ALL- DOMAIN ANOMALY RESOLUTION OFFICE
US Department ofDefense
The US Department of Defense &
the UAP Mission
Seán Kirkpatrick, Ph.D.
Director, AARO
UNCLASSIFIED
UNCLASSIFIED
011
All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office
Chief of Staff, AARO
Authority: FY24 NDAA, now codified at 44 U.S.C. 2107
Date: 02/06/2025
Released in Full: ____X___; Released in Part ______
Case Number: 330UAP000011
Page determined to be Unclassified
Reviewed by Chief of Staff, AARO
IAW FY24 NDAA, Section 1841 (a)(1)(C)
Date: 02/06/2025
REPORTED-UAP ALTITUDESTYPICALLY-REPORTED UAP CHARACTERISTICS
Mt Everest
Commercial Air Traffic
Weather Balloons
REPORTED UAP-MORPHOLOGY
ALL-DOMAIN ANOMALY RESOLUTION OFFICE
2
UAP Reporting Trends
1996-2023
10.5%
9.8%
14.6%
30.3%
21.2%
6.8%
4.1%
1.1%
0.5%
0.2%
0.0%
0.9%
5K
10K
15K
20K
25K
30K
35K
40K
45K
50K
55K
60K
100K
REPORTED-UAP HOTSPOTS
Appearance
Morphology
Round,
Atypical Orientation
Size
1- 4 meters
Color
White, Silver, Translucent
Performance
Altitude
10K – 30K feet
Velocity
Stationary to Mach 2
Signatures
Propulsion
No thermal exhaust detected
Radar
Intermittent, X-Band (8-12 GHz)
Radio
1- 3 GHz, 8-12 GHz
Thermal
Intermittent, Shortwave Infrared,
Medium-Wave Infrared
Orb, Round,
Sphere, 47%
Ambiguous
Sensor Contact,
19%
Other, 7%
Lights, 16%
Ova l, 3%
Cylinder, 2%
Disk, 2%
Triangle, 2%
Rectangle, 1%
Square, 1%
Polygon, 1%
TicTac, 1%
Vector, 0%
011
Page determined to be Unclassified
Reviewed by Chief of Staff, AARO
IAW FY24 NDAA, Section 1841 (a)(1)(C)
Date: 02/06/2025
3
CHA RACTERISTICSPERFORMANCESIGNATURESBEHAVIOREFFECTS
Middle East, 2022: MQ-9 observed apparent
spherical UAP via electro-optical sensors
UAP characteristics and behavior consistent with
other “metallic orb” observations in the region
No demonstration of enigmatic technical
capabili
ties and no apparent threat to airborne-
asset safety
Case in “active archive,” pending discovery of
additional data
AARO uses active-archive cases for trend and
statistical analyses
CHA RACTERISTICSPERFORMANCESIGNATURESBEHAVIOREFFECTS
Middle East UAP, unresolved (U)
011
Page determined to be Unclassified
Reviewed by Chief of Staff,AARO
IAW FY24 NDAA, Section 1841 (a)(1)(C)
Date: 02/06/2025
4
CHA RACTERISTICSPERFORMANCESIGNATURESBEHAVIOREFFECTS
Western United States: P-3 on training mission observed
several equidistant UAP that it was unable to intercept
Three UAP objects observed, apparently flying at
high velocity
Observing craft pursued but was unable to
intercept
Analyses of object geospatial positioning conclude
the objects were significantly farther from the
observer than originally estimated
Apparent morphology changes result of sensor
autofocus
Analyses of air-traffic control data suggest objects
likely commercial aircraft transiting known flight
paths to/from major airports in the region
Analyses being validated by AARO’s scientific
partners
CHA RACTERISTICSPERFORMANCESIGNATURESBEHAVIOREFFECTS
Western-US UAP, likely commercial airliners and video autofocus effect (U)
011
Page determined to be Unclassified
Reviewed by Chief of Staff,AARO
IAW FY24 NDAA, Section 1841 (a)(1)(C)
Date: 02/06/2025
5
CHA RACTERISTICSPERFORMANCESIGNATURESBEHAVIOREFFECTS
AARO S&T Research
Assessing existing sensors against typical UAP object
.Commercial
.Civil
.NASA
Augment with dedicated sensors for typical UAP object
Partnerships with Academia
.Exploring signatures to match data
.Statistical analytic techniques
.AI/ML analytic techniques
Partnerships with labs to explore SOA fundamental physics of
UAP observations, both current and historical reporting
Interagency and Allied partnerships for calibration of U.S. and
Allied capabilities
Pattern of life analysis provides location prioritization for new
collection
Naturally
Occurring
Object
BalloonsDronesProjectiles
EO
XXX
IR
XXX
Radar
XX
Sensor Calibration(illustrative)
011
Page determined to be Unclassified
Reviewed by Chief of Staff,AARO
IAW FY24 NDAA
, Section 1841 (a)(1)(C)
Date: 02/06/2025
6
Unclassified crowd-sourced data
following a prescribed format. Imagery
from smartphones is of limited value
given the resolution of the cameras,
but NASA could take lead on
evaluation crowd-sourced metadata.
Large scale, ground based scientific
instrument evaluation.NASA could
examine the efficacy of using large
scale scientific instruments used in such
areas as radio science, radiological
detection, gravimetric, and
geomagnetic measurements for UAP
detection. What are the theoretical
limits of detection for objects similar to
the parameterized UAP target package
provided by AARO?
Earth sciences satellites. All NASA &
NOAA earth sensing satellites and data
should be reviewed relative to the
parameterized UAP target. NASA could
lead a M&S effort, developing
representative models of UAP, and then
evaluating detection capability.
Intentional vice coincidental collection.
NASA/NOAA can explore techniques
to integrate tip and cue collection
capabilities across the scientific
architecture (overhead & ground
based) for turning on additional
collection.
Peer reviewed parameterization of
advanced capabilities not yet
engineered.NASA could lead the
elevation of the scientific discourse on
what potential form of advanced flight
and propulsion capabilities would take
on Earth and what signatures would be
presented.
Expanding NASA/AARO relationship with the new, imbedded NASA Science Advisor
Recommendations for NASA
Archived scientific anomalous data
review. NASA could review astronomical
and atmospheric data holdings against
the parameterized UAP target package
to look for anomalous signatures
Distribution of sightings.NASA could
review unclassified observations of
alleged UAP and generate an analogue
map to AARO’s classified distribution
map.
Foreign partnerships.NASA could begin
to build a robust scientific community of
interest to review data, conduct analysis,
and determine the value of unclassified
data sources.
011
Page determined to be Unclassified
Reviewed by Chief of Staff, AARO
IAW FY24 NDAA
, Section 1841 (a)(1)(C)
Date: 02/06/2025
Seán Kirkpatrick, Ph.D.
Director, AARO
011
Page determined to be Unclassified
Reviewed by Chief of Staff, AARO
IAW FY24 NDAA, Section 1841 (a)(1)(C)
Date: 02/06/2025