On April 19, 2023, the Senate Armed Services Committee's emerging threats subcommittee held a hearing on UAP featuring AARO's founding director.
Who testified at the Senate AARO hearing?
Dr. Sean Kirkpatrick, the first director of the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office, was the principal witness.
What did Kirkpatrick tell the Senate?
Kirkpatrick described AARO's mission and methods, reported that the office was reviewing more than 650 cases, and stated that the majority had ordinary explanations. He said AARO had found no credible evidence of extraterrestrial activity and showed examples of resolved cases.
Why was this hearing significant?
It presented the government's official analytic posture on UAP shortly before the 2023 whistleblower testimony, framing the contrast between AARO's findings and Grusch's allegations.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many UAP cases was AARO tracking at the time of the hearing?
Kirkpatrick told the subcommittee that AARO was tracking a total of more than 650 cases as of that week.
As of this week we are tracking over--a total of 650 cases.
Did AARO find any evidence of extraterrestrial activity?
No. Kirkpatrick stated clearly for the record that AARO had found no credible evidence of extraterrestrial activity, off-world technology, or objects that defy the known laws of physics.
I should also State clearly for the record that in our research AARO, has found no credible evidence thus far of extraterrestrial activity, off-world technology, or objects that defy the known laws of physics.
Why do so many UAP cases remain unresolved?
Kirkpatrick said the main reason is a lack of data. Without enough sensor data, AARO cannot reach conclusions that meet its scientific standards, and he said he would not close a case he could not defend.
While a large number of cases in our holdings remain technically unresolved, this is primarily due to a lack of data associated with those cases. Without sufficient data we are unable to reach defendable conclusions that meet the high scientific standards we set for resolution, and I will not close a case that I cannot defend the conclusions of.
What does AARO's analytic process look like?
Kirkpatrick described a five-step process. Cases come in, get a preliminary review, are prioritized by national security relevance, then reviewed independently by an intelligence community team and a science and technology team. If the two teams disagree, their findings are adjudicated. Final case recommendations go to a senior technical advisory group for peer review before Kirkpatrick signs off.
We have, essentially, a five-step process. We get our cases in with all the data. We create a case for that event. My team does a preliminary scrub of all of those cases as they come in to sort out, do we have any information that says this is in one of those likely categories--it is likely a balloon--a bird, it is likely some other object, or we do not know. Then, we prioritize those based off of where they are.
Was there a public website for people to report UAP encounters?
Not yet at the time of the hearing. Kirkpatrick said AARO had submitted a first version of the public-facing website for approval before Christmas but had not received feedback or a timeline for approval.
I have. We submitted the first version of that before Christmas.
How is AARO structured and how large is its team?
Kirkpatrick said AARO had more than three dozen experts organized around four functional areas: operations, scientific research, integrated analysis, and strategic communications.
The AARO team of more than 3 dozen experts is organized around four functional areas: operations, scientific research, integrated analysis, and strategic communications.
Related Intelligence
Sean Kirkpatrick
Sean M. Kirkpatrick is a physicist who served as the founding director of the Pentagon's All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) from 2022 to 2023.
Open fileAARO (All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office)
AARO is a Pentagon office established in 2022 to detect, identify, and investigate unidentified anomalous phenomena across U.S. military operations.
Open file