--- title: "The U.S. Secretly Funded Research on UFOs, Wormholes, and Warp Drives" description: "New documents show that the U.S. secretly funded research ranging from UFOs to a \"warp drive,\" \"extra dimensions,\" and \"traversable wormholes.\"" date: "2019-01-18" modified: "2019-01-18" authors: - name: "Jon Christian" job_title: "Executive Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/jonc" url: "https://futurism.com/secretly-funded-research-ufos-wormholes" categories: - "Off-World" - "Space" tags: - "military" - "ufos" - "warp drive" - "wormholes" --- # The U.S. Secretly Funded Research on UFOs, Wormholes, and Warp Drives ![New documents show that the U.S. secretly funded research ranging from UFOs to a "warp drive," "extra dimensions," and "traversable wormholes."]() *\Image: Thor Deichmann/Victor Tangermann\* ## Secretly Funded Research We already knew that the U.S. Department of Defense had secretly funded research on unidentified flying objects — yes, UFOs — thanks to 2017 reporting by the [*New York Times*]() and the *[Washington Post]().* Now, [new documents]() released by the Defense Intelligence Agency reveal that the program also studied a laundry list of topics that sound like plot devices from "The X-Files," including UFOs, "warp drive," "extra dimensions," and "traversable wormholes." ## Dark Money The newly released documents come thanks to Steven Aftergood, the director of an organization called the Federation of American Scientists’ Project on Government Secrecy. He obtained the files via a Freedom of Information Act request. "I think anyone who looks at these titles will scratch their heads and wonder what on earth the Defense Intelligence Agency was thinking," Aftergood [told technology site *Motherboard*](). "These are the kinds of topics you pursue when you have more money than you know what to do with." ## Hazy Details Some of the projects described in the document cache contain almost no details, but mainstream research projects corroborate others. A German scientist whose work on theoretical cloaking technologies was [cited by the journal *Nature*]() led a project on "invisibility cloaking," *Motherboard* pointed out. Richard Obousy, a theoretical physicist whom Futurism has [reported on previously](), headed a project on "warp drives" and "the manipulation of extra dimensions." But the full scope of the Defense Department's research into fringe technologies won't be clear until [more documentation becomes publicly available](). **READ MORE:** [The Government’s Secret UFO Program Funded Research on Wormholes and Extra Dimensions]() \[*Motherboard*\] ***More on UFOs:*** [Yes, a NASA Scientist Said Aliens May Have Visited Earth. But There’s Some Nuance]() ## Author I'm responsible for editing, assigning, and scouting at Futurism, as well as occasionally writing for the site. That work involves keeping an eye on a wide range of narratives and issues, but over the past few years I've become increasingly interested in how AI is shaping the future of media, the web, and information itself. My day-to-day often involves collaborating on reporting and commentary projects bylined by my colleagues, but I try to find time to do my own reporting as well; stories I've broken for Futurism have been cited by publications including the New York Times, the Washington Post, the New Yorker, Wired, Ars Technica, New York Magazine, the Columbia Journalism Review, Bloomberg, and more. I grew up in Southern Vermont and attended Vanderbilt University. Prior to Futurism, I contributed to outlets including the Boston Globe, Vice, Wired, Slate, the Atlantic, the Outline, Ars Technica and more, and did stints in farming and food service. I currently live in Brooklyn, New York, and in my free time I enjoy pinball, word games, cycling, running, and music production. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()