- The Department of Defense has found no evidence of any connection between UFOs and the national security state—or evidence of UFOs, for that matter.
- The All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office conducted interviews, tested alleged alien materials, and investigated sightings.
- The report attempts to debunk several narratives about the government and UFOs, including cooperation between the government and aliens, defense contractors reverse engineering UFO technology, and more.
A newly published government report states that not only is there no proof of any secret effort by the U.S. government to cooperate with aliens or research alien technology, there is no proof that UFO sightings are the result of extraterrestrial visitations to Earth. The “Report on the Historical Record of U.S. Government Involvement with Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP),” written by the All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office, denies all claims regarding the U.S. government and UFOs, stating that they are the result of decreased public trust in government, the prevalence of UFOs in public culture, and unnecessary government secrecy.
The report was compiled by the All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office, an office of the U.S. Secretary of Defense that, in 2022, was tasked to investigate reports of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (what people in the U.S. government call UFOs). The 63 page report details the office’s investigation into claims that the U.S. government has some kind of secret UFO program going on—claims ranging from secret government knowledge of UFOs to actual relations between the government and extraterrestrial civilizations.
The report—which came out Friday, March 8th—apparently has a classified version, but it is unlikely to have anything new or different. AARO was led to believe that the difference in classification is likely due to discussion of sensitive or secret programs, as well as individuals, that are part of the secret UFO-government enterprise.
The Narratives
The report attempts to address two major narratives that AARO believes emerged about the U.S. government and UFOs. The first is the conspiracy theory that “the USG and industry partners are in possession of and are testing off-world technology that has been concealed from congressional oversight and the world since approximately 1964, and possibly since 1947, if the Roswell events are included.”
AARO states that it investigated a number of claims in this vein. One was that named corporations, likely well known U.S. defense contractors, were experimenting on alien technology. Another was that the U.S. government was in possession of exotic, otherworldly materials made by aliens. Others included a claim that a former U.S. military officer had touched a UFO, and a former U.S. service member had observed “U.S. Special Forces” loading materials into a UFO. Individuals interviewed by AARO claimed that “between 2004 and 2007 the White House requested a research institute in Virginia study the theoretical societal impacts of disclosing that UAP are extraterrestrial in origin”
The second narrative was that UFOs were somehow interfering with the U.S. nuclear arsenal, and that “a cluster of UAP sightings that occurred in close proximity to U.S. nuclear facilities have resulted in the malfunctioning and destruction of nuclear missiles.” If true, this would represent a substantial risk to the U.S. nuclear deterrent, leaving U.S. nuclear weapons vulnerable to an outside force that was at best unknown, and at worst, hostile.
The Debunking
The AARO report was unable to substantiate any of the various claims it investigated. None of the claims regarding UFO technology, U.S. government secret programs, or individuals with important information panned out. Many of the allegations appear to be based on hearsay or misunderstandings, or involved second or third hand information that ultimately went nowhere.
The report knocks down one allegation after another. The named companies denied being involved with reverse engineering UFO technology, and material allegedly recovered from aliens was actually a metal alloy made on Earth by humans. The military official who reportedly touched a UFO denied the event took place, suggesting whoever made the allegation was referring to an incident in which he actually touched a F-117A Nighthawk stealth fighter. The report on alien contact—allegedly commissioned by the White House—was real, but the U.S. government had nothing to do with it.
The AARO report does not describe what the office found when it looked into the report of “special forces” loading materials into a UFO, but that is assumed to have not panned out, either.
The report results are not surprising. If there was clear and verifiable proof of U.S. government involvement with aliens, it probably would have surfaced a long time ago. It is also possible that such involvement is already heavily insulated from investigation, and that those who are or were involved are still sticking to sworn secrecy oaths—which, in government circles, come with serious consequences for those that violate them. Did the AARO report fully investigate the vastness of the military industrial complex? Maybe, and maybe not.
Kyle Mizokami is a writer on defense and security issues and has been at Popular Mechanics since 2015. If it involves explosions or projectiles, he's generally in favor of it. Kyle’s articles have appeared at The Daily Beast, U.S. Naval Institute News, The Diplomat, Foreign Policy, Combat Aircraft Monthly, VICE News, and others. He lives in San Francisco.
