Editing 2022 Annual Report on Unidentified Aerial Phenomena


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OFFICE OF THE DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE<br>
2022 Annual Report on Unidentified Aerial Phenomena<br>
Download Report [[Media:Unclassified-2022-annual-report-uap.pdf|Here]]
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==EXECUTIVE SUMMARY==
Unidentified Aerial Phenomena ([[UAP]]) reporting is increasing, enabling a greater 
awareness of the airspace and increased opportunity to resolve [[UAP]] events. In addition to the 
144 [[UAP]] reports covered during the 17 years of [[UAP]] reporting included in the Office of the 
Director of National Intelligence ([[ODNI]]) preliminary assessment, there have been 247 new 
reports and another 119 that were either since discovered or reported after the preliminary 
assessment’s time period. This totals 510 [[UAP]] reports as of 30 August 2022. Additional 
information is provided in the classified version of this report.

[[AARO]] and [[ODNI]] assess that the observed increase in the [[UAP]] reporting rate is partially 
due to a better understanding of the possible threats that [[UAP]] may represent, either as safety of 
flight hazards or as potential adversary collection platforms, and partially due to reduced stigma 
surrounding [[UAP]] reporting. This increased reporting allows more opportunities to apply 
rigorous analysis and resolve events.

The establishment of the Department of Defense (DoD) All-Domain Anomaly Resolution 
Office ([[AARO]]) should facilitate more coordinated [[UAP]] efforts, resulting in greater attribution of 
[[UAP]]. While limited data on [[UAP]] continues to be a challenge, the establishment of AARO—
with its broad scope of authorities and responsibilities, and its replacement of the Unidentified 
Aerial Phenomena Task Force (UAPTF)—will allow for increased coordination of efforts 
against the [[UAP]] problem set. AARO’s authorities ensure that [[UAP]] detection and identification 
efforts will span across DoD and relevant interagency partners, as well as the Intelligence 
Community (IC), with the support and coordination of the National Intelligence Manager for 
Aviation (NIM-Aviation). NIM-Aviation’s and AARO’s coordination efforts will improve U.S. 
Government awareness of objects in the airspace and resolution of [[UAP]] events (see Appendix B).
[[UAP]] events continue to occur in restricted or sensitive airspace, highlighting possible 
concerns for safety of flight or adversary collection activity. We continue to assess that this may 
result from a collection bias due to the number of active aircraft and sensors, combined with 
focused attention and guidance to report anomalies. [[AARO]], in conjunction with NIM-Aviation 
and the IC, will continue to investigate any evidence of possible foreign government 
involvement in [[UAP]] events.

==SCOPE AND ASSUMPTIONS==
===Scope===
This annual report is provided by [[ODNI]] in response to a requirement established in 
Section 1683 of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year (FY) 2022, 
Establishment of Office, Organizational Structure, and Authorities to Address Unidentified 
Aerial Phenomena. Subsection (h) of that section states “the Director [of National Intelligence—
DNI], in consultation with the Secretary [of Defense—SECDEF], shall submit to the appropriate 
congressional committees a report on unidentified aerial phenomena” (See Appendix A).
In addition to responding to the required elements delineated in the NDAA, this report 
details the establishment and coordinating efforts between [[ODNI]] and the newly-created DoD 
[[AARO]]. This report provides an overview for policymakers of UAP1 that have been reported 
since the 05 March 2021 information cut-off date for ODNI’s preliminary assessment on [[UAP]], 
published 25 June 2021. Per the NDAA, [[AARO]] delivers quarterly reports on [[UAP]] to 
policymakers that contain greater detail regarding analysis and attribution of [[UAP]] events.

This report was drafted by [[ODNI]]'s NIM-Aviation in conjunction with [[AARO]]. It includes 
input from the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security (USD[I&S]), the 
Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the National 
Reconnaissance Office (NRO), the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), the 
National Security Agency (NSA), the U.S. Army, the U.S. Navy, the U.S. Marine Corps, the 
U.S. Air Force, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the National Aeronautics and Space 
Administration (NASA), the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 
the Department of Energy (DoE), [[ODNI]]/NIM-Emerging and Disruptive Technology (NIM�EDT), [[ODNI]]/National Counterintelligence and Security Center (NCSC), and [[ODNI]]/National 
Intelligence Council ([[ODNI]]/NIC).

===Assumptions===
Multiple factors affect the observation or detection of [[UAP]], such as weather, 
illumination, atmospheric effects, or the accurate interpretation of sensor data. Regarding review 
or analysis of [[UAP]] events, [[ODNI]] and [[AARO]] operate under the assumption that [[UAP]] reports are
derived from the observer’s accurate recollection of the event and/or sensors that generally 
operate correctly and capture enough real data to allow initial assessments. However, [[ODNI]] and 
[[AARO]] acknowledge that a select number of [[UAP]] incidents may be attributable to sensor 
irregularities or variances, such as operator or equipment error.
 
1 The FY 2022 NDAA expands the definition of [[UAP]] to include air, sea, and transmedium objects, and this report 
maintains that nomenclature during the transition phase and stand up of [[AARO]].


==GOVERNMENTAL CHANGES TO MANAGE [[UAP]] ISSUES==
===Establishment of the All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office ([[AARO]])===
The Deputy Secretary of Defense directed the USD(I&S) to establish an office with 
sufficient scope, authorities, responsibilities, and capabilities to continue the UAPTF efforts and 
meet the expanded criteria. [[AARO]] was established as the UAPTF’s successor entity on 20 July 
2022. Per its mandate, [[AARO]] has the authority to coordinate [[UAP]] efforts beyond DoD and is 
authorized to develop processes and procedures to synchronize and standardize collection, 
reporting, and analysis throughout not just DoD, but the IC as well, with the support and 
coordination of NIM-Aviation. [[AARO]] will coordinate with other non-IC agencies such as the 
FAA, NASA, NOAA, and the non-IC elements of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) 
and the Department of Energy (DOE), as appropriate. The broad scope of authority granted to 
[[AARO]] should enable them to leverage a multi-agency, whole-of-government approach to 
understanding, resolving, and attributing [[UAP]] in the future.

=== [[ODNI]] Coordinating with [[AARO]] and Multi-Agency Partners, Seeking Opportunities to Assist in Collection, Reporting, and Analysis of [[UAP]] Incidents across the IC ===

Since the June 2021 publication of ODNI’s preliminary assessment on [[UAP]], [[ODNI]] has 
developed strategic guidance to enhance further collection, which [[AARO]] and [[ODNI]] will 
leverage to prepare, collect, and report on [[UAP]] in a comprehensive manner for the IC. NIM�Aviation will remain the IC’s focal point for [[UAP]] issues, while [[AARO]] is the DoD focal point for 
these issues and related activities. [[AARO]] will represent DoD to the interagency, Congress, 
media, and public, in coordination with the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Legislative Affairs 
and the Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs (OSD[PA]). AARO’s mission 
and responsibilities are contained in Appendix B.

==CONTINUED REPORTING AND ROBUST ANALYSIS ARE PROVIDING BETTER FIDELITY ON [[UAP]] EVENTS, BUT MANY CASES REMAIN UNRESOLVED==
===[[UAP]] Reporting===
The [[ODNI]] preliminary assessment on [[UAP]] discussed 144 [[UAP]] reports and had an 
information cut-off date of 05 March 2021. Since then, [[AARO]] received a total of 247 new [[UAP]] 
reports. An additional 119 [[UAP]] reports on events that occurred before 05 March 2021, but were 
not included in the preliminary assessment, have been discovered or reported after the 
preliminary assessment’s time period. These 366 additional reports, when combined with the 
144 reports identified in the preliminary assessment, bring the total [[UAP]] reports catalogued to 
date to 510.

Since its establishment in July 2022, [[AARO]] has formulated and started to leverage a 
robust analytic process against identified [[UAP]] reporting. Once completed, AARO’s final 
analytic findings will be available in their quarterly reports to policymakers. AARO’s initial 
analysis and characterization of the 366 newly-identified reports, informed by a multi-agency 
process, judged more than half as exhibiting unremarkable characteristics:
* 26 characterized as Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) or UAS-like entities;
* 163 characterized as balloon or balloon-like entities; and
* 6 attributed to clutter.[[ref=e.g., birds, weather events, or airborne debris like plastic bags.]]

Initial characterization does not mean positively resolved or unidentified. This initial 
characterization better enables [[AARO]] and [[ODNI]] to efficiently and effectively leverage resources 
against the remaining 171 uncharacterized and unattributed [[UAP]] reports. Some of these 
uncharacterized [[UAP]] appear to have demonstrated unusual flight characteristics or performance 
capabilities, and require further analysis.

The majority of new [[UAP]] reporting originates from U.S. Navy and U.S. Air Force 
aviators and operators who witnessed [[UAP]] during the course of their operational duties and 
reported the events to the UAPTF or [[AARO]] through official channels. Regardless of the 
collection or reporting method, many reports lack enough detailed data to enable attribution of [[UAP]] with high certainty.

===Partnerships and Collaboration===
[[ODNI]] and [[AARO]] are committed to the responsible sharing of [[UAP]] findings with 
interagency partners (such as FAA and NASA), other stakeholders, congressional oversight, 
international partners, and the public. [[AARO]] is working closely with the OSD(PA) and mission 
partners to develop an information-sharing and messaging strategy that aims to maximize 
transparency, while maintaining appropriate protections of sensitive sources and methods.
 
[[ODNI]] and [[AARO]] have maintained communication with our allied partners regarding 
[[UAP]], keeping them informed of developments and U.S. initiatives. The DoD and IC enterprises 
are working collaboratively to report, identify, and resolve [[UAP]] events. Agencies across the IC 
have established standard operating procedures that will streamline [[UAP]] resolution. For 
example, AARO’s analytic methodology requires a whole-of-government approach to resolving 
[[UAP]] events, to include analysts and science and technology specialists, to help resolve [[UAP]] 
events.

===Flight Safety Concerns and Health Implications===
[[UAP]] pose a safety of flight and collision hazard to air assets, potentially requiring aircraft 
operators to adjust flight patterns in response to their unauthorized presence in the airspace, 
operating outside of air traffic control standards and instruction. To date, there have been no 
reported collisions between U.S. aircraft and [[UAP]]. Regarding health concerns, there have also 
been no encounters with [[UAP]] confirmed to contribute directly to adverse health-related effects 
to the observer(s). Acknowledging that health-related effects may appear at any time after an 
event occurs, [[AARO]] will track any reported health implications related to [[UAP]] should they 
emerge.

==SUMMARY AND WAY AHEAD==
[[UAP]] continue to represent a hazard to flight safety and pose a possible adversary 
collection threat. Since the publication of the [[ODNI]] preliminary assessment in June 2021, [[UAP]] 
reporting has increased, partially due to a concentrated effort to destigmatize the topic of [[UAP]] 
and instead recognize the potential risks that it poses as both a safety of flight hazard and 
potential adversarial activity. Whereas there were previously 144 [[UAP]] reports covered during 
the 17 years of [[UAP]] reporting included in the [[ODNI]] preliminary assessment on [[UAP]], there have 
been 247 more [[UAP]] reports during the 17 months since. Combined with another 119 reports 
either discovered or reported late that fell within the original 17 year period but were not 
included in the preliminary assessment, a total of 510 [[UAP]] reports are currently catalogued.
[[AARO]] has been established as the DoD focal point for [[UAP]]. In an effort to gain 
fidelity on the nature of [[UAP]] and the possible risk [[UAP]] represent, Congress required the 
establishment of a central office for all [[UAP]] matters in the FY 2022 NDAA. That office 
formally became operational as the [[AARO]], under the USD(I&S), in July 2022. [[AARO]] is the 
single focal point for all DoD [[UAP]] efforts, leading a whole-of-government approach to 
coordinate [[UAP]] collection, reporting, and analysis efforts throughout DoD, the IC, and beyond, 
to include other government agencies not in the IC, as well as foreign allies and partners of the United States.

Coordinated efforts between DoD, the IC, and other government agencies to collect 
and report [[UAP]] events have resulted in increased data sets, spanning multiple security 
domains. [[AARO]], in coordination with the IC, is focused on identifying solutions to manage and 
alleviate the resulting data problem, including the intake, indexing, visualization, and analysis of 
that data across multiple security domains. We are confident that continued multi-agency 
cooperative [[UAP]] prosecution activities will likely result in greater awareness of objects in and 
across the air, space, and maritime domains, as well as the nature and origin of [[UAP]] in the 
future. The establishment of [[AARO]] and application of AARO’s new analytic process to this 
detailed reporting will increase resolution of [[UAP]] events.



==APPENDIX A: ANNUAL REPORT ON UAP—FY 2022 NDAA==
Subsection (h) of section 1683 (Establishment of Office, Organizational Structure, and 
Authorities to Address Unidentified Aerial Phenomena) of the FY 2022 NDAA (Public Law 117-
81) listed requirements for an Annual Report on [[UAP]] matters. In the subsection, the term “the 
Director” refers to the Director of National Intelligence (DNI), and the term “the Secretary” 
refers to the Secretary of Defense (SECDEF). The text of the subsection is below.

(1) Requirement. Not later than 31 October 2022, and annually thereafter until 31 October 2026, 
the Director, in consultation with the Secretary, shall submit to the appropriate congressional 
committees a report on unidentified aerial phenomena.

(2) Elements. Each report under paragraph (1) shall include, with respect to the year covered by 
the report, the following information:

(A) All reported unidentified aerial phenomena-related events that occurred during the 
one-year period.

(B) All reported unidentified aerial phenomena-related events that occurred during a 
period other than that one-year period but were not included in an earlier report.

(C) An analysis of data and intelligence received through each reported unidentified 
aerial phenomena related event.

(D) An analysis of data relating to unidentified aerial phenomena collected through:

(i) Geospatial intelligence;

(ii) Signals intelligence;

(iii) Human intelligence; and

(iv) Measurement and signature intelligence.

(E) The number of reported unidentified aerial phenomena over restricted air space of the 
United States during the one-year period.

(F) An analysis of such incidents identified under subparagraph (E).

(G) Identification of potential aerospace or other threats posed by unidentified aerial 
phenomena to the national security of the United States.

(H) An assessment of any activity regarding unidentified aerial phenomena that can be 
attributed to one or more adversarial foreign governments.

(I) Identification of any incidents or patterns regarding unidentified aerial phenomena 
that indicate a potential adversarial foreign government may have achieved a 
breakthrough aerospace capability.

(J) An update on the coordination by the United States with allies and partners on efforts 
to track, understand, and address unidentified aerial phenomena.

(K) An update on efforts underway on the ability to capture or exploit discovered 
unidentified aerial phenomena.

(L) An assessment of any health-related effects for individuals that have encountered 
unidentified aerial phenomena.

(M) The number of reported incidents, and descriptions thereof, of unidentified aerial 
phenomena with military nuclear assets, including strategic nuclear weapons and nuclear�powered ships and submarines.

(N) In consultation with the Administrator for Nuclear Security, the number of reported 
incidents, and descriptions thereof, of unidentified aerial phenomena associated with 
facilities or assets associated with the production, transportation, or storage of nuclear 
weapons or components thereof.

(O) In consultation with the Chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the 
number of reported incidents, and descriptions thereof, of unidentified aerial phenomena 
or drones of unknown origin associated with nuclear power generating stations, nuclear 
fuel storage sites, or other sites or facilities regulated by the Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission.

(P) The names of the line organizations that have been designated to perform the specific 
functions under subsections (c) and (d), and the specific functions for which each such 
line organization has been assigned primary responsibility.

Notes:
1. Subsection (c), referenced in subsection (h) (P) above, is titled Response to and Field 
Investigations of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena.
2. Subsection (d), referenced in subsection (h) (P) above, is titled Scientific, 
Technological, and Operational Analyses of Data on Unidentified Aerial Phenomena.

==APPENDIX B: [[AARO]] ESTABLISHMENT OF OFFICE AND DUTIES—FY 2022 NDAA==
Subsection (a) of section 1683 (Establishment of Office, Organizational Structure, and Authorities to Address Unidentified Aerial Phenomena) of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2022 (Public Law 117-81) established an office designated to replace the Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force ([[UAPTF]]), later identified as the All domain Anomaly Resolution Office ([[AARO]]). [[AARO]] was established on 20 July 2022. 

Subsection (b) of section 1683 delineated that office’s duties. The text of these subsections is as follows:

(a) Establishment of Office. Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense, in coordination with the Director of National Intelligence, shall establish an office within a component of the Department of Defense and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, to carry out the duties of the Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force, as in effect on the day before the date of enactment of this Act, and such other duties as are required by this section.

(b) Duties. The duties of the Office established under subsection (a) shall include the following:
# Developing procedures to synchronize and standardize the collection, reporting, and analysis of incidents, including adverse physiological effects, regarding unidentified aerial phenomena across the Department of Defense and the Intelligence Community.
# Developing processes and procedures to ensure that such incidents from each component of the Department and each element of the Intelligence Community are reported and incorporated in a centralized repository.
# Establishing procedures to require the timely and consistent reporting of such incidents.
# Evaluating links between unidentified aerial phenomena and adversarial foreign governments, other foreign governments, or nonstate actors.
# Evaluating the threat that such incidents present to the United States.
# Coordinating with other departments and agencies of the Federal Government, as appropriate, including the Federal Aviation Administration, the NationalAeronautics and Space Administration, the Departmentof Homeland Security, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the Department of Energy.
# Coordinating with allies and partners of the United States, as appropriate, to better assess the nature and extent of unidentified aerial phenomena.
# Preparing reports for Congress, in both classified and unclassified form, including under section (i).

==APPENDIX C: INDEX OF KEY TERMS==
This report uses the following defining terms:
* Range Fouler: Defined by U.S. Navy aviators based on observations of [[UAP]] interrupting pre-planned training or other military activity in military operating areasor restricted airspace.
* Transmedium Objects or Devices: Objects or devices that are observed to transition between space and the atmosphere, or between the atmosphere and bodies of water, that are not immediately identifiable.
* Unidentified Aerial Phenomena ([[UAP]]): Airborne objects not immediately identifiable. The acronym [[UAP]] represents the broadest category of airborne objects reviewed for analysis.
* [[UAP]] Event: A holistic description of an occurrence during which a pilot or aircrew witnessed (or detected) a [[UAP]].
* [[UAP]] Incident: A specific part of the event.
* [[UAP]] Report: Documentation of a [[UAP]] event to include verified chains of custody and basic information such as the time, date, location, and description of the [[UAP]]. [[UAP]] reports include Range Fouler reports and other reporting.

[[Category:Ufology]]
[[Category:UAP]]
[[Category:Government]]