2023 UAP Mission Slides

ALL- DOMAIN ANOMALY RESOLUTION OFFICE US Department ofDefense The US Defense Department & the UAP Mission Seán Kirkpatrick, Ph.D. Director, AARO FOR DISPLAY ONLY UNCLASSIFIED UNCLASSIFIED FOR DISPLAY ONLY All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office Chief of Staff, AARO Authority: FY24 NDAA, now codified at 44 U.S.C. 2107 Date: 3/20/2025 Released in Full: X Case Number: 330UAP000029 Page determined to be Unclassified Reviewed by Chief of Staff, AARO IAW FY24 NDAA, Section 1841(a)(1)(C) Date: 3/20/2025 029 US Department ofDefense 2 UAP ≠unattributed balloon activity; key emphases on “anomalous” factors Existence of UAP is direct consequence of domain-awareness gaps UAP potentially represent adv an ced capabilities operating in our domain-awareness gaps UNIDENTIFIED ANOMALOUS PHENOMENA UAPare sources of anomalous detections in one or more domain (i.e., airborne, seaborne, spaceborne, and/or transmedium) that are not yet attributable to known actors and that demonstrate behaviors that are not readily understood by sensors or observers. “Anomalous detections” include but are not limited to phenomena that demonstrate apparent capabilities or material that exceed known performance envelopes. A UAP may consist of one or more unidentified anomalous objects and may persist over an extended period of time. FOR DISPLAY ONLY UNCLASSIFIED UNCLASSIFIED FOR DISPLAY ONLY 029 Page determined to be Unclassified Reviewed by Chief of Staff, AARO IAW FY24 NDAA, Section 1841(a)(1)(C) Date: 3/20/2025 US Department ofDefense 3 The FY23 NDAAmodified and expanded on the previous year ’s UAP provisions, affecting authorities, organization, and reporting-requirements. Established AARO as US Government lead for UAP efforts Amends structure, distr ibution of responsibilities Requires annual report to be a joint, D oD & ODNIsubmission Adds Historical Record Report  Adds UAP reporting procedures/protections  Increases number of congressional committees ov erseeing AARO activities Revises UAP acronym to stand for unidentified anomalous phenomena FOR DISPLAY ONLY UNCLASSIFIED UNCLASSIFIED FOR DISPLAY ONLY 029 Page determined to be Unclassified Reviewed by Chief of Staff, AARO IAW FY24 NDAA, Section 1841(a)(1)(C) Date: 3/20/2025 ALL-DOMAIN ANOMALY RESOLUTION OFFICE ANALYSESOPERATIONSSCIENCE & TECHNOLOGYSTRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS driving shared awareness across mission partners, oversight authorities, and stakeholders—normalizing cross-sector partnerships and building trust with transparency delivering peer-reviewed conclusions through deliberate syntheses of scientific and intelligence method, tradecraft, tools, and expertise synchronizing and sequencing Theater, IC, and other capabilities for optimized, cross-functional UAP detection, tracking, mitigation, and recovery Mission, Vision, &Functions AAROemergedfromCongressionalandDepartmentalrecognitionthatUAPpresent complexhazardsandthreatsacross service, regional, anddomainboundaries. revealing and exploiting elusive and enigmatic signatures through advanced technologies and focused, cross-sector partnerships The picture can't be displayed. VISION:unidentified, anomalousobjectsareeffectivelyand efficiently detected,tracked,analyzed,and managedbywayofnormalizedD o D,IC, andcivilbusiness practices;by adherencetothehighestscientificand intelligence-tradecraftstandards;andwithgreatertransparencyand sharedawareness MISSION:minimizetechnicalandintelligencesurprise, bysynchronizing scientific,intelligence,andoperationaldetection,identification, attribution,andmitigationofunidentified, anomalousobjectsinthe vicinityof nationalsecurityareas FOR DISPLAY ONLY UNCLASSIFIED UNCLASSIFIED FOR DISPLAY ONLY 029 Page determined to be Unclassified Reviewed by Ch ief of Staff, AARO IAW FY24 NDAA, Section 1841(a)(1)(C) Date: 3/20/2025 US Department ofDefense 5 US Territory & Operating Areas DoD observations and reporting of UAP most often in the vicinity of US military facilities and operating areas Threats to the immediate safety of US cit izens and Government facilities, across domains, is priority Safety and security risks of UAP heigh ten US Government awareness and drives research and mitigation efforts Key partners and stakeholders include Do D, IC, DoJ, NASA, FAA US Strategic Capabilities Reporting on UAP proximity to strategic capabilities and critical infrastructure primarily historical; analysis limited by information currency and source reliability Consequence of UAP in the vicinity of str ategic capabilities is high, potentially threatening strategic deterrence and safety of civil society DoD strengthening observations and rep orting capabilities near US strategic capabilities and critical infrastructure Key partners and stakeholders include Do D, IC, DoE and NNSA, DoJ, DHS The potentially ubiquitous presence of UAP defines the national-security implications and drives the broad range ofstakeholders and demand for rigorous scientific understanding of and intelligence on phenomena Foreign Territory & Operating Areas Reporting on UAP activity in foreign territory or operating areas limited by source reliability Consequence of such moderate-to- hi gh, potentially leading to adversarial misattribution of UAP to the United States Allies and strategic competitors apply resou rces to observe, identify, and attribute UAP (open source) Key partners and stakeholders include DoD, IC, STATE, international partners FOR DISPLAY ONLY UNCLASSIFIED UNCLASSIFIED FOR DISPLAY ONLY 029 Page determined to be Unclassified Reviewed by Chief of Staff, AARO IAW FY24 NDAA, Section 1841(a)(1)(C) Date: 3/20/2025 6 Organically garners primary research data for scientific and intelligence analyst consumption- through voluntary interviews with those who claim placement and access to UAP and UAP-related information; through collection of historical government and open- source data; and through other activities. HISTORICAL UAP-DATA ACQUISITION Leads UAP recovery planning and execution, in close collaboration with AARO S& T Group. Advises Commands on the secure and safe handling, storage, transport, and transfer of UAP Objects and Material, for AARO S&Texploitation. UAP OBJECT RECOVERY Partners with Joint Staff and counterintelligence elements in the development of UAP mitigation strategies- including but not limited to UAP incursions and engagement Advises Commands on AoR-specific UAP mitigation planning; on tactics, techniques, and procedures; and on relevant legal, policy, oversight, and compliance requirements. UAP MITIGATION Advises Theater, Defense, National-level, and foreign UAP operations—optimizing platform and sensor tasking across functions and in real- time, during Area of Responsibility (AoR) baselining and as anomalies are detected, observed. Manages the secure retention of UAP Data from operational platforms and its transfer to AARO. UAP DETECTION & TRACKING Guides codification of analytic information needs as reporting requirements by scientific and intelligence analysts Military operational elements, IC Mission Managers, and IC Functional Managers identify capabilities, capacities, and constraints available for reporting against scientific and intelligence analytic needs REPORTING REQUIREMENTS MGT Leads Integrated-Operations Strategy development-tailoring platform and sensor tasking and optimizing cross-functional tipping & cueing between Theater and IC assets. Guides development of integrated-operations plans; standardized reporting requirements; interoperable tactics, techniques, and procedures; and operational prioritization of platforms and sensors. INTEGRATED OPERATIONS STRATEGY FOR DISPLAY ONLY UNCLASSIFIED UNCLASSIFIED FOR DISPLAY ONLY 029 Page determined to be Unclassified Reviewed by Chief of Staff, AARO IAW FY24 NDAA, Section 1841(a)(1)(C) Date: 3/20/2025 Page determined to be Unclassified Reviewed by Chief of Staff, AARO IAW FY24 NDAA, Section 1841(a)(1)(C) Date: 3/20/2025 7 4 3 2 Publishes and distributes final, peer-reviewed AARO Analytic Assessment in a manner discoverable by DoD, IC, policymakers, and other stakeholders Provides conclusions and feedback to UAP reporting sources (i.e., UAP observers) Publication and Feedback Compare location, characteristics, performance and signature data to open source and classified catalogues of known foreign capabilities and R&D programs; deconflict with sensitive US programs and activities; triage, categorize, and store for further analysis PRELIMINARY ANALYSES Leads an integrated DoD, IC, and S&Tcommunity process that employs rigorous tradecraft, sophisticated scientific methods, and an expert peer review to resolve cases with the highest confidence levels possible INTEGRATED ANALYTIC STRATEGY The Director will review all elements of the Analytic Assessment Case Package and the peer review findings to either approve the Assessment’s determination or disapprove it and send back to the IC and S&T Teams for additional analysis Director’s Review 1 Public, private, and industry laboratory partners leverage scientific and engineering methods and cutting-edge computing technologies to publish peer-reviewed, forensic, repeatable research on anomalous UAP signatures and material SCIENTIFIC ANALYSES Mission partners' defense, intelligence, and counterintelligence analysts employ intelligence tradecraft against all-source data, to produce rigorous analyses of UAP implications to US National Security INTELLIGENCE ANALYSES Prepare the AARO Analytic Assessment Case Package including original reports, sensor data, IC and S&T findings and analytic assessments. As necessary, convene both teams to discuss significant analytic difference. Package will be reviewed by members of the Strategic Technical Advisory Group for rigor, tradecraft, gaps, assumptions and argumentation ANALYTIC PEER-REVIEW 5 FOR DISPLAY ONLY UNCLASSIFIED UNCLASSIFIED FOR DISPLAY ONLY 029 Page determined to be Unclassified Reviewed by Chief of Staff, AARO IAW FY24 NDAA, Section 1841(a)(1)(C) Date: 3/20/2025 8 Directs exploitation of recovered enigmatic technologies, leveraging cross-sector partnerships and the latest developments in theoretical and applied physics, engineering Leads structured recording, synthesis, and sharing of signature and material analyses for data consistency across operational, analytic, and research partnerships UAP EXPLOITATION In close collaboration with AARO Operations and with research partners (e.g., DoE laboratories), integrates emergent technical capabilities into “real-world" operations and guides their application against UAP Comparatively analyzes newly- exposed signatures, characteristics, and behaviors with known phenomena, in support of AARO Analysts' preliminary assessment CAPABILITIES DEPLOYMENT Leads defense, intelligence, academic, and industry identification of existing and emergent technology capable of detecting, identifying, attributing, mitigating, and exploiting UAP Identifies, approves, and guides Research & Development investments from across sectors; recommends capability integration into Integrated UAP Mission Strategies CAPABILITIES DEVELOPMENT In partnership with the scientific community and the AARO Strategic Technical Advisory Group, analyzes US and foreign sensor data phenomenology and assesses applied and theoretical signatures Leads development of theorems for defining characteristics of known and anomalous phenomena, and guides operational and analytic tradecraft development UAP SIGNATURE ID DoD operational, analytic, and investigative elements, IC Mission Managers, and IC Functional Managers identify capability and capacity shortfalls, as they pertain to UAP detection, identification, attribution, and mitigation Sensor and exploitation instrumentation needs and gaps codified as capability requirements by AARO Operations and Analyses CAPABILITY GAP ID Leads Integrated S& T Strategy development revealing elusive signatures, advanced technological-exploitation tools and methods, and non-traditional partnership opportunities to arm the UAP Mission against emerging threats INTEGRATED SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY STRATEGY FOR DISPLAY ONLY UNCLASSIFIED UNCLASSIFIED FOR DISPLAY ONLY 029 Page determined to be Unclassified Reviewed by Chief of Staff, AARO IAW FY24 NDAA, Section 1841(a)(1)(C) Date: 3/20/2025 9 Identifiesnew and ongoing opportunities for strategic communications engagement across AARO”s mission functions; to include key stakeholder needs, expectations, and areas for collaboration. UAP-MISSION COMMS REQ Leads the development of an integrated engagement strategy on UAP that promotes shared awareness across mission partners, oversight authorities, and other stakeholders; builds trust and transparency; and normalizes cross-sector partnerships. INTEGRATED STRATEGIC-ENGAGEMENT STRATEGY Tracks Executive, Legislative, and Defense Department requirements for the UAP Mission and the Office; monitors AARO progress toward meeting those requirements; and drives development of routine and ad hoc reporting to Congress and other stakeholders within the U.S. Government. OVERSIGHT ENGAGEMENT Implements the Department's commitment to transparency and openness on UAP matters. Identifies and recommends opportunities for counteringmisconceptions and raising awareness of the Department's UAP mission via targeted media, partner, and public engagement. AMERICAN-PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT Guides AARO partner engagement, ensuring unity of message, consistency, and coherence among defense, civil, private, and international partners. UAP-MISSION PARTNER ENGAGEMENT FOR DISPLAY ONLY UNCLASSIFIED UNCLASSIFIED FOR DISPLAY ONLY 029 Page determined to be Unclassified Reviewed by Chief of Staff, AARO IAW FY24 NDAA, Section 1841(a)(1)(C) Date: 3/20/2025 REPORTED-UAP ALTITUDESTYPICALLY-REPORTED UAP CHARACTERISTICS Mt Everest Commercial Air Traffic Weather Balloons REPORTED UAP-MORPHOLOGY ALL-DOMAIN ANOMALY RESOLUTION OFFICE 10 UAP Reporting Trends 1996-2023 9.9% 9.5% 14.6% 28.7% 19.8% 6.4% 4.3% 2.9% 1.6% 1.0% 0.2% 1.0% 5K 10K 15K 20K 25K 30K 35K 40K 45K 50K 55K 60K 100K REPORTED-UAP HOTSPOTS 1, 47% 2, 19% 3, 7% 4, 16% 5, 3% 6, 2% 7, 2% 8, 2% 9, 1% 10, 1% 11, 1% 12, 1% 13, 0% FOR DISPLAY ONLY UNCLASSIFIED UNCLASSIFIED FOR DISPLAY ONLY 029 Page determined to be Unclassified Reviewed by Chief of Staff, AARO IAW FY24 NDAA, Section 1841(a)(1)(C) Date: 3 /20/2025 ALL-DOMAIN ANOMALY RESOLUTION OFFICE ORGANIZATIONAL MANAGEMENTOPERATIONSANALYSES SCIENCE &TECHNOLOGY STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS ●Formalize organizational design, responsibilities ●Codify and staff unit manning document to full-operating capability ●Develop foundational, DoD and IC UAP policies, guidance ●Receive full complement of support contractors ●Arrange for FY25 transition to ARRO-specific IDIQ vehicle ●Build AARO budget requirements into FY25 PBR ●Establish the Department’s UAP- reporting standards ●Drive implementation of operational framework ●Guide development and deployment of persistent-surveillance capabilities ●Normalize ingestion, curation, and integration of multi-source UAP data ●Guide Joint Staff development of UAP mitigation and response standards and plans ●Streamline deconfliction of detected UAP and blue programs ●Review USGovernment’s UAP and UAP-related historical record ●Guide developmentof policies and practices for UAP-data and analyses downgrade/declassification ●UAP addition to intelligence prioritization ●Develop thresholds, criteria for anomalous determinants of each domain ●Guide UAP collection and reporting, through cogent operational and intelligence reporting requirements ●Drive implementation of analytic framework—including compliance with intelligence tradecraft standards, peer-review, and reporter-feedback ●Institutionalize UAP case- management—including transitioning cases to cognizant expertise and authorities ●Enable mission oversight by providing Congress with timely, relevant, and comprehensive UAP updates ●Develop comprehensive, searchable UAP database ●Guide architecture and network engineering ●Drive scientific analyses—including compliance with the scientific method, use of advanced approaches and tools, and rigorous peer-review ●Identify UAP signatures and indicators ●Guide calibration of military, intelligence, and other sensors, for improved detection of UAP signatures ●Draw upon special expertise outside of the Federal Government fordevelopment of theoretical models ●Establish interagency coordination on UAP public messaging ●Engage partners and allies about AARO’s work and mission ●Establish secure mechanism for reporting of any event related to UAP and any event of the U.S. government related to UAP retrieval, analysis, engineering ●Educate and inform the public AARO’s mission and findings, in line with DoD public statements (e.g., NASA studypublic meeting (May ‘23); open congressional hearing (April ’23); Transportation Research Board (Dec ‘23);and DoD UAP press event (Dec ’22)) ●Issue clear, public guidance for accessing mechanism for UAP reporting Office Goals &Priorities: 2023 DoI: 20230710 FOR DISPLAY ONLY UNCLASSIFIED UNCLASSIFIED FOR DISPLAY ONLY 029 Page determined to be Unclassified Reviewed by Chief of Staff, AARO IAW FY24 NDAA, Section 1841(a)(1)(C) Date: 3/20/2025 Seán Kirkpatrick, Ph.D. Director, AARO 029 Page determined to be Unclassified Reviewed by Chief of Staff, AARO IAW FY24 NDAA, Section 1841(a)(1)(C) Date: 3/20/2025