According to a Department of Defense assessment, the US military spread fake UFO stories, including photoshopped images, for years in order to hide classified weapons programs. They even formed a fake alien-hunting unit called ‘Yankee Blue’ and hazed a dozen new recruits, a new report has revealed. Yankee Blue hopefuls had to swear secrecy before they could join the fictitious program dedicated to ‘reverse-engineering alien aircraft’.
Additionally, the public was given false information. For example, a bar owner near the infamous top-secret Area 51 base in Nevada received fake pictures of flying saucers from an Air Force colonel in the 1980s. According to the Express, the military chief admitted to Pentagon investigators in 2023 that he had acted on official orders to deflect attention from the then-classified F-117 Nighthawk stealth fighter, as per The Wall Street Journal.
The report was issued by the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO), which was entrusted with reviewing UFO allegations and military documents dating back decades. Researchers discovered that a large number of reported UFO sightings were actually views of birds, drones, rockets, or, in rare cases, misidentified operational experimental space, rocket, or air systems.
“These episodes reveal how secrecy and misinformation, even when well-intentioned, can spiral into myth,” stated former AARO director, Sean Kirkpatrick. Kirkpatrick told the Wall Street Journal that a lot of popular conspiracy theories can be linked to US military efforts to conceal its capabilities or weaknesses from adversaries.
The Pentagon has officially admitted it used UFO conspiracy theories for decades as a smokescreen to hide top-secret weapons programs.
Many of the UFO sightings and alien media frenzies were actually orchestrated by the military, part of a deliberate disinformation campaign to… pic.twitter.com/97YajWJAOi
— Shadow of Ezra (@ShadowofEzra) June 7, 2025
Although the full scope of disinformation campaigns is yet unknown, AARO found that a sizable portion of reported extraterrestrial sightings could be traced back to the US government. According to the research, a number of high-profile UFO sightings were fabricated to deceive the public about the military’s sophisticated weaponry.
This entailed fabricating narratives and visuals in the neighborhoods surrounding test locations, such as Area 51. The Pentagon utilized these beliefs as “camouflage” in some cases, the paper also notes, with deception being used to hide the testing of cutting-edge technology like stealth jets.
Some say Karl Nell’s been “a bit quiet of late”…
He just dropped this.
Whistleblowers say U.S. gov handed recovered nonhuman tech to aerospace firms dodging public oversight.
The 2025 UAP Disclosure Act calls for eminent domain to take it back.
A public Review Board.… pic.twitter.com/y5cykX026f
— Holly Wood (@thatuapgirl) May 12, 2025
According to the Wall Street Journal, the inquiry turned up no proof of alien life, unearthly vessels, or efforts to hide such findings. It did point out, though, that the study had “omitted key facts… both to protect classified secrets and to avoid embarrassment.”
Since it’s still unclear whether orders came from local officers or a centralized source, the Pentagon has promised to provide a follow-up study later this year with further information on the disinformation activities. Kirkpatrick said that not all of the review’s conclusions have been released to the public, but he promised that additional information would be included in a future report.
