The Pentagon announced last week that it is establishing an office that will focus entirely on investigating UFO sightings. The move comes just one month after the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) released a report revealing over 140 UFO sightings – also referred to as unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP) – were reported by military aviators between 2004 and 2021.
According to a department press release dated July 20, the mission of the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) will be to coordinate efforts between the Pentagon and other U.S. departments and agencies to locate and identify UFOs.
The office will work “to detect, identify and attribute objects of interest in, on or near military installations, operating areas, training areas, special use airspace and other areas of interest, and, as necessary, to mitigate any associated threats to safety of operations and national security. This includes anomalous, unidentified space, airborne, submerged and transmedium objects,” the release stated.
Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security Ronald Moultrie will lead the AARO Executive Council to oversee and direct the office along the following “primary” focuses:
- Surveillance, Collection and Reporting
- System Capabilities and Design
- Intelligence Operations and Analysis
- Mitigation and Defeat
- Governance
- Science and Technology
Moultrie said in a memo that his office will “provide necessary administrative support” to the AARO, including “facilities management, budget, contracting, human resources, security, congressional affairs, and information technology.”
“It is vital to our national security and the safety of our military personnel that we maintain awareness of anomalous objects in all domains. We must also keep pace with the development and employment of novel technology by our adversaries,” he wrote. “In doing so, we are committed to providing maximum transparency while safeguarding classified information and controlled unclassified information.”
“The establishment of the AARO is a significant step forward in developing the capabilities and processes that are necessary to achieve these goals,” Moultrie concluded.
Last month, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), Vice Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, praised the report that revealed 144 UFO sightings by military personnel, but asserted it is “just a first step” in addressing what could be a “serious national security concern.”
“For years, the men and women we trust to defend our country reported encounters with unidentified aircraft that had superior capabilities, and for years their concerns were often ignored and ridiculed,” Rubio said in a statement. “This report is an important first step in cataloging these incidents, but it is just a first step. The Defense Department and Intelligence Community have a lot of work to do before we can actually understand whether these aerial threats present a serious national security concern.”
