(NewsNation) — A leaked whistleblower report says the Pentagon is operating a secret UFO retrieval program called “Immaculate Constellation,” according to independent journalist Michael Shellenberger.
The report revealed for the first time the name of an alleged UAP program, stating that the executive branch has been managing UAP issues without congressional knowledge or oversight, possibly for decades.
Department of Defense spokesperson Sue Gough denied records of the alleged program in a statement to NewsNation Tuesday evening.
“The Department of Defense has no record, present or historical, of any type of SAP called ‘IMMACULATE CONSTELLATION,'” she wrote.
Shellenberger told NewsNation’s Ross Coulthart he has been in touch with the whistleblower, whose exact role and other identifying details, including gender, he has withheld because they fear what could happen if they were publicly known.
“I don’t think that they’re faking it or that they’re lying about their fear,” he said. “This person discovered this material accidentally. This was not something they had expected to encounter.”
That fear is why Shellenberger said the whistleblower did not share intelligence imagery showing UAPs.
The unnamed whistleblower said the Department of Defense created “Immaculate Constellation” in 2017 after a New York Times report revealed another program known as the Advance Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP).
The whistleblower report cites evidence, including allegations about UAP sightings collected by the Pentagon and intelligence documenting firsthand encounters with UAPs or UFOs that are kept in a database used by the intelligence community.
The report is also said to describe various UAPs in detail, including one where orbs surrounded an F-22 and forced it out of its patrol area and one where the crew of a Navy aircraft saw an orange-red sphere descend from a high altitude, after which they described a sense of unease and feeling as if they’d snapped out of a trance.
Pentagon historically denies reports of UAP programs
The Pentagon has long denied claims that there is any evidence to indicate any nonhuman, alien or extraterrestrial intelligence has visited Earth. In a May report, the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) said reports of unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP) are the result of mistaken identification of drones, top-secret projects or other known aerial objects.
AARO said longstanding claims that the Pentagon is secretly studying UAPs are a result of “circular reporting” from a group of people who believe the rumor to be true despite a lack of evidence.
Rumors about the government and unidentified objects have existed since the end of World War II and the famed Roswell incident of 1947. Believers pointed to errors in the report and cast doubt on the validity of the claims.
Skeptics, on the other hand, have said persistent rumors about government UFO programs are a result of government disinformation and social contagion like the “Satanic Panic” of the 1980s.
“This new whistleblower is not part of that circular reporting,” Shellenberger said. “I am confident of that. This person did not know the other individuals who verified the name of this program. It does not fit the theory of social contagion.”
Those who have suggested we need to look more closely at UAPs include high-ranking officials like former Assistant Secretary of Defense Christopher Mellon and former Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe, even if they stop short of saying UAPs are alien in nature.
Recent UAP reports
In 2023, former Air Force officer David Grusch reignited interest in UAPs by claiming a secret UAP retrieval program was being operated by the Pentagon without the public or Congress being aware.
His statements sparked a congressional hearing on the subject and a bipartisan UAP Caucus formed in the House of Representatives, with lawmakers seeking to understand what programs exist and how the Pentagon would be funding alleged UAP efforts.
Others have since come forward with their own stories, including former military intelligence officer Luis Elizondo and retired Army Col. Karl Nell.
Lawmakers from both parties have come forward to press the Defense Department for more transparency and have said the earlier hearing was not the last the public can expect to see on UAPs.
“No justification has been given for this level of secrecy,” Shellenberger said, noting that efforts to discredit those who have come forward to speak about UAPs have ruined people’s lives.
He also recommended whistleblowers approach journalists or congressional staffers, saying that protections for whistleblowers who go to AARO or the inspector generals for defense or intelligence are not adequate.
