Robert Garcia acknowledged the 2017 Times report as groundbreaking; Ryan Graves testified he recognised the voices on the UAP video upon seeing it.
“some of the earliest reporting on this issue was a groundbreaking 2017 New York Times report which revealed research as we know now on unidentified anomalous phenomena or as many call UFOs by the Defense Intelligence Agency.”
House Oversight Subcommittee UAP Hearing – 26 July 2023 page 6; file_page 26, printed_page 22

The New York Times

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