AFOSI
Type
Organization
Status
ActiveActive Period
1948-present
Parent Organization
United States Air Force
Summary
The Air Force Office of Special Investigations is the U.S. Air Force's primary counterintelligence, criminal investigation, and human intelligence organization. Established in 1948, AFOSI operates directly under the Inspector General of the Air Force and conducts investigations into crimes against Air Force personnel and assets, including counterespionage and insider threat operations. In the UAP context, AFOSI achieved particular notoriety through its agents' involvement in the 1980 Kirtland Air Force Base UAP incident and through agent Richard Doty's role in the systematic disinformation campaign against UAP researchers Paul Bennewitz and others. The Doty case established AFOSI as a documented institutional actor in the deliberate suppression and manipulation of UAP information.
Significance
AFOSI's documented role in the Paul Bennewitz case - where AFOSI agent Richard Doty actively fed false UAP-related information to a civilian researcher, contributing to Bennewitz's psychological breakdown - represents one of the most thoroughly documented instances of U.S. government actors deliberately manipulating UAP discourse. The 1980 Kirtland AFB security report, filed by AFOSI agent Richard Doty, is simultaneously a primary source document for a significant UAP sighting and an example of institutional documentation that was officially suppressed and later leaked through FOIA efforts.
Key Personnel
Richard Doty
AFOSI Special Agent (1979-1988); central figure in Bennewitz disinformation operation
Jerry Miller
AFOSI agent who investigated the 1964 Socorro incident
Limitations & Caveats
- !Richard Doty's documented disinformation activities make any AFOSI-sourced UAP documentation inherently suspect and difficult to authenticate.
- !AFOSI investigations remain classified; the public record represents only what has been leaked or FOIA-released, not the full scope of the agency's UAP-related work.
- !Doty has made additional claims in interviews since leaving AFOSI that have not been independently corroborated and may themselves be further disinformation.
- !The Kirtland AFB report, while widely cited, has not been officially declassified and its provenance is disputed.