UNCLASSIFIED // PUBLIC RELEASERELEASE 06 · SEPTEMBER 18, 2026
PENTAGON UFO FILE · DOCUMENT · DOW-UAP-D142AAWSAP DIRD, Concepts for Extracting Energy from the Quantum Vacuum, April 2010
Quantum theory says that even empty space is never entirely still: fields keep fluctuating at their lowest-energy state. This April 2010 DIRD for the AAWSAP program asks whether energy could be tapped from that “quantum vacuum” to power spacecraft or drive them without propellant. The release describes a theoretical review.
Mechanisms considered
The paper reviews zero-point fluctuations, the Casimir effect, squeezed states of the vacuum, decay of the Dirac vacuum, and possible phase changes of the vacuum in quantum chromodynamics, the theory of the strong nuclear force. The author argues that vacuum effects are real parts of accepted physics, and that some can be modeled as phase changes that release energy under particular boundaries or very strong external fields.
The release is clear on what the paper concedes: no practical way to extract energy continuously had been shown in experiments, and standard quantum electrodynamics does not allow the kind of ongoing conversion proposed.
A common misunderstanding
Vacuum energy and the Casimir force are measured, mainstream physics; a device that keeps drawing net power from them is not, and is a staple of fringe “free energy” claims. This paper sits between the two, arguing for possibilities that remained, in the release’s words, theoretically underdeveloped. Related papers: Quantum Tomography of Negative Energy States in the Vacuum and Antigravity for Aerospace Applications.
The official description
From war.gov/UFO, released September 18, 2026, quoted in full
This document is a Defense Intelligence Reference Document (DIRD), a technical reference format used by the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) to capture baseline knowledge on a specific topic for later analytic use. DIRDs are best understood as reference and synthesis products rather than as original research. It is one of 38 DIRDs produced under the Advanced Aerospace Weapon System Applications Program (AAWSAP) between 2009 and 2011. Because AAWSAP’s scope permitted a broad range of supporting topics, not every DIRD in the series directly concerns aerospace systems or future threat assessment. The following summary reflects the DIRD’s scope and framing at the time of writing and should not be read as implying current validation of the concepts discussed.
This DIRD examines whether useful energy might be extracted from the quantum vacuum, the ground state with the lowest possible energy of quantum fields. This treatment considers applications for space power or “propellantless” propulsion by reviewing a range of concepts involving zero-point fluctuations, Casimir effects, squeezed vacuum states, Dirac-vacuum decay, and possible vacuum phase changes in quantum chromodynamics. The report argues that established physical models contain real vacuum-related phenomena, and that certain mechanisms can be modeled as energy-releasing phase changes under specific boundary conditions or intense external fields. However, it acknowledges that no practical method for continuous or useful energy extraction has been demonstrated experimentally and that standard quantum electrodynamics does not support continuous vacuum-energy conversion in the manner proposed. Frameworks based on the concepts described in the DIRD remain theoretically underdeveloped and experimentally unconfirmed at the time of writing.