For decades, certain new commanders of the Air Force’s most classified
programs, as part of their induction briefings, would be handed a
piece of paper with a photo of what looked like a flying saucer. The
craft was described as an antigravity maneuvering vehicle.
The officers were told that the program they were joining, dubbed
Yankee Blue, was part of an effort to reverse-engineer the technology
on the craft. They were told never to mention it again. Many never
learned it was fake. Kirkpatrick found the practice had begun decades
before, and appeared to continue still. The defense secretary’s office
sent a memo out across the service in the spring of 2023 ordering the
practice to stop immediately, but the damage was done.
Investigators are still trying to determine why officers had misled
subordinates, whether as some type of loyalty test, a more deliberate
attempt to deceive or something else.