{ "code": 200, "message": "OK", "tweet": { "url": "https://x.com/LtTimMcMillan/status/2056661512920436886", "id": "2056661512920436886", "text": "Some Little-Known Behind-the-Scenes History\ud83e\uddf5: \n\n\u201cChris Mellon knew folks in the SecDef front office and introduced us.\u201d\n\nSeveral years ago, I personally spoke with a former member of SecDef Mattis\u2019s senior staff who confirmed that throughout early 2017 they had been formally briefed on ATTIP and UAP by @LueElizondo. I believe @jaystratton was also a part of those briefings. However, at the time we spoke Jay was still at ODNI and we did not discuss him. \n\nThe individual confirmed being shown videos and other information in a secure setting. They would not go into detail on what they were shown, aside from saying it seemingly defied conventional explanations. They never mentioned any requests for \u201cmaterial transfers.\u201d But in fairness, I also never specifically asked about anything like that. \n\nThis person also told me they felt responsible for AATIP and the UAP issue never making it to SecDeF Mattis. They said this wasn\u2019t because of any orchestrated \u201ccover-up.\u201d Rather, this all occurred in the early months of the Trump administration\u2019s first term. Many new senior officials weren\u2019t settled into their offices yet. According to them there were also several very pressing national security issues involving North Korea and Syria which took precedence. \n\nPerhaps, the most fascinating part of our conversation was they recounted being stunned by the DoD\u2019s initial public denials that AAWSAP/AATIP was involved in UAP investigations and Lue\u2019s role. \n\nThis person said they went so far as to personally speak with DoD Public Affairs to express their displeasure that the information being released was patently false.\n\nIn response, they were effectively told by DoDPA that the public statements on AAWSAP/AATIP and Lue were formally accurate, but indeed functionally misleading.\n\nEssentially, senior staff at OUSDI and OSDPA preferred to play a game of semantics as opposed to offering clarity, in hopes it would make the entire AATIP/UAP thing go away. \n\nThe PAO they spoke with, however, similarly expressed their disapproval of this approach. \n\n*For context, this was pre-Susan Gough. Once Gough was assigned as the public affairs UAP-Czar, OSDPA coalesced around a unified UAP messaging strategy. \n\nThis included all DoD branches and components being required to route all UAP information to OSDPA/Gough. \n\nOther non-DoD agencies, for example FBI, DHS, etc., also largely complied with this as well. Whether that was by formal executive directive or simply a good excuse to pass off UAP inquiries, I don\u2019t know. \n\nComponent FOIA offices were also required to provide advance notice to OSDPA about upcoming UAP related FOIA releases. \n\nIn another private conversation, a former high-ranking Under Secretary, told me OSDPA\u2019s messaging strategy was to be very cautious and risk-averse. Effectively, OSDPA would only comment on information that had already become publicly available via FOIA, in some instances leaks, or occasionally comments by former officials. \n\nCandidly, the former Under Secretary said the goal was to convey the least amount of information, while still satisfying the requirement for public disclosure.", "raw_text": { "text": "Some Little-Known Behind-the-Scenes History\ud83e\uddf5: \n\n\u201cChris Mellon knew folks in the SecDef front office and introduced us.\u201d\n\nSeveral years ago, I personally spoke with a former member of SecDef Mattis\u2019s senior staff who confirmed that throughout early 2017 they had been formally briefed on ATTIP and UAP by @LueElizondo. I believe @jaystratton was also a part of those briefings. However, at the time we spoke Jay was still at ODNI and we did not discuss him. \n\nThe individual confirmed being shown videos and other information in a secure setting. They would not go into detail on what they were shown, aside from saying it seemingly defied conventional explanations. They never mentioned any requests for \u201cmaterial transfers.\u201d But in fairness, I also never specifically asked about anything like that. \n\nThis person also told me they felt responsible for AATIP and the UAP issue never making it to SecDeF Mattis. They said this wasn\u2019t because of any orchestrated \u201ccover-up.\u201d Rather, this all occurred in the early months of the Trump administration\u2019s first term. Many new senior officials weren\u2019t settled into their offices yet. According to them there were also several very pressing national security issues involving North Korea and Syria which took precedence. \n\nPerhaps, the most fascinating part of our conversation was they recounted being stunned by the DoD\u2019s initial public denials that AAWSAP/AATIP was involved in UAP investigations and Lue\u2019s role. \n\nThis person said they went so far as to personally speak with DoD Public Affairs to express their displeasure that the information being released was patently false.\n\nIn response, they were effectively told by DoDPA that the public statements on AAWSAP/AATIP and Lue were formally accurate, but indeed functionally misleading.\n\nEssentially, senior staff at OUSDI and OSDPA preferred to play a game of semantics as opposed to offering clarity, in hopes it would make the entire AATIP/UAP thing go away. \n\nThe PAO they spoke with, however, similarly expressed their disapproval of this approach. \n\n*For context, this was pre-Susan Gough. Once Gough was assigned as the public affairs UAP-Czar, OSDPA coalesced around a unified UAP messaging strategy. \n\nThis included all DoD branches and components being required to route all UAP information to OSDPA/Gough. \n\nOther non-DoD agencies, for example FBI, DHS, etc., also largely complied with this as well. Whether that was by formal executive directive or simply a good excuse to pass off UAP inquiries, I don\u2019t know. \n\nComponent FOIA offices were also required to provide advance notice to OSDPA about upcoming UAP related FOIA releases. \n\nIn another private conversation, a former high-ranking Under Secretary, told me OSDPA\u2019s messaging strategy was to be very cautious and risk-averse. Effectively, OSDPA would only comment on information that had already become publicly available via FOIA, in some instances leaks, or occasionally comments by former officials. \n\nCandidly, the former Under Secretary said the goal was to convey the least amount of information, while still satisfying the requirement for public disclosure.", "display_text_range": [ 0, 3136 ], "facets": [ { "type": "mention", "indices": [ 304, 316 ], "original": "LueElizondo", "id": "1296618483203993600" }, { "type": "mention", "indices": [ 328, 340 ], "original": "jaystratton", "id": "23574369" } ] }, "author": { "screen_name": "LtTimMcMillan", "url": "https://x.com/LtTimMcMillan", "id": "783206614207782912", "followers": 45439, "following": 1359, "likes": 20345, "media_count": 2934, "name": "Tim McMillan", "description": "Retired LEO | I Investigate stuff and write about it.\ud83d\udd75\ufe0f\u200d\u2642\ufe0f Co-Founder: @Debriefmedia, Bylines: @dcexaminer @PopMech @VICENews | GO GATORS!!! \ud83d\udc0a \ud83c\udfc8", "raw_description": { "text": "Retired LEO | I Investigate stuff and write about it.\ud83d\udd75\ufe0f\u200d\u2642\ufe0f Co-Founder: @Debriefmedia, Bylines: @dcexaminer @PopMech @VICENews | GO GATORS!!! \ud83d\udc0a \ud83c\udfc8", "facets": [] }, "location": "Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany", "banner_url": "https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_banners/783206614207782912/1651521098", "avatar_url": "https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1202172569241235456/uWxPfWoD_200x200.jpg", "joined": "Tue Oct 04 07:26:23 +0000 2016", "protected": false, "website": { "url": "http://www.lttimmcmillan.com", "display_url": "lttimmcmillan.com" }, "verification": { "verified": true, "verified_at": null, "type": "individual" }, "avatar_color": null }, "replies": 2, "retweets": 8, "likes": 41, "bookmarks": 11, "quotes": 3, "created_at": "Tue May 19 09:01:30 +0000 2026", "created_timestamp": 1779181290, "views": 3460, "is_note_tweet": true, "community_note": null, "lang": "en", "replying_to": null, "replying_to_status": null, "quote": { "url": "https://x.com/LueElizondo/status/2056447832815767879", "id": "2056447832815767879", "text": "Joe, I completely sympathize with those who are confused. In fact, there is definitely some blurring of the lines and grey areas. Let me see if this helps.\n\n1. AAWSAP was the original contract vehicle that was approved and executed in 2008, although discussions occurred before that from my understanding. This included BAAS as the primary contractor. Focus included UAP and anomalies at Skin Walker Ranch\n\n2. AATIP was created to focus solely on military encounters with UAP. The 2009 memo demonstrates this. Keep in mind that justifying the spending of military resources (people, travel, time, etc) requires a military focus. This means showing a clear connection to military equities. The perfect example is the Nimitz incident and investigation that Jay conducted. I was part of AATIP already but focusing on the security element.\n\n3. From 2009 to 2012 both AATIP and AAWSAP were run simultaneously. Meaning, AAWSAP was focusing on the ranch and some archival UAP cases (for which I was not part of so I can\u2019t really speak to any degree of authority involving AAWSAP. As for me, at AATIP we were focused on military encounters with UAP which there were many.\n\n4. In 2012, funding for AAWSAP ended and from my understanding those efforts ended (I could be wrong here because I wasnt really involved with that effort. With the finding done for AAWSAP, AATIP continued. In 2013 and 2014, we had another 10 million that was provided to us (AATIP) through appropriations but the language was vague and so the money didn\u2019t come to us and instead taken by another element in USD(I), much to our disappointment. Fortunately I managed activities that allowed me to use our own resources to keep the program alive. By this point, we had plenty of military incidents to review and triage. \n\n5. AATIP continued throughout 2014, 2015, and 2016 but it became clear to me, Jay, and others we would need more resources and more top cover. We also wanted the Air Force to authorize material transfer from specific aerospace contractors to AATIP. Those elements said we needed a new memo from SecAF to replace an existing one that directed these contractors to maintain the material. We were unsuccessful getting that memo from SecAf.\n\n6. When Gen Mattis became SecDef I saw it as an opportunity to see if we could get a memo from the SecDef, thereby trumping (forgive the pun) the SecAf. To do this, we would need to brief his staff. Please keep in mind that all the while AATIP had been placed into DoD control systems but very few people in the new chain of command were even aware of it. So this was the perfect opportunity to kill 2 birds with 1 stone. I.e. get top cover at the highest level while also getting a memo signed by SecDef to allow certain contractors to hand over the material they said they already had. Chris Mellon knew folks in the SecDef front office and introduced us. I already had served with Mattis overseas but I didn\u2019t know anyone in his front office so Chris\u2019 help was invaluable.\n\n7. Jay and I along with our colleagues kept running into roadblocks with initiatives such as Interloper. As such, in 2017 we decided one of us would have to break cover in order to get the Secretary\u2019s attention to this important matter. We decided it would be me that would go public while Jay remained in the shadows to continue AATIP from inside.\n\n8. I believe it was in 2018 Jay becomes the new UAP Task Force Director. Unfortunately he faced sharp resistance from my old leadership but that is his story to tell because I was gone by then.", "raw_text": { "text": "Joe, I completely sympathize with those who are confused. In fact, there is definitely some blurring of the lines and grey areas. Let me see if this helps.\n\n1. AAWSAP was the original contract vehicle that was approved and executed in 2008, although discussions occurred before that from my understanding. This included BAAS as the primary contractor. Focus included UAP and anomalies at Skin Walker Ranch\n\n2. AATIP was created to focus solely on military encounters with UAP. The 2009 memo demonstrates this. Keep in mind that justifying the spending of military resources (people, travel, time, etc) requires a military focus. This means showing a clear connection to military equities. The perfect example is the Nimitz incident and investigation that Jay conducted. I was part of AATIP already but focusing on the security element.\n\n3. From 2009 to 2012 both AATIP and AAWSAP were run simultaneously. Meaning, AAWSAP was focusing on the ranch and some archival UAP cases (for which I was not part of so I can\u2019t really speak to any degree of authority involving AAWSAP. As for me, at AATIP we were focused on military encounters with UAP which there were many.\n\n4. In 2012, funding for AAWSAP ended and from my understanding those efforts ended (I could be wrong here because I wasnt really involved with that effort. With the finding done for AAWSAP, AATIP continued. In 2013 and 2014, we had another 10 million that was provided to us (AATIP) through appropriations but the language was vague and so the money didn\u2019t come to us and instead taken by another element in USD(I), much to our disappointment. Fortunately I managed activities that allowed me to use our own resources to keep the program alive. By this point, we had plenty of military incidents to review and triage. \n\n5. AATIP continued throughout 2014, 2015, and 2016 but it became clear to me, Jay, and others we would need more resources and more top cover. We also wanted the Air Force to authorize material transfer from specific aerospace contractors to AATIP. Those elements said we needed a new memo from SecAF to replace an existing one that directed these contractors to maintain the material. We were unsuccessful getting that memo from SecAf.\n\n6. When Gen Mattis became SecDef I saw it as an opportunity to see if we could get a memo from the SecDef, thereby trumping (forgive the pun) the SecAf. To do this, we would need to brief his staff. Please keep in mind that all the while AATIP had been placed into DoD control systems but very few people in the new chain of command were even aware of it. So this was the perfect opportunity to kill 2 birds with 1 stone. I.e. get top cover at the highest level while also getting a memo signed by SecDef to allow certain contractors to hand over the material they said they already had. Chris Mellon knew folks in the SecDef front office and introduced us. I already had served with Mattis overseas but I didn\u2019t know anyone in his front office so Chris\u2019 help was invaluable.\n\n7. Jay and I along with our colleagues kept running into roadblocks with initiatives such as Interloper. As such, in 2017 we decided one of us would have to break cover in order to get the Secretary\u2019s attention to this important matter. We decided it would be me that would go public while Jay remained in the shadows to continue AATIP from inside.\n\n8. I believe it was in 2018 Jay becomes the new UAP Task Force Director. Unfortunately he faced sharp resistance from my old leadership but that is his story to tell because I was gone by then.", "display_text_range": [ 0, 3570 ], "facets": [] }, "author": { "screen_name": "LueElizondo", "url": "https://x.com/LueElizondo", "id": "1296618483203993600", "followers": 260926, "following": 208, "likes": 1861, "media_count": 190, "name": "Lue Elizondo", "description": "Former Director of AATIP, Disclosure and Transparency Advocate, Author, Husband and Father, Proud Veteran", "raw_description": { "text": "Former Director of AATIP, Disclosure and Transparency Advocate, Author, Husband and Father, Proud Veteran", "facets": [] }, "location": "", "banner_url": "https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_banners/1296618483203993600/1724158808", "avatar_url": "https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1910019476155756544/jQKNUkl1_200x200.jpg", "joined": "Fri Aug 21 01:22:58 +0000 2020", "protected": false, "website": { "url": "https://luiselizondo-official.com", "display_url": "luiselizondo-official.com" }, "verification": { "verified": true, "verified_at": null, "type": "individual" }, "avatar_color": null }, "replies": 33, "retweets": 80, "likes": 480, "bookmarks": 158, "quotes": 17, "created_at": "Mon May 18 18:52:24 +0000 2026", "created_timestamp": 1779130344, "views": 41842, "is_note_tweet": true, "community_note": null, "lang": "en", "replying_to": "TheUfoJoe", "replying_to_status": "2056425203014758745", "source": "Twitter for iPhone", "twitter_card": "tweet", "color": null, "provider": "twitter", "reposted_by": null }, "source": "Twitter for iPhone", "color": null, "provider": "twitter", "reposted_by": null } }