The Pentagon’s UFO office has dropped its latest batch of sighting reports, once again emphasizing – just in case you were wondering – that it has found no evidence of alien technology.
On Nov. 14 the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) released a public version of a congressionally ordered comprehensive annual review of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAPs) – colloquially known as UFOs.
This year’s report covers UAP reports from May 1, 2023, to June 1, 2024, as well as any UAP reports from previous time periods that were not included in an earlier report.
The Pentagon’s UFO office received 757 UAP reports during this period. Of those, 485 featured UAP incidents that occurred during the reporting period. The remaining 272 reports featured UAP incidents that occurred between 2021 and 2022 but were not reported to AARO until this reporting period and consequently were not included in previous annual UAP reports.
With these new additions, the AARO has now racked up over 1,600 UAP cases to investigate as of June 1, 2024.
Additionally, during this latest reporting period AARO wrapped up 118 cases, all of which turned out to be less than extraterrestrial. According to AARO, balloons, birds, and unmanned aerial systems (UAS) were the culprits behind these mysterious sightings.
“It is also important to underscore that, to date, AARO has discovered no verifiable evidence of extraterrestrial beings, activity or technology. None of the cases resolved by AARO [has] pointed to advanced capabilities or breakthrough technologies,” Jon Kosloski, AARO director, said in a statement.
Prior to the release of this report, AARO had 174 cases in the queue awaiting final review and the director’s official stamp of approval before they too are closed.
“As of the publishing date of this report, all 174 cases have been finalized as resolved to prosaic objects – balloons, birds, UAS, satellites, and aircraft,” the report reads. “Many other cases remain unresolved and AARO continues collection and analysis on that body of cases.”
Notably the report highlights three sightings of military aircrews being trailed or shadowed by UAPs. However, the mystery of what – or who – might be behind these UAPs continues to hover. According to the report, AARO has yet to confirm or attribute these activities to foreign adversaries and is working with the intelligence community to determine if they may be the result of foreign hostile actions.
The report also highlights AARO’s limitations in fully investigating these reported sightings, emphasizing “a lack of timely and actionable sensor data” as the main challenge.
According to Kosloski, over 900 reports lack sufficient scientific data for analysis and are retained in an active archive.
“These cases may be reopened and resolved should additional information emerge to support analysis,” he said.
To address these limitations AARO is working with “military and technical partners to optimize sensor requirements, information-sharing processes, and the content of UAP reporting.” The agency said it is also “expanding engagement with foreign partners to share information and collaborate on best practices for resolving UAP cases.”
