A new report reveals that the Pentagon deliberately spread UFO conspiracy theories for decades, not to cover up alien activity, but to conceal classified weapons programs during the Cold War.
According to a bombshell investigation reviewed by The Wall Street Journal, military officials planted disinformation—including doctored images of flying saucers near Nevada’s Area 51—to deflect attention from the development of cutting-edge stealth aircraft like the F-117 Nighthawk.
The revelations stem from a Department of Defense review led by Sean Kirkpatrick, the first director of the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO), which was tasked in 2022 with investigating reports of unidentified aerial phenomena.
Kirkpatrick’s team uncovered multiple cases in which the military fabricated or encouraged UFO-related myths as a smokescreen for secret technology programs, particularly during heightened Cold War tensions with the Soviet Union.
One of the more striking findings involves a retired Air Force colonel who admitted to distributing fake UFO photographs at a Nevada bar near Area 51 in the 1980s. The goal, he later told Pentagon investigators, was to reignite local UFO hysteria and protect the secrecy of stealth jet tests underway at the nearby base.
But the use of disinformation wasn’t limited to public deception. Investigators found that within the Air Force itself, new officers were subjected to bizarre hazing rituals involving fake briefings on imaginary alien-hunting units, such as a fictional “Yankee Blue” task force. Personnel were ordered never to speak of the briefings, and many were left unaware they were being pranked, even years later.
In 2023, the Pentagon issued an internal directive to end the practice, though no explanation has been provided as to why such rituals continued for so long. Some speculate the stunts served as loyalty tests or as further layers of operational misdirection.
The report also casts doubt on famous incidents long cited by UFO believers. One such case involves former Air Force Captain Robert Salas, who in 1967 witnessed the sudden shutdown of 10 nuclear missiles at a Montana base during what he believed was a UFO encounter.
Investigators now say the event was the result of a classified electromagnetic pulse (EMP) test that exposed vulnerabilities in the missile system. Salas, along with other officers, was reportedly kept in the dark to maintain secrecy around the failed test.
While the Department of Defense acknowledged the authenticity of these revelations, many details remain classified. In a statement, the Pentagon confirmed it plans to release a second volume of its historical review later this year, which may address additional incidents involving “pranks and inauthentic materials.”
The findings have reignited skepticism in Washington. Republican lawmakers, some of whom have already formed a congressional caucus to demand greater transparency around UFO crash retrieval claims, say the report confirms long-held suspicions about government deception and secrecy.
Though the Pentagon now promises greater openness, the report underscores how deeply entangled UFO mythology has become with America’s national security operations—and how willingly that myth was used to hide the truth.