Excerpts
Historical BackgroundOver the past decades, the DoD has initiated infrequent and inconclusive efforts to identify and understand the origin, capabilities, and intent of unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP). Military pilots have historically reported many of the reported UAP sightings. Also, the Air Force and Navy have been at the forefront of developing policies, procedures, and mechanisms for reporting UAP. In fact, the DoD has relied heavily on the Services and Components to detect, report, collect, analyze, and identify UAP since the 1940s.
The DoD's first official UAP-focused activities occurred in December 1947, when the U.S. Air Force Chief of Staff established PROJECT SIGN to investigate the first recorded observations of unidentified flying objects. From 1947 to 1949, Air Force personnel investigated 243 reported UAP sightings. In 1952, the U.S. Air Force Director of Intelligence initiated PROJECT BLUE BOOK to investigate unidentified flying objects. Between 1952 and 1969, Air Force personnel investigated over 12,000 reported sightings. The DoD did not officially look at UAP again until mid-2000, when select members of Congress initiated and funded a program to study UAP, called the Advanced Aerospace Weapon Systems Applications program, under the direction of the Defense Intelligence Agency. Since then, the DoD has attempted to establish several programs for coordinating DoD-wide UAP reporting; however, none of the programs were ever fully implemented. In 2020, as a result of increased concerns of flight crew safety, national security, and adversary technology advances, Congress directed the DoD, through the FY 2022 National Defense Authorization Act, to develop, fund, and staff a formal interagency entity to study, collect data, and report on UAP. On July 20, 2022, the DoD established the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) to be that entity.
Chapter 6, title 10, United States Code, establishes the authorities of combatant commanders, who are responsible for detecting, deterring, and preventing threats and attacks against the United States and its territories, possessions, and bases. After a review of the laws, policies, and guidance issued by Congress, the DoD, and other Federal agencies, we determined that, while the Services and Components have an important role to play, the combatant commands would be the logical organizations to detect, report, collect, and identify UAP incidents to AARO.
Announcements
Inspector General Robert P. Storch announced today that the DoD OIG released an unclassified summary of the previously issued classified report, "Evaluation of the DoD's Actions Regarding Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena." The report reviewed the extent to which the DoD, Military Services, Defense agencies, and Military Department Counterintelligence Organizations took intelligence, counterintelligence, and force protection actions to detect, report, collect, analyze, and identify unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP).
A full version of the classified report was issued on August 15, 2023. IG Storch stated,
"Given the significant public interest in how the DoD is addressing UAPs, we are releasing this unclassified summary to be as transparent as possible with the American people about our oversight work on this important issue."
As the unclassified summary explains, the DoD OIG found that the DoD does not have a comprehensive, coordinated approach to address UAP. For example, the DoD OIG determined that DoD Components developed varying processes to collect, analyze, and identify UAP incidents.
The DoD OIG also found that the DoD's lack of a comprehensive, coordinated approach to address UAP may pose a threat to military forces and national security. For instance, the DoD OIG determined that the DoD has no overarching UAP policy and, as a result, it lacks assurance that national security and flight safety threats to the United States from UAP have been identified and mitigated.
To address the issues identified in this report, the DoD OIG made 11 recommendations to the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security, in coordination with the Director of the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office; the Secretaries of the Army, Navy, and Air Force; and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. For example, the DoD OIG recommended that the DoD issue a policy to integrate roles, responsibilities, requirements, and coordination procedures regarding UAP into existing intelligence, counterintelligence, and force protection policies and procedures.
JUST RELEASED: "Evaluation of the DoD's Actions Regarding Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena," (DODIG-2023-109)