“How did you get this so wrong?”: Emails Reveal Journalist’s Struggle With Contradictory Pentagon UFO Statements

January 27, 2022

It is no secret to those who have followed the UAP story: The Pentagon has been anything but reliable when talking about UFOs. Inconsistent messaging; contradicting claims; and bizarre denials have flooded out of the Pentagon’s Office of Public Affairs, most of the time, with no supporting evidence to back up their statements. This included what appeared to be a long held denial that the program everyone was being told was a “UFO research effort” – was anything but. For well more than a year, the Pentagon denied that the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program, or AATIP, had anything to do with UFOs.

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Well, that is, until they didn’t.

Steven Greenstreet (right) behind the scenes on the set of The Basement Office with Nick Pope (left).

That reversal was thanks to NY Post investigative journalist Steven Greenstreet. Host of an online show called The Basement Office, Greenstreet published the Pentagon’s about face on the claim in May of 2019. “The Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program ‘did pursue research and investigation into unidentified aerial phenomena,'” Greenstreet wrote. His information came straight from the Pentagon itself, and despite having denied UAP research in the past, Greenstreet got them to admit it.

Thereafter, Greenstreet would do numerous stories pursuing the AATIP issue, and discovered numerous other contradicting claims. When trying to clarify, Greenstreet was often met with more obfuscation and mystery, rather than clarity and candor from the Pentagon.

So, how did all of it go down? Although Greenstreet has highlighted the some of the story through multiple stories and video pieces, The Black Vault filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to see the inside scoop in an attempt to find out more.

Here are just some of the highlights on what was released by the Department of Defense (DoD) via the FOIA:

One Pentagon spokesperson agrees with Steven Greenstreet’s summation of his frustration and contradictions, and supports why he said what he did, but appears to have wanted his information withheld from future stories.

At one time, this email here reveals that the Pentagon was seeking out Luis Elizondo’s full employment records which would answer numerous questions about his history. Those records were never produced.

A second Pentagon spokesperson specifically denies that Luis Elizondo was detailed nor assigned to the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA).

The Pentagon reveals that Luis Elizondo was detailed to the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA).

Steven Greenstreet points out the contradictions, and presses for answers.

Steven Greenstreet presses the issues of so many contradictions and erroneous information he was given. He also makes note of one Pentagon spokesperson’s frustration of his own while trying to get answers.

Below, you will find the communications between the Pentagon and the NY Post’s Greenstreet. The records show a clear pattern of one journalists’ journey to get to the truth, only to be met with hardship and contradiction.

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Note: As a courtesy to Greenstreet, The Black Vault has redacted in RED private contact information. The remaining identifying information was cleared by Greenstreet to publish publicly. This information, for an unknown reason, was not redacted by the DoD upon release of the documents, and likely should have given FOIA exemption (b)(6).