Office of the Secretary of Defense: 01_2023_Annual_Report

UNCLASSIFIED
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UNCLASSIFIED
I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This report is provided by the Department of Defense (DoD) and the Office of the
Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) in response to a requirement established in the National
Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year (FY) 2022, Section 1683 (h), as amended by
Section 6802(k) of the FY 2023 NDAA (as codified at 50 U.S.C. § 3373).
The report covers unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) reports from 31 August
2022 to 30 April 2023, and all UAP reports from any previous time periods that were not
included in an earlier report. The All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) received a
total of 291 UAP reports during this period, consisting of 274 that occurred during this period
and another 17 that occurred during previous reporting periods from 2019–2022, but had not
been conveyed in previous submissions.
Reporting from this period continues to depict a strong but shifting collection bias. Most
reports still reflect a bias towards restricted military airspace, a result of reporting from military
personnel and sensors present in such areas. This bias has been lessened by reporting from
commercial pilots showing a more diverse geographic distribution of UAP sightings across the
United States. However, these reports mostly cover observations over U.S. airspace and littoral
waters, and therefore, as these reports continue to come in, a U.S.-centric collection bias will
grow significantly relative to the rest of the world.
During the reporting period, AARO received no reports indicating UAP sightings have
been associated with any adverse health effects. However, many reports from military witnesses
do present potential safety of flight concerns, and there are some cases where reported UAP have
potentially exhibited one or more concerning performance characteristics such as high-speed
travel or unusual maneuverability. AARO has de-conflicted these cases with potential U.S.
programs and continues to work closely with its DoD and Intelligence Community (IC) mission
partners to identify and attribute any objects found in these cases. Additionally, AARO
continues to investigate and research all cases in its holdings.
While the mere presence of UAP in the airspace represents a potential hazard to flight
safety, none of these reports suggest the UAP maneuvered to an unsafe proximity to civil or
military aircraft, positioned themselves in flight paths, or otherwise posed a direct threat to the
flight safety of the observing aircraft. Although none of these UAP reports have been positively
attributed to foreign activities, these cases continue to be investigated.
AARO continues to make progress receiving, standardizing, analyzing, and resolving
reports of UAP; working with military and technical partners to improve sensor placement and
calibration to better collect against UAP; to elevate the quality of reporting; and to provide risk
reduction for improved domain awareness.
While this progress is facilitating collection and analysis of the UAP problem set, the
continued volume and unidentified nature of most UAP is a direct consequence of gaps in
domain awareness. These gaps are the direct result of insufficient data secured by radar, electro-
optical (EO)/infrared (IR) sensors; the presence of sensor artifacts, such as IR flare; and optical01
Page determined to be Unclassified
Reviewed by Chief of Staff, AARO
IAW FY24 NDAA, Section 1841(a)(1)(C)
Date: 1/23/2025