---
category: U.S. Government
description: Headquarters of the U.S. Department of Defense, epicenter of UAP secrecy,
  and the location where Enrique Bermúdez was invited to discuss forming a Contra
  army.
location: Arlington, Virginia
start: 1943
summary: The Pentagon is the headquarters of the U.S. Department of Defense, which
  administered the AATIP program and several classified research programs including
  STARGATE's successor activities and UAP investigation units.
tags:
- Organization
- Government
- USA
- Military
- Dark_Alliance_Investigation
title: Pentagon
---

The [Pentagon](/organizations/pentagon/) is the headquarters of the United States [Department of Defense](/organizations/department-of-defense/) (DoD). It is the central location for the command and control of the U.S. armed forces and has been the epicenter of the government's long and complex history with the [Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena](/concepts/unidentified-anomalous-phenomena/) (UAP) issue.[^1]

### Role in UAP Investigation and Secrecy

The Pentagon has been the home of official government programs tasked with investigating UAP, including the [Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program](/programs/advanced-aerospace-threat-identification-program/) (AATIP), the [UAP Task Force](/organizations/uap-task-force/), and the [All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office](/organizations/all-domain-anomaly-resolution-office/) (AARO). According to [Luis Elizondo](/people/luis-elizondo/), the Pentagon's culture of stigma around UAP made serious investigation nearly impossible.[^1]

The building has been the site of numerous key events in the UAP disclosure movement, including the initial briefings of [Christopher Mellon](/people/christopher-mellon/) by Elizondo and the internal battles over AATIP's funding.[^1]

The Pentagon is also alleged to be the home of the "[Collins Elite](/organizations/collins-elite/)," a group of religious fundamentalists who believe the UAP phenomenon is demonic, and the "[Legacy Program](/programs/legacy-program/)," a deeply hidden effort to reverse-engineer recovered UAP technology.[^1]

### Dark Alliance Investigation

The Pentagon was where [Enrique Bermúdez](/people/enrique-bermudez/) was invited by a U.S. Air Force official to discuss forming a Contra army. The official told Bermúdez he had a friend at the [Central Intelligence Agency](/organizations/central-intelligence-agency/) who wanted to meet Nicaraguan exiles with military experience. The meeting was a key moment in the creation of the [FDN](/organizations/fdn/) Contra army, demonstrating that the U.S. military establishment was directly involved in forming the Contra force from its earliest days.[^2]

[^1]: Elizondo, Luis. *Imminent*. William Morrow, 2024.
[^2]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion.* Seven Stories Press, 1998. Chapter 5: "God, Fatherland and Freedom"