Report on the Historical Record of U.S. Government Involvement with Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena/Volume 1/Section 4

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Report on U.S. Government Involvement with UAP, Volume I (2024)
the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office
Assessment of Interviewee Claims of USG Involvement in Hidden UAP Programs
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​SECTION IV: Accounts of USG UAP Investigatory Programs Since 1945

Summary

AARO reviewed official USG efforts involving UFOs/UAP since 1945. This research revealed the existence of approximately two dozen separate investigative efforts, depending on how they are counted. These efforts ranged from formal, distinct programs employing a dedicated staff with some measure of longevity including: Projects SAUCER/SIGN, GRUDGE, and BLUE BOOK, the DoD UAP Task Force (UAPTF) led by the U.S. Navy (USN), the Airborne Object Identification and Management Synchronization Group (AOIMSG), and the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO). There were also short-term projects that supported some of these established programs including: Projects TWINKLE and BEAR and short-term inquiries into or reviews of specific cases, such as the USAF's two Roswell reports. Additionally, there were efforts that amounted to short-term, outside reviews of USAF-established programs; such as the CIA-sponsored Study Group, the Robertson Panel, the Durant Report, and the University of Colorado's Condon Report (contracted by the USAF). Some of these efforts, including Projects SAUCER and SIGN, were closely connected and essentially the same organization. Project GRUDGE was the name given to two related, but different organizations; the second—reorganized Project GRUDGE—was established about a year after the dissolution of the original Project GRUDGE.

Project SAUCER (1946/1947–January 1948)

Background: The exact date of the founding of this first effort as well as its official and unofficial name are unclear. According to one source, General Nathan Twining, Commander of the Air Technical Services Command, established Project SAUCER on December 30, 1947, to ​collect and evaluate all information relating to UFO sightings which could be construed as of concern to the national security. Captain Edward Ruppelt claimed that Project SAUCER was the informal name of Project SIGN and it was designated a high priority. However, in an interview with an employee of Project SIGN, the employee claimed the project started a year earlier, in 1946, and that Project SAUCER was its original, informal name.[3] A dearth of data and information is associated with this effort.[4]

Project SAUCER investigated one of the first well-known accounts provided by a private pilot, Kenneth Arnold. The pilot claimed that on June 23, 1947, while flying near Mount Rainier, Washington, he saw nine, large circular objects flying in a formation, objects that periodically flipped and were traveling at 1,700 miles per hour. He also compared the flight characteristics as the "tail of a Chinese kite."[5][6] Arnold described their shape as "saucer-like aircraft." His account was picked up by several media outlets, and the term "flying saucer" emerged.[7]

Results: Project SAUCER did not find evidence of extraterrestrial technology.

Project SIGN (January 1948–February 1949)

Background: Project SAUCER was formalized into an official, high-priority program named Project SIGN. The Air Technical Intelligence Center (ATIC) assumed control of Project SIGN on January 23, 1948. (ATIC later became the National Air and Space Intelligence Center NASIC). The impetus for this effort was to determine if these objects might be Soviet secret weapons or "extra-planetary" objects. The staff seemed confident that after a few months of work they could reach a conclusion. As part of their work, the staff at Project SIGN reviewed all of the military's intelligence on German weaponry and aeronautical capabilities to determine if some might have fallen into Soviet possession.[8]

Results: The project evaluated 243 reported UFO sightings, and in February 1949, it concluded that "no definite and conclusive evidence is yet available that would prove or disprove the existence of these unidentified objects as real aircraft of unknown and unconventional configuration."[9] Project SIGN determined that nearly all were caused by either misinterpretation of known objects, hysteria, hallucination, or hoax.[10] It also recommended continued military intelligence control over the investigation of all sightings. It did not rule out the possibility of extraterrestrial phenomena.

  • Although the historical account is unsubstantiated and derived from only one source, Project SIGN staff in late July 1948 allegedly drafted, signed, and sent a report ("Estimate of the Situation") up the military chain for approval. This report allegedly concluded that UFOs were "interplanetary" in origin, but it was rejected by USAF Chief of Staff General Hoyt S. Vandenberg as lacking proof.[11]
  • This rejected report may have resulted in the Pentagon leadership's loss of confidence in the staff at Project SIGN leading to the establishment of Project GRUDGE, which some sources claim possessed an institutional bias for debunking UFO claims.[12] ​Project GRUDGE (Original Organization) (February–December 1949)

Background: Project SIGN was renamed Project GRUDGE in approximately February 1949. The staff, especially those who seemed to lean towards belief in the "interplanetary" origin of UFOs, were reportedly purged from the organization. One account of this time period suggests that because of perceived pressure from the Pentagon's leadership, the remaining staff who held this view changed their minds. This same account claims that the Pentagon's goals for Project GRUDGE were to discount and explain away all reports of UFOs.[13] Project GRUDGE was terminated on December 27, 1949, around the time a comprehensive report on its findings was published. The USAF did not stop collecting and analyzing reports of UFOs; rather, it folded that work into its existing intelligence processes.[14]

Results: Project GRUDGE investigated 244 reports of UFO sightings. It did not discover any evidence that the UAP sightings represented foreign technology; therefore, these findings did not pose a threat to U.S. national security.[15] The report recommended that the organization be downsized and de-emphasized because it was believed Project GRUDGE's very existence fueled a "war hysteria" within the public. The USAF subsequently implemented a public affairs campaign designed to persuade the public that UFOs constituted nothing unusual or extraordinary. The stated goal of this effort was to alleviate public anxiety.[16]

  • In August 1949, the USAF asserted that the UFO reports were misinterpretations of natural phenomena, man-made aircraft, fabrications, or hoaxes.[17]

Project TWINKLE (Summer 1949–Summer 1950)

Background: Project TWINKLE was established in the summer of 1949 to investigate a series of UFO reports witnessed by numerous observers in Nevada and New Mexico. These UFOs were described as "green fireballs" streaking across the sky, moving in odd ways, and—in at least one account—the fireball navigated near an aircraft. The literature is not clear if Project TWINKLE was officially supported by the original Project GRUDGE, but it was managed by the USAF's Cambridge Research Laboratory.[18] The goal of this investigation was to use multiple high-powered cameras near White Sands with the hope that if at least two images of the fireballs were captured, then their speed, altitude, and time could be discerned.[19]

Results: This project was only able to secure one camera, which was frequently moved between locations following fireball reports, and no photographs of the fireballs were ever taken.[20]

Project GRUDGE (Reestablishment) (October 1951–March 1952)

Background: In late October 1951, almost two years after Project GRUDGE was disestablished, the USAF's UFO mission was reorganized into another distinct program—also named Project GRUDGE—led by Capt Ruppelt. By his own account, Capt Ruppelt sought to correct the mistakes of Project SIGN and the former Project GRUDGE. His primary goal was to ensure that there would be "no wild speculation" and that if his staff were "too pro or too con" regarding the off-world origin of UFOs, they would be let go. He claimed to have fired three ​staff. He also realized that he needed a range of scientific expertise which he sourced through a contract he dubbed Project BEAR. Capt Ruppelt set a policy that was intended to foster objectivity. Unlike the previous Project GRUDGE, he allowed his staff to create an "unknown" category of cases which he hoped would dissuade the forcing of a particular answer to any case. The new Project GRUDGE reviewed all of the previous cases in Project SIGN, old Project GRUDGE, and from the ATIC interim period.[21]

Results: The new Project GRUDGE noticed that there was some correlation between sightings and the publication of UFO stories in the media. Capt Ruppelt noted that there were concentrations of cases in the Los Alamos-Albuquerque area, Oak Ridge, White Sands, Strategic Air Command locations, ports, and industrial sites.[22]

  • No evidence of extraterrestrial origin of UFO/UAP were discovered.

Project BEAR (Late 1951–Late 1954)

Background: Project BEAR was an informal name given by Capt Ruppelt, Chief of Project GRUDGE, to a contract he created with the Battelle Memorial Institute (BMI) to provide scientific support to the new Project GRUDGE. BMI provided technical support, studied the reliability of interviewee information recall from UFO sightings, created an improved debriefing questionnaire for observers, and developed a computer punch-card system. This system helped automate the statistical study of all the UFO reports in Project GRUDGE's holdings and those in Project BLUE BOOK.[23] BMI released a report under the cover of ATIC to maintain its anonymity. Completed in late 1954, the report was titled "Special Report No. 14."[24]

Results: The Project BEAR report was based on a statistical analysis of UFO sightings and contained graphs showing their frequency and distribution by time, date, location, shape, color, duration, azimuth, and elevation. It concluded that all cases that had enough data were resolved and readily explainable. The report assessed that if more data were available on cases marked unknown, most of those cases could be explained as well. It also concluded that it was highly improbable that any of these cases represented technology beyond their "present day scientific knowledge."[25]

CIA Special Study Group (1952)

Background: After an increase in UFO sightings in 1952, particularly those that gained widespread attention over the Washington, D.C. area during that summer, CIA's Deputy Director for Intelligence, Robert Amory Jr., tasked the CIA Office of Scientific Intelligence's (OSI) Physics and Electronics Division to review UFO cases. A. Ray Gordon took lead on this project, and the Study Group he established reviewed all of ATIC's data (from Projects SIGN through GRUDGE).[26]

Results: The Study Group assessed that 90 percent of the reports were explainable and the other 10 percent amounted to "incredible" claims but rejected the notion that they represented Soviet or extraterrestrial technology. The group also studied Soviet press and found no reports of UFOs, leading the group to assume that the Soviets were deliberately suppressing such ​reports. The Study Group also believed that the Soviets could use reports of UFOs to create hysteria in the United States or overload the U.S. early-warning system.[27]

  • In December 1952, H. Marshall Chadwell, Assistant Director of OSI, briefed the Director of Central Intelligence (DCI), Walter Bedell Smith, on the subject of UFOs. Chadwell urged action because he was convinced that "something was going on that must have immediate attention," and that "sightings of unexplained objects at great altitudes and traveling at high speeds in the vicinity of major U.S. defense installations are of such nature that they are not attributable to natural phenomena or known types of aerial vehicles."[28]
  • The source material does not suggest that Smith believed that these sightings were of extraterrestrial origin only that he believed they were not natural phenomena or known competitor technology. It is not clear from the source material why Chadwell seemed to hold a different view than that of the Study Group. It is possible that he suspected that UFO reports represented unknown Soviet technology and therefore posed a national security threat. His concerns about and interest in the topic led to the establishment of the Robertson Panel.

The Robertson Panel (January 1953)

Background: H. Marshall Chadwell clandestinely sponsored the establishment of a UFO scientific review panel led by California Institute of Technology physicist, H.P. Robertson. This action followed a recommendation from CIA's Intelligence Advisory Committee to enlist the services of selected "scientists to review and appraise the available evidence in light of pertinent scientific theories."[29] The panelists had expertise in a range of fields, including nuclear physics, high-energy physics, radar, electronics, and geophysics.[30]

Results: The panel reviewed all USAF data and concluded that most reports had ordinary explanations. The panel unanimously concluded that there was no evidence of a direct threat to U.S. national security from UFOs or that they were of extraterrestrial origin.

  • The panel was, however, concerned with the outbreak of mass hysteria and how the Soviets could exploit it. They recommended the USG use various channels to debunk UFO reports and suggested monitoring domestic UFO enthusiast organizations.[31]
  • The Robertson Panel discussed the complete lack of the recovery of any "hardware" resulting from "unexplained UFO sightings" which contributed to its assessment that the reported UFOs were neither a foreign threat nor of extraterrestrial origin.[32]

The Durant Report (February 1953)

Background: CIA officer Frederick Durant drafted a report for CIA's Assistant Director of OSI on the Robertson Panel's work and findings. Durant's memorandum provided a brief history of the panel and an unofficial supplement that provided comments and suggestions from members which they had not included in the final report.[33]

​Results: The report offered no distinct or separate findings of note and mostly summarized the findings of the Robertson Panel.[34]

Project BLUE BOOK (March 1952–December 1969)

Background: USAF Director of Intelligence, Major General Charles P. Cabell, established Project BLUE BOOK to study UFO phenomena. Based at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, Ohio, Project BLUE BOOK was the longest running UFO/UAP investigation. It was led successively by Capt Edward J. Ruppelt (the former Director of the reorganized Project GRUDGE), Capt Charles Hardin, Capt George T. Gregory, Lieutenant Colonel (Lt Col) Roger J. Friend, and Lt Col Hector Quintanilla, Jr. The USAF recorded 12,618 UFO sightings between the years 1947–1969. J. Allen Hynek served as its lead scientific investigator.[35]

Project BLUE BOOK organized its cases into one of three categories: identified, insufficient data, and unidentified. For those reports that were categorized as identified, Project BLUE BOOK staff used the following categorization schema:

  • Astronomical Sightings: These consisted of bright stars, planets, comets, fireballs, meteors, auroral streamers, and other celestial bodies. When observed through haze, light fog, moving clouds, or other obscurations or unusual conditions, the planets—including Venus, Jupiter and Mars—were often reported as UFOs.
  • Balloons: These included weather balloons, radiosondes, and large research balloons with diameters up to 300 feet, which together accounted for several thousand cases. Balloons were released daily from military and civilian airports, weather stations, and research activities. Reflection of the sun on balloons at dawn and sunset sometimes produced strange effects which led to many UFO reports. Large balloons can move at speeds of over 100 miles per hour when in high-altitude wind streams.
  • Aircraft: According to Project BLUE BOOK, various aircraft accounted for another major source of UFO reports; particularly during adverse weather conditions. The staff noted that when observed at high altitudes and at a distance, the reflection of the sun on aircrafts' surfaces can make them appear as "disc" or "rocket-shaped." They also noted that vapor or condensation trails from jet aircraft will sometimes appear to glow fiery red or orange when reflecting sunlight.
  • Afterburners: Bright afterburner flames from jet aircraft were often reported as UFOs since they could be seen from great distances when the aircraft was not visible.
  • Other UFO resolutions included stellar mirages, satellites, missiles, reflections, searchlights, birds, kites, false radar indications, fireworks, flares, and some confirmed hoaxes.[36]

Secretary of the Air Force Robert C. Seamans, Jr. announced Project BLUE BOOK's termination on December 17, 1969.[37]

​AARO partnered with the U.S. National Archives to examine the records from the USAF's Project BLUE BOOK, which spanned from 1947 to 1969. This research presented a significant challenge because of the volume of the documentation amounted to 7,252 files holding a total of 65,778 digital records. The vast majority of the files are populated with USAF documentation. Some cases contain media clippings and images, but these instances are rare.

Results: Project BLUE BOOK determined that:

  • No UFO reported, investigated, and evaluated by the USAF demonstrated any indication of a threat to national security.
  • There was no evidence submitted to, or discovered by, the USAF that sightings represented technological developments or principles beyond the range of then-present day scientific knowledge.
  • There was no evidence indicating that sightings categorized as unidentified are "extraterrestrial vehicles."
  • Of the 12,618 sightings in Project BLUE BOOK's holdings, 701 were categorized as unidentified and never solved.[38][39]

CIA Evaluation of UFOs (1964)

Background: Following high-level White House discussions on what to do if alien intelligence was discovered or there was a new outbreak of UFO sightings, DCI John McCone tasked the CIA to update its evaluation of UFOs. The CIA's scientific division officially acquired UFO-sighting case information from the director of the National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena (NICAP), a private organization founded in 1956.[40]

Results: Donald F. Chamberlain, Assistant Director of OSI, subsequently informed McCone that little had changed since the early 1950s; there was still no evidence that UFOs were a threat to the security of the United States or that they were of "foreign origin."[41]

O'Brien Committee (1964)

Background: Dr. Brian O'Brien, a member of the USAF Scientific Advisory Board, chaired the USAF Ad Hoc Review of Project BLUE BOOK. The committee included Carl Sagan, a prominent astronomer from Cornell University.[42]

Results: The committee's report stated that UFOs did not threaten U.S. national security and that it could find no UFO case which represented technological or scientific advances outside of a terrestrial framework. The committee's primary recommendation was that this topic merited intensive academic research and that a top university should lead the study.[43]

The Condon Report (April 1968)

Background: Dr. Edward U. Condon, a physicist and former Director of the National Bureau of Standards, was the scientific director of an 18-month study on "flying saucers" funded under a $325,000 USAF contract to the University of Colorado. This panel took a narrow and ​somewhat unique view of UFO investigatory efforts, primarily focusing on whether or not UFO phenomena merited formal scientific research in terms of academic or USG-sponsored research and in secondary schools. The panel said their remit did not include the study of UFO phenomena as a potential risk to U.S. national security interests.[44] Among other duties, it closely examined 59 specific case studies.[45]

Results: The panel's report stated that: "Our general conclusion is that nothing has come from the study of UFOs in the past 21 years that has added to scientific knowledge. Careful consideration of the record as it is available to us leads us to conclude that further extensive study of UFOs probably cannot be justified in the expectation that science will be advanced thereby." The panel cautioned against support for scientific papers on this topic and recommended that teachers should not give credit to students for reading UFO literature and materials.[46]

  • The panel also investigated and studied a small number of cases of alleged physical evidence of UFO visitations—from imprints on the ground and residue allegedly left behind from UFO landings (such as a white powder and ethereal strands dubbed "angel hair")—to metallic debris. The panel found ordinary explanations for each of these cases. Some of these cases originated in Brazil, Norway, and Washington, D.C.[47]
  • The panel investigated a claim made by radio broadcaster Frank Edwards in a 1966 book that a piece of a UFO was recovered near Washington, D.C. in the summer of 1952 during the spike in UFO sightings over the U.S. Capitol in July and August. He claimed that a USN jet fired on a two-foot diameter glowing disc and dislodged a one-pound fragment that was recovered by a ground team. Project BLUE BOOK was not aware of this claim. The USAF and USN found no incident report of weapons engagement with a UFO that summer, no USN aircraft were present, and the retired officer who was the original source of the claim had retired before the summer of 1952, when the event allegedly occurred.[48]
  • Edwards also made the claim in 1966 that the USG had loaned the Canadian government fragments of a UFO it had allegedly recovered. It is not clear if this claim was linked to the alleged Washington, D.C. incident. He also claimed that Dr. Vannevar Bush, a prominent inventor, defense industry scientist, and founder of the National Science Foundation, led the effort to study the fragment. The Condon panel determined that these claims most likely were false.[49]

National Academy of Sciences Assessment of the Condon Report (Late 1968)

Background: After the Condon Report was criticized by some scientists—including Project BLUE BOOK's Dr. Hynek—a panel of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) was tasked in late 1968 to examine the rigor, methodology, and conclusions of the Condon Report. The panel did not conduct its own investigation into the validity of UFO reports.[50]

​Results: The NAS review concluded that, "We are unanimous in the opinion that this has been a very credible effort to apply… techniques of science to the solution of the UFO problem."[51]

Carter Administration Tasking to National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) (1977)

Background: Dr. Frank Press, Science Advisor to President Jimmy Carter, sent a letter to Dr. Robert Frosch, NASA Administrator, on July 21, 1977, suggesting that a panel be formed by NASA to see if there had been any new significant findings on UFOs since the Condon Report.

Results: Five months later, NASA responded by stating that it was not warranted "to establish a research activity in this area or to convene a symposium on the subject."[52]

Roswell Investigations/Inquiries (1992–2001)

President Clinton and Chief of Staff Podesta Inquire about Roswell (1992–2001)
The Roswell Report: Fact versus Fiction in the New Mexico Desert (1995)
The GAO Roswell Report (1995)
The Roswell Report: Case Closed (1997)

Background: According to press reports, President Clinton tasked former National Security Advisor Sandy Berger to determine if the USG held aliens or alien technology. President Clinton said, "As far as I know, an alien spacecraft did not crash in Roswell, New Mexico, in 1947… if the USAF did recover alien bodies, they didn't tell me about it… and I want to know."[53]

In 1993, Congressman Steven H. Schiff (R-New Mexico) made inquiries about the Roswell incident to DoD. The Roswell incident refers to the July 1947 recovery of metallic and rubber debris from a crashed military balloon near Roswell Army Air Field personnel that sparked conspiracy theories and claims that the debris was from an alien spaceship and part of a USG cover-up. He asked the General Accounting Office (GAO) (subsequently renamed the Government Accountability Office) to determine the requirements for reporting air accidents, such as the crash near Roswell, and to identify any government records concerning the Roswell crash.[54]

The USAF conducted a systematic search of numerous archives and records centers in support of GAO's audit of Roswell. As part of this review, the USAF also interviewed numerous people who may have had knowledge of the events. Secretary of the Air Force Sheila E. Widnall released them from any security obligations that may have restricted the sharing of information. The USAF then published The Roswell Report in 1995, which included: "The Report of the U.S. Air Force Research Regarding the 'Roswell Incident'" by Col Richard L. Weaver, and the "Synopsis of Balloon Research Findings" by 1st Lt James McAndrew.[55]

Results: The report stated that the USAF's research did not locate or develop any information that indicated the "Roswell Incident" was a UFO event, nor was there any "cover ​up" by the USG. Rather, the materials recovered near Roswell were consistent with a balloon of the type used in the then-classified Project Mogul. No records showed any evidence that the USG recovered aliens or extraterrestrial material.[56]

  • The USAF subsequently published a follow-on report in 1997, The Roswell Report: Case Closed, with additional materials and analysis which supported its conclusion that the debris recovered near Roswell was from the U.S. Army Air Force's balloon-borne program.[57]
  • The alleged "alien" bodies reported by some in the New Mexico desert were test dummies that were carried aloft by U.S. Army Air Force high-altitude balloons for scientific research.[58]
  • Reports of military units that allegedly recovered a flying saucer and its "crew" were descriptions of Air Force personnel engaged in the dummy recovery operations. Claims of "alien bodies" at the Roswell Army Air Force (RAAF) hospital were most likely the result of the conflation of two separate incidents: a 1956 KC-97 aircraft accident in which 11 Air Force members lost their lives; and a 1959 manned balloon mishap in which two Air Force pilots were injured.[59]

The GAO's 1995 report on the results of its investigation found that that the U.S. Army Air Force regulations in 1947 required that air accident reports be maintained permanently. Four air accidents were reported by the Army Air Force in New Mexico during July 1947. All involved military aircraft and occurred after July 8, 1947—the date the RAAF public information office first reported the crash and recovery of a "flying disc" near Roswell. The military reported no air accidents in New Mexico that month. USAF officials reported to GAO that there was no requirement to prepare a report on the crash of a balloon in 1947.[60]

Advanced Aerospace Weapons System Application Program (AAWSAP) (2009–2012)/Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP)

Background: At the direction of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NM), the Defense Appropriations Acts of Fiscal Years 2008 and 2010 appropriated $22 million for the DIA to assess long-term and over-the-horizon foreign advanced aerospace threats to the United States. In coordination with the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence, DIA established AAWSAP in 2009, which was also known AATIP. The contract for this DIA-managed program was awarded to a private sector organization.[61] [Note on program names: The names AAWSAP and AATIP have been used interchangeably for the name of this program, including on official documentation. Unlike AAWSAP, AATIP was never an official DoD program. However, after AAWSAP was cancelled, the AATIP moniker was used by some individuals associated with an informal, unofficial UAP community of interest within DoD that researched UAP sightings from military observers as part of their ancillary job duties. This effort was not a recognized, official program, and had no dedicated personnel or budget.]

  • The primary purpose of AAWSAP/AATIP was to investigate potential next generation aerospace technologies in 12 specific areas—such as advanced lift, ​ propulsion, the use of unconventional materials and controls, and signature reduction.[62]
  • Although investigating UFO/UAP was not specifically outlined in the contract's statement of work, the selected private sector organization conducted UFO research with the support of the DIA program manager. This research included: reviewing new cases and much older Project BLUE BOOK cases, operating debriefing and investigatory teams, and proposals to set up laboratories to examine any recovered UFO materials.[63]
  • AAWSAP/AATIP also investigated an alleged hotspot of UAP and paranormal activity at a property in Utah—which at that time was owned by the head of the private sector organization—including examining reports of "shadow figures" and "creatures," and exploring "remote viewing" and "human consciousness anomalies." The organization also planned to hire psychics to study "inter-dimensional phenomena" believed to frequently appear at that location.[64]
  • DIA did not seek, nor specifically authorize, this work though a DIA employee set up and managed the contract with the private sector organization.[65]
  • On 24 June 2009, Senator Reid sent a letter to then Deputy Secretary of Defense William Lynn III requesting that AAWSAP/AATIP be made a DoD Special Access Program. Deputy Secretary Lynn declined to do so based on the recommendation of then-Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence, James R. Clapper, Jr., that such a designation was not justified.[66]
  • Just prior to DoD's cancellation of the program, the private sector organization proposed as a new line of effort to host a series of "intellectual debates" at academic institutes to influence the public debate, which included hiring supportive reporters and celebrity moderators. The goal of this proposed public relations campaign was to assume that "E.T. visitations are true" and that the moderators would steer debate away from "dead-end discussions" and the "morass" about discussing "evidence."[67] A stated goal of this proposal was to increase public interest in government "disclosure" around the "E.T. topic" and explore the consequences of disclosure on the public.[68]

Results: The AAWSAP/AATIP contract with the private sector organization produced exploratory papers addressing the 12 scientific areas tasked in the contract's statement of work. These scientific papers were never thoroughly peer reviewed.

  • AARO has yet to uncover any other substantive UAP case work conducted by AAWSAP/AATIP. Instead, AAWSAP/AATIP reviewed a large number of Project BLUE BOOK and private cases and conducted interviews of UAP observers and conducted unrelated work on alleged paranormal activities at the private sector organization's property in Utah.
  • AAWSAP/AATIP was terminated in 2012 upon the completion of its deliverables due to DIA and DoD concerns about the project.
    ​
  • After AAWSAP/AATIP was terminated, its supporters unsuccessfully attempted to convince DHS to support a new version of this effort dubbed KONA BLUE.

Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force (UAPTF) (August 2020–November 2021)

Background: Deputy Secretary of Defense David L. Norquist approved the establishment of the UAPTF in August 2020. Under the cognizance of the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security (USD(I&S)), the Department of the Navy was asked to lead the task force. It was established to improve understanding of, and gain insight into, the nature and origins of UAP. The task force's mission was to detect, analyze, and catalog UAP that could potentially pose a threat to U.S. national security.[69]

Results: The UAPTF helped standardize, destigmatize, and increase the volume of UAP reporting. Its work also helped calibrate sensors to improve the quality of data collected. Its methods and processes directly led to the identification of the People's Republic of China's (PRC) high altitude balloons that traversed over the continental United States.[70]

Preliminary Assessment: Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (June 2021)

Background: Senate Report 116-233, accompanying the Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021, directed the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) in consultation with the Secretary of Defense to submit an intelligence assessment of the threat posed by UAP and to report on the progress the UAPTF had made in understanding this threat.

Results: The preliminary assessment concluded that: (1) the limited amount of high-quality reporting on UAP hampers the ability to draw firm conclusions about their nature or intent; (2) in a limited number of incidents, UAP reportedly appeared to exhibit unusual flight characteristics; although those observations could be the result of sensor errors, spoofing, or observer misperception and require additional rigorous analysis; (3) there are probably multiple types of UAP requiring different explanations based on the range of appearances and behaviors described in the available reporting; (4) UAP may pose airspace safety issues and a challenge to U.S. national security; and (5) consistent consolidation of reports from across the USG, standardized reporting, increased collection and analysis, and a streamlined process for screening all such reports against a broad range of relevant government data will allow for a more sophisticated analysis of UAP.[71]

Airborne Object Identification and Management Synchronization Group (AOIMSG) / Airborne Object Identification and Management Executive Management Committee (AOIMEXEC) (November 2021–June 2022)

Background: The Deputy Secretary of Defense, in consultation with the Director of National Intelligence (DNI), directed USD(I&S) to establish AOIMSG to succeed the USN's UAPTF.[72]

Results: The organization helped initiate synchronization of efforts across the Department and the broader USG to detect, identify, and attribute objects of interests in "Special Use Airspace," as well as to assess and mitigate any associated threats to safety of flight and ​national security.[73] AOIMSG had not achieved initial operating capability before subsequent legislation in the FY2022 NDAA resulted in it being renamed to AARO and given an expanded mission set.

UAP Independent Study Team (UAPIST) (June 2022–September 2023)

Background: NASA established the UAPIST as a subordinate group of its Earth Science Advisory Committee, which was established in accordance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act. The UAPIST examined UAP from a scientific perspective, focusing on how NASA can use data and the scientific tools to achieve a better understanding of UAP. The Assistant Deputy Associate Administrator for Research at NASA's Science Mission Directorate was responsible for orchestrating the study. The independent study team was chaired by the President of the Simons Foundation and included members from the USG, academia, and the private sector.[74]

Results: NASA released its report in September 2023. The report focused on discovering the best data streams available and discoverable to resolve UAP cases. It did not focus on whether or not UAP were of extraterrestrial origin. NASA also established a UAP Research Director position.

All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) (Established July 15, 2022)

Background: In response to the NDAA for FY22, the Deputy Secretary of Defense in coordination with the DNI, conveyed direction to the USD(I&S) by renaming the AOIMSG as AARO, and expanded its scope and mission.[75] AARO organized itself around four functions (analysis, operations, science & technology (S&T), and strategic communications). AARO is developing IC and S&T analytic tradecraft practices, implementing a science testing plan, implementing a secure interviewee debriefing program, and is working to standardize UAP collection and reporting across the DoD and the IC.

Results: Consistent with congressional direction, AARO provides quarterly reports, semiannual briefings, and an annual report to Congress in coordination with the ODNI. In addition, on January 12, 2023, the ODNI submitted the 2022 Annual Report on Unidentified Aerial Phenomena to Congress. This report was drafted in partnership with AARO and based on AARO's data.

  • The report stated that there was a total of 510 UAP reports as of August 30, 2022. This included the 144 UAP reports covered during the 17 years of reporting included in the ODNI's preliminary assessment, as well as 247 new reports and 119 reports that subsequently were discovered or reported.
  • The report also stated that UAP events continue to occur in restricted or sensitive airspace, highlighting possible concerns for safety of flight or adversary collection activity.[76]
    ​
  • The AARO Director reported to Congress that the majority of cases in AARO's holdings have ordinary explanation and that AARO has not seen any evidence that any of these cases represent extraterrestrial technology.
  • Of all the reports that AARO investigated and analyzed, none represent extraterrestrial or off-world technology. A small percentage of cases have potentially anomalous characteristics or concerning characteristics. AARO has kept Congress fully and currently informed of its findings. AARO's research continues on these cases.

Foreign and Academic Investigatory Efforts

AARO reviewed seven other UAP investigatory panels and programs sponsored by a U.S. university, the United Kingdom, Canada, and France. Of these efforts, one unofficial report from a Canadian government effort in the early 1950s claimed UFOs were of extraterrestrial origin, and the program director claimed he was in contact with aliens. This position appeared to reflect the opinions of the director of the effort and was not endorsed or supported by the Canadian government.

  • Stanford University's Sturrock Panel (1998) found no convincing evidence for the extraterrestrial origin of UFO/UAP.[77]
  • The United Kingdom's Flying Saucer Working Party (1950–1951) concluded that "flying saucers did not exist."[78]
  • Canada's Sky Project (2023) is currently ongoing, and the program will release its findings in 2024.[79]
  • Canada's Project Second Storey (1952–1954), an advisory committee that advised the government, never reached any significant conclusions.[80]
  • Canada's Project Magnet (1950–1954) was run by Department of Transport engineer Wilbert B. Smith. Smith assessed that UFOs were of extraterrestrial origin and that they flew by magnetism. Smith believed he was in personal contact with extraterrestrial beings through telepathy and "tensor beams." Smith, in an interview as early as 1961, claimed that in 1952, the USAF lent him a piece of a UFO to study. He also claimed it was composed of magnesium orthosilicate. The Canadian government closed the project, saying that there were no definitive results from the research. Smith admitted that his beliefs concerning UFOs were his alone and not the government's official position.[81]
  • The French government sponsored three comprehensive investigatory programs: Groupe d'Etude et d'Information sur les Phénomènes Aérospatiaux Non-identifiés (GEPAN, 1977–1987), Service d'Expertise des Phénomènes de Rentrées Atmosphériques (SEPRA, 1988–2004), and a new version called Groupe d'Etudes et d'Informations sur les Phénomènes Aérospatiaux Non-identifiés (GEIPAN) that stood up in 2005. When it dissolved, SERPA concluded that the vast majority of cases ​ possess ordinary explanations, while 28 percent of its caseload remained unresolved. None of these organizations have found evidence of extraterrestrial visitations to Earth.[82]

Key Findings

  • None of these investigations (including USG, foreign, and U.S. academic efforts) reached the conclusion that any of the UAP reports indicated extraterrestrial origin.
  • All of these efforts and reviews concluded that the vast majority of UAP reports could be resolved as any number of ordinary objects, natural phenomena, optical illusions or misidentifications. Many of the cases, however, remain unresolved.
  • The lack of actionable, researchable data—specifically the lack of speed, altitude, and size of reported UAP—combined with resource constraints, high volumes of cases, and perceived differing levels of support from USG officials were factors in all investigative efforts. Even with the significant advancements in ground- and airbased sensors, the apparent inability to collect sufficient and high-quality data for scientific analysis continues to plague investigations.
  • Three efforts investigated reports of direct or indirect physical evidence of UFOs (from depressions on the ground to metallic debris) and found nothing of foreign or extraterrestrial origin.
  • There was at least one USG proposal—by the CIA-sponsored Robertson Panel—to engage in an active "training" and "debunking" effort using various public media tools to steer the public away from reporting UFOs. The proposal reasoned that it did not believe UFOs were foreign technological threats or of extraterrestrial origin; rather, it viewed the persistent flood of reports as cluttering and bogging down government processes, expressing the concern that such reports could create "mass hysteria" to the benefit of the Soviet Union.
  • At various points in history, individuals inside and outside of the USG, including Dr. J. Allen Hynek, claimed the USAF had a key goal of debunking or explaining away reports of UAP. AARO found no evidence to suggest that the USAF had a policy intended to cover up the evidence of extraterrestrial knowledge, material, or interactions. Rather, the USAF instead sought to focus on what it determined to be more important concerns, such as Soviet technology and U.S. defense readiness. Similarly, at least the first iteration of Project GRUDGE sought to resolve all cases and prohibited its staff from characterizing reports as unknown or unidentified.
  • AARO notes that there was possibly one unofficial estimate stating otherwise. Project SIGN staff allegedly drafted and signed a report that was circulated for review and approval. It was titled: "The Estimate of the Situation" and assessed that at least some UFOs were of "interplanetary" origin. The DoD leadership rejected this report on the basis that it lacked any proof, and it was never published. The first Director of ​ Project BLUE BOOK, Capt Edward Ruppelt, said that all but a couple copies of this estimate were destroyed.[83] AARO has been unable to verify his claim or locate the document.

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