DIA-BAASS AAWSAP Contract (HHM402-08-C-0072)
Date
September 2008
Document Type
Gov. Contract
Pages
0
Authentication
Confirmed AuthenticIssuing Authority
Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) - awarded to Bigelow Aerospace Advanced Space Studies LLC (BAASS)
Summary
The Defense Intelligence Agency contract award to Bigelow Aerospace Advanced Space Studies LLC (BAASS) for the Advanced Aerospace Weapon System Applications Program (AAWSAP). Contract number HHM402-08-C-0072 was awarded in September 2008, establishing a $10 million initial-period program tasked with studying advanced aerospace threats and anomalous phenomena across 22 classified topic areas. Under the contract, BAASS employed approximately 50 researchers and produced 38 Defense Intelligence Reference Documents (DIRDs) covering advanced propulsion physics, exotic materials, and UAP phenomena. The contract represented the primary classified UAP research funding mechanism since Project Blue Book and established the institutional framework within which AATIP - the program Luis Elizondo directed - subsequently operated.
Significance
The BAASS AAWSAP contract is the institutional anchor connecting the Defense Intelligence Agency's classified UAP research mandate to the public disclosure arc that culminated in the December 2017 New York Times revelations. It established the funding structure, research personnel (Hal Puthoff, Eric Davis, Kit Green, James Lacatski), and deliverable framework (the 38 DIRDs) that became the intellectual foundation for both AATIP and the subsequent UAP Task Force. AARO's characterization of AAWSAP as primarily a paranormal research program distinct from UAP investigation is disputed by program insiders including Elizondo and Puthoff, who argue that AAWSAP and AATIP were operationally and institutionally continuous. The contract's existence and partial scope were confirmed through FOIA disclosures.