FOIA Response 18-F-0324: AATIP and Luis Elizondo Documents

“The Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence & Security, a component of the Office of the Secretary of Defense, conducted a search of their records systems and located eight pages determined to be responsive to parts one and two of your request.”

“has determined that portions of the eight responsive pages are exempt from release pursuant to 5 U.S.C. § 552 (b)(6), as disclosure of the information would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of the personal privacy of individuals.”

“Your appeal must be postmarked within 90 calendar days of the date of this response.”

“Mr. Elizondo was assigned to OUSDI from September 28, 2008 to October 4, 2017.”

“He served as an action officer in Partner Engagement, and subsequently as a branch chief managing classified information to support the Office of Military Commissions.”

“He served as an action officer in Partner Engagement, and subsequently as a branch chief managing classified information to support the Office of Military Commissions.”

“The AATIP was terminated in 2012.”

“To the best of my knowledge, he had no job responsibilities related to the AATIP.”

“This memorandum summarizes recent media interest in the AATIP, which has been accentuated by the public statements of former DoD employee Luis Elizondo, who has aggrandized his role in the program.”

“We are collecting facts regarding Mr. Elizondo's actual role in the AATIP, reviewing the program's history with DIA, Navy, and Air Force, and pursuing options to investigate Mr. Elizondo's possible mishandling of sensitive information.”

“On October 3, 2017, Mr. Elizondo submitted a resignation letter (Tab B) requesting immediate termination of his employment.”

“Effective 4 October 2017, I humbly submit my resignation as Director, National Programs Special Management Staff, Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence. In this regard, I understand I will no longer be an employee of the U.S. Government. I respectfully request I receive a "deferred retirement".”

“He was cleared out of USDI the next day.”

“He provided no reason for the sudden departure.”

“On or about October 4, after Mr. Elizondo had departed the organization, a second resignation letter (Tab C) was delivered to the USDI Chief of Staff office.”

“In this letter, which is formatted as a "Memorandum for Record" but uses the salutation "Mr. Secretary," Mr. Elizondo cites concerns over anomalous aerospace threats as the basis for his resignation.”

“The letter was hand delivered to the USDI Chief of Staff office by someone other than Mr. Elizondo.”

“The letter is not consistent with the first resignation letter Mr. Elizondo personally handed his supervisor.”

“Given the uncertain provenance of the second letter, OUSDI retained a copy but did not provide it to the SecDef office.”

“Mr. Elizondo cites concerns over anomalous aerospace threats as the basis for his resignation.”

“It has been my sincere honor and pleasure to have served with some of America's finest men and women in both peace time and in war. For over 22 years, I have been blessed to learn from, and work with world-class leadership, you certainly being among the very best.”

“Despite overwhelming evidence at both the unclassified and classified levels, certain individuals in the Department remain staunchly opposed to further research on what could be a tactical threat to our pilots, sailors, and soldiers, and perhaps even an existential threat to our national security.”

“what could be a tactical threat to our pilots, sailors, and soldiers, and perhaps even an existential threat to our national security”

“In many instances, there seems to be a direct correlation the phenomena exhibits with respect to our nuclear and military capabilities.”

“The Department must take serious the many accounts by the Navy and other Services of unusual aerial systems interfering with military weapon platforms and displaying beyond next generation capabilities.”

“For this reason, effective 4 October 2017, I humbly submit my resignation in hopes it will encourage you to ask the hard questions: "who else knows?", what are their capabilities?", and "why aren't we spending more time and effort on the issue?".”

“Mr. Elizondo has provided three different explanations for his sudden resignation.”

“On October 3rd he told his direct supervisor he was resigning because he had a fleeting job opportunity that required his immediate availability.”

“In a memorandum dated October 4th he cited his concerns over inaction within the Department over "anomalous aerospace threats" as the reason for his resignation.”

“On October 6th, via a phone call, he told me he resigned because his job was too stressful on his family.”

“In a phone call on October 5, when asked about the second letter, Mr. {{redacted: ~2 words}} told me that for many years he had been secretly tasked by the Secretary of Defense as the program manager for investigating UFOs and other aerial threats.”

“After my phone call with Mr. Elizondo, in which he said he had been secretly working for the Secretary”

“He said nobody in USDI was cleared for this program and would not discuss it further.”

“I discussed his claims with senior officials who would likely have known of such an arrangement, but was unable to substantiate them.”

“I checked with two senior officials that have knowledge of special programs; our collective assessment”

“was that Mr. Elizondo's claims were not credible, and the letter was not worthy of the Secretary's personal attention.”

“was that Mr. Elizondo's claims were not credible, and the letter was not worthy of the Secretary's personal attention.”

“Mr. Elizondo completed all administrative and security related out-processing, including formal debriefs for all SAPs, SCI,”

“Yes. We referred the timing and circumstances of Mr. Elizondo's resignation to the AFOSI.”

“Their informal assessment did not find any wrongdoing by Mr. Elizondo, and absent any indicators of misconduct, they were unable to open a formal investigation.”

“He asserts "for nearly the last decade I ran a sensitive Aerospace Threat Identification Program focusing on unidentified aerial technologies,"”

“and later says "we are (also) planning to provide never before released footage from real US government systems."”

“Following discovery of the YouTube video, I requested an informal review of Mr. Elizondo's conduct by the Air Force Office of Special Investigations (AFOSI), which is responsible for providing investigative support to the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD), including investigation of assigned personnel.”

“which is responsible for providing investigative support to the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD), including investigation of assigned personnel.”

“In late November AFOSI advised that absent more tangible indicators of possible misconduct they did not have enough information to open a case on Mr. Elizondo.”

“On December 15, based on information contained in the NYT inquiry, I notified the OUSDI Security Officer that Mr. Elizondo may have misused government systems and may intend to release USG footage or information that he obtained during his employment with OUSD (I).”

“In the TV interview, Mr. Elizondo affirms his alleged role in leading the AATIP program and says "we are not alone..."”

“On December 18, OUSDI located a classified email generated by Mr. Elizondo in August 2017, in which he requested assistance from a Navy civilian employee to declassify one or more videos.”

“USDI staff contacted him upon discovery of the SIPRnet email sent to him by Mr. Elizondo.”

“He informed us that he told Mr. Elizondo that he was not the declassification release authority, and took no further action.”

“and took no further action.”

“The video attached to the email is the same footage broadcast on national news on December 17.”

“The email chain is incomplete, so we have yet to determine if the video was properly declassified, what process was followed, and how it ended up in the possession of the national media. We continue to research these email transactions.”

“On December 21, I met with AFOSI agents to initiate a formal inquiry into Mr. Elizondo's possible mishandling of classified materials.”

“"Deferred Retirement" refers to delayed payment of benefits until certain criteria are met.”

“Deferred retirement applies to those with at least five years of Federal service who depart before reaching their Minimum Retirement Age (MRA) - which is between ages 55-57, depending on year of birth.”

“Those with 5 years can opt to collect retirement benefits as early as age 62;”

“those with 10 years can collect at their MRA but will sacrifice 5% for each year they are under 62.”