01_2023_Annual_Report.pdf

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OFFICE OF THE DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE 
THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE 
Fiscal Year 2023 Consolidated Annual Report on 
Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena 
October 2023 
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All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office
Chief of Staff, AARO
Date: 1/23/2025
Released in Full: X
Authority: FY24 NDAA, now codified at 44 U.S.C. 
2107 Case Number: 330UAP000001
Page determined to be Unclassified 
Reviewed by Chief of Staff, AARO 
IAW FY24 NDAA, Section 1841(a)(1)(C) 
Date: 1/23/2025
                        CLEARED 
For Open Publication 
 
 
Department of Defense 
OFFICE OF PREPUBL…

01 UNCLASSIFIED Table of Contents I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ooo. cece cee ceeeeeccescnsecnsecssesseseesesecssecsuecsseeseseessaeesaecsuesseeeaeenaee 2 Il. SCOPE AND ASSUMPTIONS 2... cece cece cee cseeceeeseesecesseecssecuecseesseseesesessaseeeseeseeeeeaee 4 IM. VAP REPORTING IS INCREASING ACROSS THE USG, AND THE IMPLEMENTATION OF IMPROVED ANALYTIC PROCESSES IS REVEALING TRENDS 5 A. Overall Trend Analysis .......ccccccccccssesscssecsseesesseeesesecesecsecssesaecseecseeeeesseesaecaecaeesseeeeeesaeenaeeaes 5 B. Geographic and Safety Trends Coming into FOCUS......... ccc eecceeeceesceececeseceeeeeeeeee…

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I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This report is provided by the Department of Defense (DoD) and the Office of the 
Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) in response to a requirement established in the National 
Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year (FY) 2022, Section 1683 (h), as amended by 
Section 6802(k) of the FY 2023 NDAA (as codified at 50 U.S.C. § 3373). 
The report covers unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) reports from 31 August 
2022 to 30 April 2023, and all UAP reports from any previous time periods that were not 
included in an earlier report.  …

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effects, such as parallax, that can cause observational misperceptions.  Based on the ability to 
resolve cases to date, with an increase in the quality of data secured, the unidentified and 
purported anomalous nature of most UAP will likely resolve to ordinary phenomena and 
significantly reduce the amount of UAP case submissions. 
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Page determined to be Unclassified 
Reviewed by Chief of Staff, AARO 
IAW FY24 NDAA, Section 1841(a)(1)(C) 
Date: 1/23/2025

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II. SCOPE AND ASSUMPTIONS
Scope 
This consolidated annual report is provided by DoD and ODNI in response to a 
requirement established in the NDAA for FY 2022, Section 1683(h), as amended by Section 
6802(k) of the FY 2023 NDAA (as codified at 50 U.S.C. § 3373), which states:  “Not later than 
180 days after the date of the enactment of the Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 
2023, and annually thereafter for four years, the Director of National Intelligence and the 
Secretary of Defense shall jointly submit to the appropriate congressional committees…

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III. UAP REPORTING IS INCREASING ACROSS THE U.S. GOVERNMENT (USG),
AND THE IMPLEMENTATION OF IMPROVED ANALYTIC PROCESSES IS
REVEALING TRENDS
A. Overall Trend Analysis
The report covers UAP reports from August 31, 2022, to 30 April 2023, and all UAP 
reports from any previous time periods that were not included in an earlier report.  AARO 
received a total of 291 UAP reports during this period, consisting of 274 that occurred during 
this period and another 17 that occurred during previous reporting periods from 2019-2022 but 
had not been conveyed in previous sub…

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Figure 1: Reported UAP Morphologies FY 2023 
Orb, Round, Sphere, 
25%
Ambiguous Sensor 
Contact, 5%
Not reported, 53%
Oval, 4%
Cylinder, 1%
Disk, 2%
Irregular shapes, 6%
Triangle, 1%
Rectangle, 2%
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Figure 2: Reported Lights FY 2023 
Lights , 21%
No Lights, 79%
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Page determined to be Unclassified 
Reviewed by Chief of Staff, AARO 
IAW FY24 NDAA, Section 1841(a)(1)(C) 
Date: 1/23/2025

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Figure 3: Reported UAP Altitudes FY 2023 
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Figure 4: World Map Illustrating Geographic Distribution of UAP Reports FY 2023 
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Page determined to be Unclassified 
Reviewed by Chief of Staff, AARO 
IAW FY24 NDAA, Section 1841(a)(1)(C) 
Date: 1/23/2025