Defense Support Program (DSP)
The Defense Support Program (DSP) is a United States Air Force satellite constellation originally designed to detect ballistic missile launches through infrared sensors. DSP satellites operate in geosynchronous orbit approximately 22,000 miles above Earth and have been a cornerstone of America's early warning infrastructure since the first satellite (DSP-1) was launched in 1970. The satellites were developed with significant involvement from TRW (later acquired by Northrop Grumman).
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Technical Capabilities
DSP satellites use ultra-sensitive infrared sensors capable of detecting small heat sources and reflected light on Earth's surface and in space. These sensors were designed for missile detection but have proven capable of tracking much smaller objects, including those moving at extreme velocities through space. Data from DSP satellites is relayed to NORAD and has been recorded since at least 1972.
UAP Detection and Fast Walkers
Beyond its stated missile-detection mission, DSP satellites have been tracking anomalous objects entering or leaving Earth's atmosphere at extreme speeds — objects designated as "Fast Walkers" by NORAD and US Northern Command. The DSP system's ability to detect these objects is documented in multiple Defense Department papers from 1972 onward.
In a 2015 email revealed through WikiLeaks Clinton campaign leaks, USG contractor Bob Fish — who managed highly classified government communications systems in the 1980s and 1990s — told Clinton campaign manager John Podesta: "One of the government programs that collects hard data on unidentified flying objects is the USAF DSP satellite program."
Fish described an incident where DSP personnel detected a Fast Walker that "entered our atmosphere from deep space" and "made a 30° course correction turn," indicating controlled flight rather than a ballistic meteor trajectory.
Notable Detection Cases
Former Army Criminal Investigation Command contact Joe Staulia relayed a May 5, 1984 incident in which a DSP satellite allegedly detected a UAP traveling at 22,000 mph toward Earth, passing within 1.8 miles of the satellite before abruptly changing course and flying back into outer space.
Satellite sensor technicians Lee Graham and Roger Rager at Aerojet confirmed that the 1976 Tehran UFO Incident was tracked by DSP satellites, locating a computer printout showing 238 scans (approximately 39.7 minutes of continuous tracking) of an anomalous object in Iranian airspace.
Role in Recovery Operations
DSP satellites, managed by the National Reconnaissance Office, have played a documented role in tracking objects for recovery operations. A 1996–1997 incident established that DOE NEST used DSP satellite intelligence from US Space Command to track debris from the Russian Mars 96 probe over South America — establishing a pattern of DSP/NEST coordination for recovery operations.
Aerospace Corporation Partnership
The 2014 DSP fact sheet notes that "researchers at the Aerospace Corporation have used DSP to develop portions of a hazard support system that will aid Public Safety in the future." The Aerospace Corporation, based in Long Beach, California, is suspected by researchers including Jacques Vallee, Ross Coulthart, Kit Green, Hal Puthoff, and Eric Davis as being among the legacy private contractors engaged in covert UAP research.
Classification and FOIA Denials
All requests for DSP data related to Fast Walkers have been denied under Executive Order 13526, which protects information "critical to National Defense or foreign policy." John Greenewald of The Black Vault has been repeatedly denied access to Fast Walker data by both US Space Force and US Northern Command/NORAD, with agencies citing national security exceptions.