InvestigationAARO (2022–present)

The All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office was established at the Department of Defense on 15 July 2022 under the FY2022 National Defense Authorization Act; first director Sean Kirkpatrick, second director (acting) Tim Phillips.

Seal of the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO), established within the DoD in 2022.Wikipedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0 · AARO1973 · 2024

AARO's May 2023 UAP reporting-hotspot map presented publicly to the NASA UAP study team.Wikipedia Commons · Public domain · U.S. Air Force All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) report to National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) · 2023

What's documented

The All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) was established by Sec. of Defense Lloyd Austin on 15 July 2022, succeeding the Airborne Object Identification and Management Synchronization Group (AOIMSG), itself a successor to the Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force (UAPTF). The authorization is in Section 1683 of the FY2022 National Defense Authorization Act. AARO’s mandate covers anomalous phenomena in all domains — air, sea, space, transmedium — and includes a charter to investigate historical claims of legacy U.S. UAP/UFO programs. Dr. Sean Kirkpatrick, a career intelligence official with a PhD in atomic physics, served as first director from July 2022 to December 2023. AARO’s March 2024 Historical Record Report Volume 1 was the first publication of the office to address legacy program claims; it concluded that no evidence supported the existence of recovered nonhuman craft programs.

Notable & intriguing

AARO's mandate, as defined in Section 1683 of the FY2022 NDAA, includes a charter to investigate historical claims of legacy U.S. UAP-related programs — the first explicit statutory authorization for the U.S. government to investigate itself with respect to the UFO question.

FY2022 National Defense Authorization Act, Public Law 117-81, Section 1683
AARO's *Historical Record Report Volume 1* (March 2024) concluded after interviewing more than 30 'witnesses with knowledge of alleged USG involvement with extraterrestrial materials' that no evidence supported the existence of recovered nonhuman craft programs; the report was criticized by Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), original AARO statutory sponsor, as 'incomplete.'

AARO Historical Record Report Volume 1, March 2024; Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand statement, 8 March 2024
AARO's first director, Dr. Sean Kirkpatrick, holds a PhD in atomic and molecular physics from the University of Georgia (1995) and previously served as chief scientist at the Defense Intelligence Agency's Missile and Space Intelligence Center. He resigned effective 1 December 2023, succeeded by Tim Phillips in acting capacity.

Department of Defense press release, 15 July 2022; AARO leadership transitions, December 2023