DISCLOSURE / FILE
AARO's declassified narrative explaining the origin, brief establishment, and February 2012 termination of KONA BLUE, a prospective DHS Special Access Program proposed to protect retrieval and exploitation of claimed 'non-human biologics.'
AARO's declassified narrative explaining the origin, brief establishment, and February 2012 termination of KONA BLUE, a prospective DHS Special Access Program proposed to protect retrieval and exploitation of claimed 'non-human biologics.'
AARO traces KONA BLUE to AAWSAP/AATIP, the DIA-managed program (2009-2012) executed by Bigelow Aerospace that DIA terminated for lack of merit and utility. After DIA canceled that effort, several individuals advocated for DHS to take it over under the code name KONA BLUE; in 2011 the DHS Under Secretary for Science and Technology established it as a Prospective Special Access Program. Six months later the Deputy Secretary of DHS disapproved it and directed immediate termination, citing inadequate justification and insufficient supporting information. AARO states no data or material of any kind was ever transferred to or collected by DHS under KONA BLUE.
Multiple interviewees identified KONA BLUE as a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) sensitive compartment established to protect the retrieval and exploitation of "non-human biologics."p.1
KONA BLUE never received any materials or funding, and there is no information beyond the proposal presentation marked with the KONA BLUE name.p.1
DIA terminated the program due to a cited lack of merit and lack of utility in the products Bigelow produced for DIA’s mission.p.1
Six months later, however, the Deputy Secretary of DHS disapproved KONA BLUE as a Special Access Program (SAP), and further directed its immediate termination citing concerns about the adequacy of justification for the program, and sufficiency of information central to the proposal development, including personnel and budget requirements.p.1
It is critical to note that while some DHS personnel believed that relevant information and material would be delivered to DHS upon establishment of the SAP, no data or material of any kind was ever transferred to or collected by DHS under the auspices of KONA BLUE.p.1
Other than a single instance of Attorney-Client material redacted from page 38 by DHS, all redactions were made by the Department of Defense.p.1