The U.S. government’s newly established All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) is experiencing a surge in UFO reports from military personnel, despite being operational for only six months.
Director of the AARO, Sean Kirkpatrick, disclosed that over the past half-year, the office has received “several hundred” UFO reports from U.S. military personnel. These reports are in addition to the 140 UFO sightings reported by the military between 2004 and 2021, as previously detailed in the eagerly awaited Pentagon report from June 2021.
The recent reports, submitted in 2022 by personnel from the U.S. Army, Navy, and Air Force, document encounters with unidentified anomalous phenomena, referred to as Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP) by the government. These sightings encompass occurrences in the sky, underwater, and in outer space. Importantly, none of these reports, whether old or new, indicate any evidence of extraterrestrial activity, emphasized Kirkpatrick.
Established in July 2022, the AARO’s primary objective is to compile and investigate UFO reports originating from various branches of the U.S. military. According to a Department of Defense statement released on December 17, a UAP is defined as “anything in space, the atmosphere, on land, in the sea, or beneath the sea that cannot be identified and may pose a threat to U.S. military installations or operations.” The recent influx of reports may be attributed to the AARO’s recent outreach efforts, aimed at destigmatizing the process of reporting UAP sightings within the military.
Anonymous Pentagon officials informed The New York Times in November that a number of reported sightings have already been resolved. Many of these UFO sightings are likely attributable to “relatively commonplace” surveillance drones belonging to countries like China and Russia, the officials suggested. Others may simply be categorized as “airborne clutter,” such as weather balloons.
Kirkpatrick revealed that the AARO is actively working on protocols to discern common sources of UAP sightings, including foreign or domestic aircraft that may leave distinctive technological signatures indicating their origin. The office is preparing to release a forthcoming report that will provide further insights into its investigations conducted during the year.