Nearly 300 UAP Reports in Less Than a Year, DOD Tells Congress

Many of the unidentified anomalous phenomena incidents were near restricted military airspace.

Thursday, October 19, 2023 at 02:24 PM ET

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Image of a screen capture of a UAP observed during a flyby captured by a U.S. Navy pilot in the cockpit of a Navy fighter jet [Courtesy: U.S. Navy]

Key Takeaways:

The Defense Department's AARO received 291 UAP reports in an eight-month period, mostly occurring in restricted military airspace due to concentrated monitoring and reporting by military personnel.
Most reported UAPs (79%) lacked lights and about a quarter were spherical, with the majority displaying ordinary characteristics that suggest explainable sources, though a small percentage exhibited "interesting signatures."
None of the reported UAP incidents posed a direct threat to flight safety or involved unsafe maneuvers, and while under investigation, none have been positively attributed to foreign activities.

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There were 291 reports of unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) in an eight-month period, mostly in restricted military airspace, the Defense Department’s All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) told Congress.

The Fiscal 2023 annual report, submitted to Congress on Wednesday by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and Department of Defense, spans incidents reported from August 31, 2022, to April 30, 2023. In 2021, the Department of Defense (DOD) expanded efforts to detect and identify unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP)—the government’s term for UFOs—that could pose flight risks near military training ranges and installations.