History and Origin of KONA BLUE

The All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office

History and Origin of KONA BLUE
The All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) first learned of the KONA BLUE
program from interviews conducted as part of its historical review. 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." AARO researched
the information provided by the interviewees and learned KONA BLUE was a Prospective
Special Access Program (PSAP) that had been proposed to DHS leadership but was never
approved or formally established. KONA BLUE never received any materials or funding, and
there is no information beyond the proposal presentation marked with the KONA BLUE name.
AARO traced the origin of the proposal for KONA BLUE to the Advanced Aerospace
Weapon System Application Program (AAWSAP)/Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification
Program (AATIP) program, which was managed by the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA)
from 2009-2012 and funded through congressional earmarks. Bigelow Aerospace, headquartered
in Nevada, served as the primary contractor executing funds for the program and delivered
multiple reports during the period of their contract. DIA terminated the program due to a cited
lack of merit and lack of utility in the products Bigelow produced for DIA’s mission.
When DIA canceled AAWSAP/AATIP, several individuals involved with that program
advocated for DHS to take the effort over and fund a new version of AAWSAP/AATIP under the
code name “KONA BLUE.” According to the proposal, KONA BLUE would continue the work
previously undertaken by DIA’s AAWSAP/AATIP to investigate, identify, and analyze sensitive
materials and technologies, to include advanced aerospace vehicles. In 2011, the DHS Under
Secretary for Science and Technology (S&T) established KONA BLUE as a PSAP based on
claims that relevant information and material existed and required this level of protection. The
Under Secretary (S&T) also cited congressional interest in the subject and possible impacts on
homeland security as part of the justification for the program. 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.
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.
Information associated with the activities conducted under the auspices of AAWSAP/AATIP
remains within DIA’s archived holdings.
This archived PSAP proposal and associated documents have been declassified in
partnership between DoD and DHS and are being released to the public in accordance with both
agencies’ commitment to transparency.
Other than a single instance of Attorney-Client material redacted from page 38 by DHS,
all redactions were made by the Department of Defense.