Pete Domenici
Pete Vichi Domenici served as a United States Senator from New Mexico from 1973 to 2009, holding senior positions on the Senate Appropriations Committee, Senate Budget Committee, and Senate Energy Committee. Along with fellow New Mexico Senator Jeff Bingaman, Domenici played a critical role in forcing the United States Air Force to acknowledge the existence of Project Moondust, the classified UFO crash retrieval program.
| Role | US Senator from New Mexico (1973-2009) |
|---|
1992 Moon Dust Inquiry and Air Force Denial
In 1992, Senators Domenici and Bingaman made formal inquiries to the Air Force about Project Moon Dust. The Air Force categorically denied the program's existence, stating "there is no Project Moon Dust. These missions have never existed."
The Senators responded with documentary evidence proving Moon Dust operated, forcing the Air Force to revise its denial and acknowledge the program's existence and its function with regards to UFO investigation and retrieval.
1994 Document Request and Alleged Destruction
In 1994, Senator Domenici requested 11 specific documents pertaining to Moon Dust from the Air Force. The Air Force responded that:
- The project no longer existed
- Moon Dust files, including any classified reports that may have existed, had been destroyed
This claim is demonstrably false, as Moon Dust documents have subsequently been obtained through Freedom of Information Act requests, proving the files were not destroyed and suggesting the Air Force engaged in deliberate deception to withhold materials from a sitting US Senator.
Timing and SAP Reorganization
The Air Force's denial and alleged document destruction in the mid-1990s coincided with what Admiral Thomas Wilson described in the Wilson-Davis Memo as a reorganization of Special Access Programs in the early 1990s. According to Wilson, crash retrieval and reverse engineering programs were reorganized into deeper compartments (SAP-X structures) to make them inaccessible even to senior intelligence officials.
The timing suggests the Air Force may have destroyed or reclassified Moon Dust files as part of this broader compartmentalization effort, using the reorganization as cover to deny Congressional access to UAP legacy program documentation.
New Mexico Connection
Domenici's persistent interest in Moon Dust aligns with New Mexico's unique position in UFO history:
- Roswell, New Mexico — site of the famous 1947 crash
- Multiple alleged retrieval sites and underground facilities
- High concentration of sensitive military installations including White Sands Missile Range and Sandia National Laboratories
As a 36-year Senator from New Mexico, Domenici would have been intimately familiar with constituent reports and the state's historical connection to UFO incidents and alleged government programs.
Congressional Oversight Failure
Domenici's experience with Moon Dust document requests illustrates the limits of Congressional oversight over compartmentalized UFO programs. Despite his seniority and committee positions, Domenici was unable to compel the Air Force to produce documents or provide truthful accounting of the program's status, demonstrating that UAP legacy programs operate beyond normal legislative branch authority.