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CONTINUED REPORTING AND ROBUST ANALYSIS ARE PROVIDING BETTER FIDELITY ON UAP EVENTS, BUT MANY CASES REMAIN UNRESOLVED
UAP Reporting
The ODNI preliminary assessment on UAP discussed 144 UAP reports and had an information cut-off date of 05 March 2021. Since then, AARO received a total of 247 new UAP reports. An additional 119 UAP reports on events that occurred before 05 March 2021, but were not included in the preliminary assessment, have been discovered or reported after the preliminary assessment's time period. These 366 additional reports, when combined with the 144 reports identified in the preliminary assessment, bring the total UAP reports catalogued to date to 510.
Since its establishment in July 2022, AARO has formulated and started to leverage a robust analytic process against identified UAP reporting. Once completed, AARO's final analytic findings will be available in their quarterly reports to policymakers. AARO's initial analysis and characterization of the 366 newly-identified reports, informed by a multi-agency process, judged more than half as exhibiting unremarkable characteristics:
- 26 characterized as Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) or UAS-like entities;
- 163 characterized as balloon or balloon-like entities; and
- 6 attributed to clutter.[1]
Initial characterization does not mean positively resolved or unidentified. This initial characterization better enables AARO and ODNI to efficiently and effectively leverage resources against the remaining 171 uncharacterized and unattributed UAP reports. Some of these uncharacterized UAP appear to have demonstrated unusual flight characteristics or performance capabilities, and require further analysis.
The majority of new UAP reporting originates from U.S. Navy and U.S. Air Force aviators and operators who witnessed UAP during the course of their operational duties and reported the events to the UAPTF or AARO through official channels. Regardless of the collection or reporting method, many reports lack enough detailed data to enable attribution of UAP with high certainty.
Partnerships and Collaboration
ODNI and AARO are committed to the responsible sharing of UAP findings with interagency partners (such as FAA and NASA), other stakeholders, congressional oversight, international partners, and the public. AARO is working closely with the OSD(PA) and mission partners to develop an information-sharing and messaging strategy that aims to maximize transparency, while maintaining appropriate protections of sensitive sources and methods.
- ↑ e.g., birds, weather events, or airborne debris like plastic bags.
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