You would think I was crazy if I told you about a secret government program tasked with researching UFOs. Although it sounds like an elaborate conspiracy theory, this program actually exists.

The Department of Defense has spent $22 million in undocumented money, or black money, on the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program. This program researches UFO sightings from military aviation personnel and others in order to maintain national security. Wildly enough, this program has researched numerous claims and videos of UFOs, and several military officers have made claims of their UFO sightings.

Luis Elizondo, former Pentagon military intelligence officer, formerly lead the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program and came forward with information about this secret department to the New York Times. Until this recent exposure from Elizondo, the Pentagon denied that a program like this existed. In fact, this program was even a major secret within the Pentagon. When questioned about this program's existence, a Pentagon spokesperson claimed the program was terminated in 2012. However in a recent interview, the existence of the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program was acknowledged by the Department of Defense.

Beginning in 2007, the DoD's UFO program was created and funded from heavy influence of Harry Reid. Reid's billionaire friend, Robert Bigelow, assisted with the investigation of UFO sightings by military pilots and aerospace personnel. Bigelow Aerospace, along with subcontractors, studied information and conducted many interviews regarding these UFO sightings.

A UFO, or unidentified flying object, can be a number of things, otherworldly or not; they are simply unexplained flying phenomena. Many UFOs are odd in shape, meaning they are not in the shape of a traditional aircraft. Additionally, many of the UFOs seen move in ways that do not suggest they are a usual aircraft; these UFOs move at too high of a velocity and would produce too many G-forces for a traditional aircraft. Researchers do not rule out the possibility that some of these flying objects could be drones or newer aircraft technology, but many UFOs are extremely strange in nature cannot be explained.

UFOs have been a topic of interest within military organizations in the past, especially within many pilot communities. According to Reid, service members rarely reported their sightings in fear of ridicule, but many will confirm their rendezvous in the sky with foreign crafts.

Elizondo worked on the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program until October 2017, when he resigned as a protest to the secrecy of the program. Despite Elizondo's resignation, the program has a new director, and will continue to research these strange sightings, just now with a larger public following.