Elizondo is a former US Army counterintelligence officer best known for his role as the director of the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP), a secretive Pentagon initiative aimed at investigating unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP), commonly referred to as UFOs—though the Pentagon denies that he ever held this role. Elizondo brought significant public attention to the existence of the program when he resigned from his Pentagon position in 2017, citing concerns about the lack of transparency within the US government regarding UAP. In his book Imminent, he details why he felt drawn to the subject of UAP, stressing the importance of his family background. His father, in particular, had a strong influence on his life. As a former Cuban revolutionary who then turned against the Revolution, Elizondo’s father was a clear opponent of government overreach in any form. Later, Elizondo’s experiences with telepathic “remote viewing” in the CIA meant that he was primed to accept nontraditional ideas. He broke with convention often, due to his father’s influence and his own training.

Once Elizondo became convinced of the reality of UAP, he was defined by his decision to share what he knew with the public. Even though he is not a fan of other whistleblowers (mentioning Chelsea Manning and Edward Snowden by name), he presents himself as a heroic whistleblower who could not allow the government to keep the truth about UAP hidden.