Memorandum for the Deputy Secretary of Defense: Senator Harry Reid's Request to Put the Advanced Aerospace Threat and Identification Program (AATIP) under Special Access Protection

This collection of documents details the administrative and internal review process regarding a request by Senator Harry Reid to place the Advanced Aerospace Threat and Identification Program (AATIP), also referred to as the Advanced Aerospace Weapon System Application Program (AAWSAP), under a Restricted Special Access Program (SAP). In a letter dated June 24, 2009, Senator Reid requested this classification, arguing that the program's research into unconventional aerospace technologies and potential threats required extraordinary protection to prevent adversarial foreign intelligence services from gaining access to sensitive findings. The program, which was funded by a $10 million earmark in 2008 and a $12 million earmark in 2010, was contracted to Bigelow Aerospace Advance Space Studies (BAASS) to conduct research in 11 technical areas, including topics such as invisibility cloaking, warp drives, and antigravity. The Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) conducted a technical review of the 26 reports produced by BAASS in 2009. The review concluded that the reports were academic and scientific in nature, and that the information contained within them did not warrant the high level of security associated with a Restricted SAP. The DIA noted that the research was unclassified and that there was no evidence of damage to national security if the information were disclosed. Consequently, James R. Clapper Jr. recommended against the request for SAP protection. The documents include talking points for a meeting between the Deputy Secretary of Defense and Senator Reid, as well as internal DIA memoranda outlining the rationale for denying the SAP request, emphasizing that the program's deliverables were consistent with unclassified scientific research.