ODNI_Unclassified_2022_Annual_Report_UAP.pdf

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OFFICE OF THE DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE 
 
2022 Annual Report on 
Unidentified Aerial Phenomena 
 
 
 

UNCLASSIFIED Table of Contents EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ooo ccceceeeecseeeecsseescsaecseeaecaessecsasecsaeeeseaessesaesaeeaeenaees 2 SCOPE AND ASSUMPTIONS... cece cneceecseeeecsaeseeeaecaessecseesecsaeeessaeseaeaesaeeaesneeeeengs 3 SCOPC ...eeceessceessecessseceeseecesaaecesaeecesaeecesaeecesaeeceaeecseaeeceaeeceaeecsceececeeceeeecnaeeeceaeeesseeeeeaeeeenaeeeaas 3 ASSUMPTIONS ........ceececesccecssececsseeecsseeeesaecessueceeaaeceeaaeceeaaeceeaeecseaeeceeaeeceaeeceaeeceeeeceeeeenaeeeenaeeesnas 3 GOVERNMENTAL CHANGES TO MANAGE UAP ISSUES... ceecenecneeeneeeneees 4 Establishment of the All-Domain Anoma…

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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 
inform…

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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 Appen…

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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…

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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 co…

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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 Safet…

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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 …