The Schriever wargames are a series of space combat
wargame
A normal wargame is a strategy game in which two or more players command opposing armed forces in a simulation of an armed conflict. Wargaming may be played for Recreational wargaming, recreation, to train military officers in the art of milit ...
s organized by the
United States armed forces
The United States Armed Forces are the Military, military forces of the United States. U.S. United States Code, federal law names six armed forces: the United States Army, Army, United States Marine Corps, Marine Corps, United States Navy, Na ...
since 1998. The wargames are designed to test the readiness of participants to address future conflict scenarios.
In 2024, a whistleblower mistakenly identified documents from the 2018 Schriever wargame as evidence of a secret
UFO
An unidentified flying object (UFO) is an object or phenomenon seen in the sky but not yet identified or explained. The term was coined when United States Air Force (USAF) investigations into flying saucers found too broad a range of shapes ...
/
UAP
UAP may refer to:
* Unidentified flying object, a.k.a. Unidentified Aerial (or Anomalous) Phenomenon
People
* Unlicensed assistive personnel
Places
* Yap Island
Facilities and structures
* Tour UAP, an office skyscraper in La Défense, Paris
...
project called Immaculate Constellation.
Background
The Schriever wargames are approximately biennial wargames first sponsored by the
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...
Space Command
A space command is a military organization with responsibility for space operations and warfare. A space command is typically a Jointness, joint organization or organized within a larger military branch and is distinct from a fully independent s ...
in 1998 and, later, by the
United States Space Force
The United States Space Force (USSF) is the space force branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces, armed forces of the United States and one of the eight uniformed services of the Unite ...
.
Schriever wargames typically involve scenarios set more than a decade in the future to test the abilities of participants to navigate hypothetical challenges.
Past Schriever wargames
The scenario for the 2010 Schriever wargame was set in 2022 and involved an attack by a notional "peer adversary" — representing China — that crippled U.S. cybersecurity systems in response to a United States military action in the
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...
. The 2019 Schriever wargame was set in 2029 and incorporated a scenario involving a "peer competitor seeking to achieve strategic goals by exploiting multi-domain operations".
In addition to United States forces, personnel from Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom also participated.
Immaculate Constellation
In 2025, a self-identified
whistleblower
Whistleblowing (also whistle-blowing or whistle blowing) is the activity of a person, often an employee, revealing information about activity within a private or public organization that is deemed illegal, immoral, illicit, unsafe, unethical or ...
publicly alleged — following an anonymous disclosure from 2024 — that he had discovered a secret
U.S. Government
The Federal Government of the United States of America (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States.
The U.S. federal government is composed of three distinct branches: legislative, executi ...
program involving
UFO
An unidentified flying object (UFO) is an object or phenomenon seen in the sky but not yet identified or explained. The term was coined when United States Air Force (USAF) investigations into flying saucers found too broad a range of shapes ...
s titled Immaculate Constellation within a folder labeled "2018 Schriever Wargame". According to
Jason Colavito
Jason Colavito (born 1981) is an American author and independent scholar specializing in the study of fringe theories particularly around ancient history and extraterrestrials. Colavito has written a number of books, including ''The Cult of Alien ...
, the whistleblower apparently mistook "fictitious wargame documents for secret UFO revelations". The 2018 Schriever wargame was set in 2028 and involved a scenario in which participants were charged with stopping an "adversary from extending or escalating a conflict into space".
See also
*
Michael Shellenberger
Michael D. Shellenberger (born June 16, 1971) is an American author and journalist. He is the first endowed professor at the University of Austin, serving as CBR Chair of Politics, Censorship, and Free Speech. Considered a prominent heterodox t ...
*
Secret space program
The secret space program and 20 and back are fiction stories described as fact and associated with ufology. They present that some people are recruited into secret military programs that involve a period of service — often 20 years — on planets ...
*
Space warfare
Space warfare is combat in which one or more belligerents are in outer space. The scope of space warfare includes ''ground-to-space warfare'', such as attacking satellites from the Earth; ''space-to-space warfare'', such as satellites attacki ...
References
{{reflist
United States Space Force
Military exercises and wargames
Space warfare