A secret program, known as AAWSAP, was created in 2008 with support from Nevada Senator Harry Reid and became the largest UFO investigation ever undertaken by the U.S. Government. But the investigators for the program, all of whom had top-secret security clearances, encountered things that were far stranger than UFOs, phenomena that could be accurately described as "paranormal." AAWSAP, which stands for Advanced Aerospace Weapon System Applications Program, [found] that these unknown craft, whatever they are, seem to generate spooky phenomena that seemingly shouldn't exist. "We heavily went into Skinwalker Ranch, a property of Robert Bigelow's," [the program's director Dr. James] Lacatski said. The main focus was UFOs and UFO technology, but one smaller focus was measurable health effects on people who encountered a UFO and were physically harmed, or developed rare diseases, including psychological effects. "People who openly say 'I observed a UFO up close,' ... always seemed to have a paranormal connection," Lacatski said. Nearly everyone in AAWSAP who visited the Bigelow Ranch [experienced] what is now known as the hitchhiker effect. At least five highly experienced intelligence officers ... came into contact with paranormal phenomena, and then took it home with them. They and their families would see balls of light inside their homes, shadowy figures, even creatures that were physical.