Documents / Official release
This is a stenographic transcript of an April 19, 2023 hearing of the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities, chaired by Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, on the mission and budget of the All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office. AARO released it in full in 2025. Director Sean Kirkpatrick testified that AARO has found no credible evidence of extraterrestrial activity and that most reports resolve into mundane objects. He also presented trend data and two declassified MQ-9 videos, one of which was resolved as a commuter aircraft.
6 Scheduling@TP.One 800.FOR.DEPO www.TP.One (800.367.3376) 1 STATEMENT OF HON. JONI ERNST, U.S. SENATOR FROM IOWA 2 Senator Ernst: Thank you, Madam Chair, and thank you, 3 Dr. Kirkpatrick, for your testimony today. I will keep 4 these remarks very brief so that we have maximum time for 5 your briefing. 6 The recent downing of the Chinese surveillance balloon 7 and three other objects underscores the need for domain 8 awareness. Adversaries like China and Russia are working to 9 hold U.S. interests, including our homeland, at risk. That 10 is why your testimony is so important and I so look forward 11 to a progress update on the establishment of your office. 12 As members know, your office evolved from the Navy-led 13 Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force to the All-Domain 14 Anomalous Resolution Office known as AARO. 15 Dr. Kirkpatrick, your extensive background in science 16 and technology, research and development, and space makes 17 you well suited to discuss these emerging challenges. 18 My priority is that we understand the full range of 19 threats posed by our adversaries in all domains. That is 20 what the joint force needs to be prepared to fight and win 21 in defense of our nation. 22 This committee needs to know about Chinese or Russian 23 advanced technology programs to exploit our vulnerabilities 24 and it needs to know whether your office, along with the IC, 25 has detected potential Chinese or Russian capabilities to Page determined to be Unclassified Reviewed by Chief of Staff, AARO IAW FY24 NDAA, Section 1841(a)(1)(C) Date: 2/6/2025 022
Official release, from the nara collection. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is above. 50 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.