The $22 Million Government Secret: AAWSAP and the Pentagon's Investigation

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In the summer of 2007, a career Defense Intelligence Agency analyst named Dr. James Lacatski read a book about Skinwalker Ranch. Lacatski was not a casual reader. He was a rocket scientist who had spent much of his career in the Defense Warning Office of the DIA, working on threat assessment at the highest levels of American intelligence. The book he read — Hunt for the Skinwalker — described the NIDSci investigation in detail. He became convinced that the phenomena might represent both a threat and an opportunity for national defense. He arranged to visit the property that summer. What he experienced there — which he has described as a close encounter with an "unearthly technological device" — led directly to the creation of the most significant government program ever connected to the ranch.

The Creation of AAWSAP

With the support of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada, Lacatski secured $22 million in funding through the Defense Intelligence Agency for a program called the Advanced Aerospace Weapon System Applications Program (AAWSAP). The program began in September 2008 when a contract was awarded to Bigelow Aerospace Advanced Space Studies (BAASS) — a subsidiary of Bigelow's aerospace company, with Kelleher serving as deputy administrator.

The program name most familiar to the public — AATIP (Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program) — was actually a cover name created in 2009 for security purposes, used in unclassified correspondence. The real program was AAWSAP. This distinction matters because public statements about AATIP have sometimes been inaccurate or misleading regarding the program's actual scope and conclusions.

What AAWSAP Investigated

AAWSAP's mandate extended well beyond Skinwalker Ranch. The program maintained a database of approximately 200,000 UAP cases from around the world, analyzed UAP incidents involving military pilots, and produced dozens of technical papers on aerospace phenomena. It investigated the "Tic Tac" UAP incident involving Navy pilots off the coast of San Diego — one of the most credible UAP encounters in the modern record. But Skinwalker Ranch remained central, with government investigators continuing to document phenomena that NIDSci had been unable to conclusively capture.

What the government-era investigators documented at the ranch included sudden spikes in ionizing radiation in localized areas of the property — some personnel reported symptoms consistent with radiation exposure following time in specific locations. They also photographed what appeared to be two sets of barefoot human tracks in snow that merged into one set, and another set that approached a five-foot barbed wire fence without any disturbance to the fence. And the pattern of technology malfunction that had characterized the NIDSci period continued, despite upgraded equipment and more controlled conditions.

The Hitchhiker Effect: Military Personnel

The most significant and disturbing claim from the AAWSAP period concerns what happened to military personnel who visited the ranch. According to Dr. Lacatski and Dr. Kelleher in Skinwalkers at the Pentagon, active-duty military personnel who visited the property subsequently experienced anomalous events at their own homes — poltergeist-like activity, unexplained lights, shadowy figures observed by family members, unexplained illnesses, and in some cases events that resulted in physical injury to the investigators' children.

This claim is among the most extraordinary in the entire Skinwalker Ranch case. It is also among the least verifiable — the military personnel involved cannot be publicly identified due to classification, and the events occurred in private residences with no independent documentation. What makes it notable is its source: it is documented in a book cleared for public release by the Defense Office of Prepublication and Security Review, co-authored by the DIA program manager who created AAWSAP and a credentialed biochemist who led its day-to-day operations.

AAWSAP's Conclusion and Termination

AAWSAP operated for approximately 27 months before its funding was not renewed in 2010. The Pentagon's All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO), in its 2024 historical report, characterized AAWSAP's deliverables as "lacking utility for DIA's mission" and described the program as having drifted into paranormal research. This assessment has been strongly disputed by Lacatski, Kelleher, and others involved with the program, who argue that AARO relied on incomplete archives and mischaracterized the program's scope.

What is not in dispute: the United States government spent $22 million of taxpayer money on a program significantly shaped by phenomena observed at Skinwalker Ranch. That is not a claim made by paranormal enthusiasts. It is a documented fact confirmed by government contracting records, congressional testimony, and the accounts of the program's own leadership.

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