CIA and DoD Engaged in Decades-Long Retrieval, Tracking and Exploitation of UFOs, Including Italian ‘Magenta Craft,’ Sources Reveal
Written by Christopher Sharp, Liberation Times - 10 November 2024
The sources, who spoke under strict conditions of anonymity, describe a shadowy history of missions dedicated to recovering exotic materials of non-human origin under the utmost secrecy.
The revelations are expected to add weight to an already intense debate over U.S. government transparency regarding UAP, as officials and the public grapple with the implications of alleged, long-standing retrieval missions.
Liberation Times spoke with sources who stated that retrieval missions involving materials of non-human origin are hidden within legitimate retrieval programs.
Liberation Times has previously reported details of alleged undersea UAP retrieval missions.
Among those allegedly involved are the Maritime Branch of the CIA’s Directorate of Operations, the U.S. Navy, the National Underwater Reconnaissance Office (jointly operated by the Navy and CIA), and the United States Special Operations Command.
It is further understood that the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution has provided deep submergence vehicles to support these retrieval efforts.
Once recovered from undersea, these craft are allegedly transferred to the Office of Naval Research. From there, they are handed over to defense contractors for detailed analysis.
An Intelligence Community source informed Liberation Times that UAP missions on foreign soil have not typically involved the CIA’s Office of Global Access (now known as the Transnational Technology Mission Center), as these operations generally fall outside its primary scope.
However, the source explained that joint efforts between the U.S. and allied governments have sometimes led to collaborative recoveries—such as the reported incident in Varginha, Brazil.
The Varginha case, often dubbed ‘Brazil’s Roswell,’ revolves around reports of UAP debris, along with multiple accounts of sightings of non-human entities in 1996. Eyewitnesses described both local authorities and what appeared to be U.S. personnel on-site, securing materials and conducting operations. This event has since sparked widespread speculation about international collaboration in UAP retrieval missions.
Another source revealed to Liberation Times that, following the collapse of the Soviet Union, the U.S. and Russia cooperated on at least one undersea mission to retrieve a craft of alleged non-human origin that had crashed in Russian waters.
The source also told Liberation Times about the process of transferring materials to defense contractors:
"In terms of materials recovered, I know of one occasion whereby a designated individual within the CIA’s Directorate of Operations collaborated with other agencies to decide which contractor to engage for analysis and exploitation.
“Such a decision depends on the circumstances. For instance, if the object is submerged and capable of undersea propulsion, it would be prudent to perhaps involve General Dynamics; however, if it crashed into the sea from beyond Earth’s orbit, other contractors would be considered."
The source added that, until recently, U.S. and Chinese intelligence agencies had also been tracking UAP and exchanging data.
Liberation Times has been informed that reverse engineering efforts primarily fall under the DoD’s scope.
Meanwhile, the CIA’s Directorate of Science and Technology is understood to safeguard adapted technology derived from UAP research conducted by the DoD and its contractors.
The source further clarified the division of responsibilities: the DoD focuses on analyzing the craft's structure and design, while the Department of Energy (DOE) specializes in studying its propulsion systems.
The source added that the CIA’s Weapons and Counterproliferation Mission Center (WCPMC) and wider Intelligence Community’s primary role in UAP research involves studying the phenomena, assessing potential non-human origins, categorizing the types of intelligence that may control them, and investigating their intentions.
As previously reported - according to sources, former CIA Director of Science and Technology Glenn Gaffney allegedly blocked an attempt to transfer alleged non-human materials from Lockheed Martin.
The alleged materials are believed to have been recovered since the 1950s. Liberation Times understands that, due to recruitment challenges in engineering, James Ryder, Vice President of Lockheed Martin Space Systems at the time, proposed transferring these materials to an external organization to drive new breakthroughs.
Liberation Times also understands from sources that one of Gaffney's successors within the CIA’s Directorate of Science and Technology rebuffed engagement efforts from the now-disbanded UAP Task Force (UAPTF).
Based on the best available open source information, previous Deputy Directors of the CIA’s Directorate of Science and Technology include:
- Albert Wheelon 1963-1966
- Carl Duckett 1966-1967
- Leslie Dirks 1967-1982
- R. Evans Hineman 1982-1989
- James Hirsch 1989-1995
- Ruth David 1995-1998
- Gary Smith 1999-1999
- Joanne Isham 1999-2001
- Donald Kerr 2001-2005
- Stephanie O’Sullivan 2005-2009
- Glenn Gaffney 2009-2015
- Dawn Meyerriecks 2015-2021
- Todd Lowery 2021-present
According to multiple sources, the CIA’s WCPMC has allegedly played a key role in UAP missions, and has historically provided analytical expertise on exotic, non-human materials.
While it does not directly participate in the operational component of current retrieval and reverse engineering efforts—coordinated by the CIA’s Directorate of Science and Technology and Directorate of Operations—it remains an integral source of intelligence.
Sources tell Liberation Times that the WCPMC receives space-based technical intelligence from National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) assets, along with technical analysis from DoD combat support agencies such as the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), National Security Agency (NSA), and National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA). This includes signals intelligence, measurement and signature intelligence, and geospatial intelligence.
The sources also tell Liberation Times that the WCPMC collects and analyses UAP data from all domains, including aerospace, space and undersea domains. Of note, the CIA’s current Chief Operating Officer, Maura Burns - who manages the CIA on a day-to-day basis - previously served as Assistant Director of WCPMC, before earning a promotion in 2021.
A source connected with the Intelligence Community told Liberation Times that the WCPMC served as the CIA’s primary liaison to the UAPTF.
Understanding the CIA’s WCPMC (Weapons and Counterproliferation Mission Center) and its origins sheds light on the Agency’s—and its predecessors'—involvement in UAP research dating back to the 1940s.
- 1947: The origins of WCPMC can be traced back to the creation of the Scientific Intelligence Branch within the Office of Reports and Estimates (ORE), known as the CIA’s first center for intelligence analysis.
- 1949: The Scientific Intelligence Branch merged with the Nuclear Energy Group from the Office of Special Operations, forming the Office of Scientific Intelligence (OSI). There are records which verify that OSI took an interest in unconventional scientific phenomena, including UAP, which were perceived as potential national security threats during the Cold War. This interest led to the study of unexplained sightings to assess any foreign or technological origin that might impact U.S. defense.
- 1980: The OSI evolved into the Office of Scientific and Weapons Research (OSWR).
- 2001: OSWR was restructured and became the Office of Weapons Intelligence, Nonproliferation, and Arms Control (WINPAC).
- 2015: As part of a major CIA reorganization, WINPAC was restructured and renamed as the WCP (Weapons and Counterproliferation Mission Center).
Liberation Times understands the CIA’s interest in alleged non-human materials dates back to World War Two, and its predecessor, the Office of Strategic Services (OSS).
Three separate sources have independently told Liberation Times that a mission to expedite the surrender of Italy, led by its director William Donovan and known as the McGregor Project possessed intelligence about a non-human craft that crashed in Magenta, northern Italy in 1933.
According to a microfilm roll preserved by Donovan, the McGregor Project was ‘transferred to Research and Development Branch on 6/21/44.’
The communication, seen below, indicates that Charles S. Cheston, Assistant Director of the OSS, informed the Chief of a Research and Development Branch that the McGregor Project was transferred to his branch in June 1944.
According to a source, the study of the recovered Magenta craft became closely integrated with Manhattan Project activities.
The source told Liberation Times that, starting in 1946, the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) worked with Italian and German scientists at Wright Field to reverse-engineer the Magenta craft, carrying forward research that had initially commenced between Germany and Italy.
The source explained that the Central Intelligence Group (CIG)—the U.S. government agency that succeeded the OSS and preceded the CIA—later inherited the study of the Magenta craft when the Foreign Intelligence Branch was transferred from the Manhattan Project to the CIG.
Liberation Times understands that the transferred element from the Manhattan Project was initially established within the CIG’s Office of Special Operations before being incorporated into its Nuclear Energy Group.
Subsequently, within the CIA, the Scientific Intelligence Branch merged with this Nuclear Energy Group, forming the Office of Scientific Intelligence (OSI)—the precursor to today’s WCPMC.
The alleged implication? The CIA’s WCPMC traces its lineage directly to the Magenta craft, positioning it at the forefront of the Agency’s role into the study of UAP and the non-human intelligence which controls them.
To this day, Liberation Times understands that WCPMC can collaborate with the DoD and DOE, to offer its expertise in analysing materials of alleged non-human origin, in addition to collecting and analysing UAP intelligence from agencies across the U.S. government.
Sources have informed Liberation Times that when the CIG (and later CIA) inherited the Magenta craft study, it was the primary agency involved, preceding the establishment of the NSA, DIA, NRO, and NGA.
Today, Liberation Times understands that the WCPMC’s access to studying non-human materials is conditional, requiring authorization from both the DoD and the DOE. This means the DoD and DOE can choose to bypass the WCPMC, should they decide that the mission center’s external expertise is not needed.
In terms of retrieval operations, officers from the CIA’s Directorate of Operations are assigned to the WCPMC, granting its leadership direct access to intelligence on missions involving non-human material recovery. This includes missions led by the Directorate of Operations’ Maritime Branch, which specializes in undersea retrievals.
Sources have informed Liberation Times that additional types of retrieval operations occur between the CIA and certain elements of the DoD.
These operations are understood to include recoveries of non-human materials in cave systems involving elements of the U.S. Army. However, Liberation Times currently lacks sufficient information to report in detail on these allegations.
The alleged network of retrieval operations, UAP tracking, agency responsibilities, and collaboration, including analysis and reverse engineering efforts, forms a highly complex web.
If accurate, it reveals a secrecy shrouded by multiple layers of bureaucracy, making it challenging for elected officials who are now striving to understand and address allegations of a coverup of monumental proportions.