AARO_Declassification_Info_Paper_2025.pdf

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An AARO Information Paper
AARO and the Declassification Process 
September 2025 
The All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) is the U.S. Department of War 
office established to investigate and resolve report of unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP). 
AARO is responsible for receiving, processing, and adjudicating UAP reports, and routinely 
accesses classified information—including that collected by U.S. Government systems—to 
complete its review of UAP reports. The processes governing the classification of information 
are complex and can be misunderstood.…

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Figure 1:  A screenshot from 2:53 of the video titled “Al Taqaddum Object” (popularly known as “the 
jellyfish video”), available to view online at https://www.dvidshub.net//video/960331/al-taqaddum-object. 
Why is so much UAP-related information classified? 
Classification is a mechanism the U.S. Government uses to safeguard sensitive 
information related to national security. For the Department of War, this sensitive information 
could include military objectives, locations, and capabilities, as well as vulnerabilities and 
intelligence sources and methods. For…

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 Much like the soda can example above, UAP imagery is often classified to protect 
sensitive information associated with the platform, location, or methods used to captured it. This 
includes commonplace images of birds, balloons, commercial drones, and natural phenomena, 
which are frequently reported to AARO as UAP. Even when AARO resolves a case as 
unremarkable, the underlying data may remain classified if it originates or is derived from 
sensitive sources or methods.  
In addition to considering the classified nature of sensitive sources or methods, AARO is…

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of the data could harm national security. The owners will conduct a declassification review and 
provide one of the following determinations: 1) All of the information has been declassified and 
can be released, in its entirety, to the public; 2) Only some of the information has been 
declassified and only those portions can be released to the public (NOTE: information that 
continues to be classified will be redacted or removed prior to public release); or 3) All of the 
information must remain classified and cannot be released to the public. Once AARO receives …