FOIA release DF-2021-00275: Preliminary Assessment: Unidentified Aerial Phenomena

We have examples of pilots who stated that they
Natural Atmospheric Phenomena: Natural atmospheric phenomena includes ice
crystals, moisture, and thermal fluctuations that may register on some infrared and radar systems.
 (U) Although we cannot definitively classify any UAP occurrences in our dataset as
caused by atmospheric phenomena, we also cannot rule out the possibility that these
factors may account for some of what pilots have observed.
(U) USG or Industry Developmental Programs: Some UAP observations could be attributable to
classified USG aerospace programs or systems under development by commercial aerospace
firms. We were unable to confirm, however, that these systems accounted for any of the UAP
reports we collected.
We have
Foreign Adversary Systems: Some UAP may be intelligence collection platforms
developed by China, Russia, another nation, or a non-governmental entity. They could also be a
Although
In addition,
(U) Other: Although most of the UAP described in our dataset probably remain unidentified due
to limited data or challenges to collection processing or analysis, we may require additional
scientific knowledge to successfully collect on, analyze, and characterize some of them. We
would group such objects in this category pending scientific advances that allowed us to better
understand them. The UAPTF intends to focus additional analysis on the small number of cases
where there are initial indications that a UAP appeared to display unusual flight characteristics or
signature management.(b)(1)(b)(3)(b)(1)(b)(3)(b)(1)(b)(3)(b)(1)(b)(3)(b)(1)(b)(3)(b)(3)(b)(3)(b)(3)(b)(3)(b)(3)(b)(3)(b)(1)(b)(3)Approved for release by ODNI on 03-24-2022, FOIA case DF-2021-00275Approved for release by ODNI on 03-24-2022, FOIA case DF-2021-00275