Kona Blue
Type
Project
Status
DefunctActive Period
Proposed c. 2018-2021 (never funded)
Parent Organization
Department of Homeland Security (proposed)
Summary
A proposed Department of Homeland Security program to study UAP and, according to AARO, to potentially exploit recovered non-human technology. Kona Blue was never funded or formally established. Its existence was disclosed in the AARO Historical Record Report (2024), which described it as a proposed SAP that DHS sought approval for but was denied. David Grusch identified it as connected to broader crash retrieval and reverse engineering program networks.
Significance
Kona Blue is significant not because it succeeded, but because its proposal demonstrates that elements within the U.S. government were formally seeking to create classified UAP exploitation programs as recently as 2021. The AARO disclosure of its existence - even as an unfunded proposal - validates Grusch's broader claim that such programs were being attempted across multiple agencies.
Key Personnel
David Grusch
Disclosed Kona Blue's existence in congressional testimony and media
Limitations & Caveats
- !AARO's account of Kona Blue as a denied proposal may not represent the full scope of related activities.
- !No documents from the Kona Blue proposal process have been publicly released.
- !The relationship between Kona Blue and other alleged crash retrieval programs has not been independently confirmed.