By Lee Speigel
December 31, 2021
Harry Reid, Nevada’s longest-serving senator, died on Tuesday after a long battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 82.
Following Reid’s history-making career as one of the most powerful people in American politics, an explosive 2017 New York Times story revealed how Reid was responsible, in 2007, for the secret funding of a Defense Department program known as the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP). Its purpose was to study UFOs and determine if the unexplained objects posed a threat to national security.
In 2018, during production of the critically acclaimed 2020 UFO documentary, “The Phenomenon,” Sen. Reid met with film director James Fox and this writer for an exclusive on-camera interview about his involvement and long interest in the UFO subject. He was adamant about how the Defense Intelligence Agency resisted any proposed UFO investigation.
“They dragged their feet, even though one of their senior scientists thought they should look at this,” Reid said. “All we were saying was nobody has to agree why it’s there, but shouldn’t we at least be spending some money to study all these phenomena? Shouldn’t we study this stuff? The answer is YES! And that’s all this was about. And why the federal government, all these years, has covered up, put brake pads on everything – stopped it. I think it’s very, very bad for our country.”
When Reid was asked if he tried to go after reported, credible, official proof of UFO reality, the senator replied, “We did. We have. It’s there! I’m saying most of it hasn’t seen the light of day. No one has proven there’s nothing to it. No one’s had the opportunity to prove there’s something to it, and that’s what I did. We need some help from the Pentagon and others who’ve been dragging their heels on this for decades. That’s why you see people who have quit, and left these intelligence agencies and the military because they know there’s something to study and the federal government is afraid to do anything.”
Sen. Reid was recently honored when Las Vegas’ McCarren International Airport was re-named Harry Reid International Airport.
A memorial service for Reid is scheduled on Jan. 8th in Las Vegas.
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