2009 · Skinwalker Ranch, Utah; visitors' homes in Virginia, Maryland, Las Vegas and North Carolina
The Pentagon on the ranch: BAASS and the hitchhikers
Frame at 0:59 of: KLAS / Mystery Wire: Lacatski on the program · KLAS-TV 8 News Now, Las Vegas (Mystery Wire)
WhenJuly 2007 – 2011 (AAWSAP Sept 2008 – late 2010)
WhereSkinwalker Ranch, Utah; visitors' homes in Virginia, Maryland, Las Vegas and North Carolina
Backing2 independent
Witnesses1 named
Evidenceofficial records
In their own words
“All five DIA personnel deployed to the ranch experienced profound anomalies while on the property, and more importantly, all five 'brought something home' with them.”
Colm Kelleher · source
On 26 July 2007 DIA analyst James Lacatski stood in the ranch's Homestead 1 with Robert Bigelow. A yellowish, semi-transparent tubular structure appeared in the kitchen for up to about 30 seconds and then vanished. That sighting helped start AAWSAP, and from 2008 Bigelow's BAASS ran the ranch as its field site. Then the visitors began bringing something home. 'Jonathan Axelrod', a Naval Intelligence officer who later became a two-star admiral, visited in July 2009. Within a month his Virginia home had 'dogmen' in the yard, coloured orbs drifting through the rooms, shadow figures over the beds and footsteps on the stairs. A Marine's wife was grazed by a blue orb in Maryland and fell ill. More than ten security guards said the same thing had followed them home. It became known as the hitchhiker effect.
Evidence, in date order (2)
- Jun 2022Colm Kelleher (BAASS deputy administrator)witnessprogram insider's written account of the hitchhiker cases and medical follow-up Kelleher, 'The Pentagon's Secret UFO Program, the Hitchhiker Effect, and Models of Contagion', EdgeScience #50
- 29 Sept 2026DIAofficialletter to Bigelow confirming the OSAP reports delivered under the contract have been located AAWSAP / AATIP
How plausible · Very high
A named senior DIA analyst speaks firsthand about AAWSAP's start, and the DIA confirms the reports exist; the hitchhiker cases are partly pseudonymous, though Stratton's memoir now confirms he was "Axelrod".
- ●●Access Lacatski ran AAWSAP.
- ●●Cost of speaking Named officials.
- ●●Character record Senior DIA analyst; a two-star officer.
- ●●Independent convergence Lacatski, Kelleher, Knapp, Stratton.
- ●●Fits the documented skeleton AAWSAP and BAASS are documented.
- ●●Fits secrecy practice Reports held by DIA.
Plausibility weighs how well an account fits where secrecy hides the documents by design, so missing records never count against it. Strength measures what is documented. Assessed 2026-10-23.
On the record
- Kelleher, EdgeScience #50 (June 2022): a $22M two-year DIA contract from Sept 2008; 50 staff hired within five months; more than 100 reports, including medical ones.Bend, Oregon orb strike
- Kelleher: Lacatski's 2007 anomaly 'was a significant instigation for the formation of the AAWSAP/BAASS program.'AAWSAP / AATIP
- Skinwalkers at the Pentagon (Lacatski, Kelleher & Knapp, 2021) tells the ranch work and the Axelrod case.Swann on the Moon
- BAASS's own Utah Ranch Investigation Report (April 2010, DOW-UAP-D174) and the November 2009 monthly report (D173) are now released, with security-officer logs, coin tests and the Post-Utah Ranch Effects Database.Bend, Oregon orb strike
- D171 (June 2009) lists 'Utah Ranch' security officers on the BAASS staff.
Claims
On 26 July 2007 Lacatski saw a semi-opaque yellowish tubular structure appear in the Homestead 1 kitchen for up to about 30 seconds; the experience helped start AAWSAP.AAWSAP / AATIPfirsthandSourced, unconfirmedJames Lacatski
Naval Intelligence officer 'Jonathan Axelrod' (later a two-star admiral) visited in July 2009; his Virginia home then had dogmen in the yard, blue/red/yellow/white orbs, shadow people over beds and footsteps on the stairs.Swann on the MoonsecondhandSourced, unconfirmed
Axelrod's son Paul was attacked by blue and red orbs on 7 Feb 2011; two school friends independently reported a wolf-like creature and blue lights.secondhandSourced, unconfirmed
Marine 'Jim Costigan''s wife was grazed by a low blue orb in Sept 2009 and was then diagnosed with Hashimoto's thyroiditis.secondhandSourced, unconfirmed
Bigelow had anomalies at home after visits; Knapp's wife saw blue orbs outside their Las Vegas window.Bigelow buys the ranch: NIDS on watchsecondhandSourced, unconfirmed
More than 10 BAASS security officers who did two-week tours said they brought a 'paranormal infection' home.secondhandSourced, unconfirmed
Where
Skinwalker Ranch, Utah; visitors' homes in Virginia, Maryland, Las Vegas and North Carolina
40.3°N 109.9°W
In The picture
The pictureIt isn’t just hardware. AAWSAP at Skinwalker Ranch, Stargate’s remote viewers, Swann’s Moon sessions, Nolan’s study of injured witnesses and the medical cases BAASS followed with blood work and scans all tie the phenomenon to the mind and the body. Insiders seem to have treated consciousness as part of the technology.
Mind is part of the machineAt Ariel School, children said they received messages from the beings, mostly warnings about harm to the planet and technology. Barber says psionic teams help bring craft down, and Robert Kennedy Jr. said veterans told him they could 'call some of the ships in'. At Skinwalker Ranch the phenomenon followed Pentagon vi…
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Similar cases · sharing people, threads, topics or era
Connected cases
AAWSAP / AATIP 2008Bend, Oregon orb strike 2009Bigelow buys the ranch: NIDS on watch 1996MUAS 2018Swann on the Moon 1975
People and organizations
Colm Kelleher personGeorge Knapp personHal Puthoff personJames Lacatski personJay Stratton personRobert Bigelow personBAASS monthly reports to DIA (March, April, June and November 2009) documentBAASS Utah Ranch Investigation Report (April 2010) document
Threads · click one to see it on the board
Sources
- Mystery Wire (Knapp and Futrell, with Kelleher clips), October 2026
- Above The Norm News, 12 Oct 2026
- Kelleher, 'The Pentagon's Secret UFO Program, the Hitchhiker Effect, and Models of Contagion', EdgeScience #50
- Skinwalkers at the Pentagon (2021)
- KLAS, Lacatski 'craft of unknown origin'
- Reality Check Rewind: Coulthart with Segala