Pentagon files detail private contractor's vault for UAP hardware

Newly released Pentagon documents show that billionaire Robert Bigelow's BAASS company was contracted by the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) from 2008 to 2010 to investigate UAPs, including the planning of an underground vault for "recovered hardware and biological samples" ^[1].

The records illustrate a government effort to treat unidentified aerial phenomena as an engineering problem. By applying computational fluid dynamics and theoretical physics, the program sought to determine what technologies would be required to achieve the maneuvers reported by witnesses ^[1].

Pentagon declassifies DIA contractor records

On October 23, 2026, the US Department of War released a seventh tranche of declassified UAP files under the Presidential Unsealing and Reporting System for UAP Encounters (PURSUE) ^[6]. "The Department of War is publishing the seventh release of declassified and historical Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP) files," said Sean Parnell, Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs and Chief Pentagon Spokesman ^[6].

Among these records are six contractor reports detailing the work of Bigelow Aerospace Advanced Space Studies, known as BAASS ^[1]. The company, an arm of Robert Bigelow's commercial space firm, operated under DIA contract HHM402-08-C-0072 as part of the Advanced Aerospace Weapon System Applications Program (AAWSAP) ^[1][11]. The contract was awarded in September 2008 to BAASS as the sole bidder, totaling $21,948,810 in funding ^[11].

The infrastructure of the BAASS investigation

The documents reveal a large-scale operation based in Las Vegas that grew rapidly. By March 2009, the company had 33 full-time and seven part-time employees; by June 2009, the headcount had expanded to 45 full-time and six part-time staff ^[1]. During this ramp-up, the company reviewed 526 resumes ^[1]. The stated mission was to identify "future aerospace threats" and develop advanced aerospace platforms and weapons through 2050 ^[1].

One report describes the design of a 5,000 square foot underground vault in North Las Vegas, intended to be buried 15 to 20 feet deep with three-foot-thick walls, ceiling, and floor ^[1]. The vault's stated purpose was the storage of biological samples and recovered hardware, though the documents do not state if any such materials were ever stored there ^[1]. The facility was planned to include multiple security doors, camouflaged surface structures, a separate 5,000 square foot laboratory, and a Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility (SCIF)—a secure area for handling classified material ^[1].

To build its analytical framework, BAASS integrated a "Data Warehouse" that eventually expanded to 11 databases ^[1]. This included 13,123 reports from historical government programs running from 1948 to 1970, including Project Sign, Project Grudge, and Project Blue Book ^[1]. The company also utilized databases from the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON)—including a dispatch center that processed 319 cases in its first month of operation in April 2009—and the National Institute for Discovery Science (NIDS) ^[1]. Additionally, the warehouse included records from the "Utah Ranch" and "Post-Utah Ranch Effects," references to the Skinwalker Ranch property purchased by Bigelow ^[1].

Engineering approaches to speculative physics

BAASS treated UAP behavior as a technical challenge, using ANSYS Multiphysics Finite Element Analysis and computational fluid dynamics (CFD)—the study of how fluids and gases move—to model how these objects moved ^[1]. To run these simulations, the company utilized a 12-core HP server with 48 gigabytes of RAM ^[1]. The company divided its research into 12 technology focus areas, including propulsion, power generation, spatial and temporal translation, signature reduction, and armament ^[1].

The contractor also commissioned between 24 and 30 "position papers" via subcontractor Earthtech International on speculative topics ^[1]. These included research into warp drives, wormholes, antigravity, positronics, metamaterial invisibility cloaking, FTL (faster-than-light) communication, and nuclear micro-reactor power sources ^[1].

Modern analysis and unresolved phenomena

These theoretical interests align with recent scientific hypotheses regarding UAP signatures. Physicists Shaun Fell and Avi Loeb recently proposed that a subluminal warp drive transiting the atmosphere would produce temperatures of 220 billion degrees Kelvin and luminosities exceeding one terawatt—roughly one-tenth of global electric power consumption ^[2].

Such models are being compared to current official reports. An AARO report from June 5, 2026, signed by Director Dr. Jon Kosloski, describes an orange "mother" orb launching smaller red orbs, noting that 40 percent of the event remains unresolved ^[2].

Other recent investigations continue to document anomalous shapes. A June 2026 joint AARO and FBI investigation documented a matte black triangular object measuring 13 to 15 feet wide and 6 to 9 feet long at a sensitive national security site in the western United States ^[6]. Regarding these developments, Gianni Martire, founder of Applied Physics, said "science may simply be catching up to UFO lore that has existed for hundreds of years" ^[2].

What we don't know

• Whether any recovered hardware or biological samples were actually placed inside the North Las Vegas vault ^[1].
• Whether AATIP was a separate program or a nickname for the AAWSAP effort, a point of dispute among official records and former personnel ^[11].
• The identities of the specific scientists and military personnel involved in the program, who remain redacted in the reports ^[1].