The Defense Department’s (DOD) All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) said this week that it has significantly improved its ability to identify and resolve unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) reports by deploying new analytical tools and expanding its sensor capabilities.
Under the Trump administration, the DOD was rebranded as the War Department.
UAPs, commonly referred to as unidentified flying objects or UFOs, encompass observed objects or events in the air, sea, or space that cannot be immediately identified or explained.
According to AARO’s fiscal year (FY) 2025 Consolidated Annual Report on UAPs, the office resolved 370 cases during the reporting period, including 238 reports that analysts attributed to satellite flaring using newly developed three-dimensional modeling and simulation tools.
The report covers activity from June 2, 2024, through May 30, 2025, and UAP-related events occurring within any previous period not covered in a previous report. DOD established AARO in 2022 to collect, analyze, and resolve UAP reports as lawmakers increasingly viewed unexplained incidents as a potential national security issue.
The new capabilities are part of AARO’s broader effort to improve its ability to detect, track, characterize, identify, and attribute anomalous objects. The office said the investments support more accurate assessments of reports while helping determine whether incidents present national security concerns.
AARO said its new analytical capability has substantially increased its ability to identify satellite flaring, a phenomenon in which sunlight reflects off satellite surfaces and appears as bright orbs when viewed from specific angles. The office said many reports previously considered unresolved are now attributable to satellite flaring as its modeling techniques continue to improve.
The office said it also continues to refine its all-source analytic methodology by applying established intelligence tradecraft techniques to improve case resolution.
In addition to expanding its analytical capabilities, AARO said it is pursuing a multi-year investment strategy to improve awareness across the space, air, and maritime domains. The strategy includes augmenting existing U.S. government sensor architectures, prototyping and field-testing new technologies, and developing additional analytical techniques.
According to the report, those initiatives are intended to provide real-time UAP detection and identification capabilities that enable federal organizations to respond more effectively to incidents at both the tactical and national levels.
Report findings
During the reporting period, AARO received 319 UAP reports, including 284 involving events that occurred during the reporting period and 35 involving earlier incidents. The office resolved 114 of those reports and closed an additional 256 cases from previous reporting periods.
As of May 30, 2025, AARO’s case holdings contained 1,870 reports.
One of the most notable unresolved incidents involved a maritime-domain event reported by U.S. Navy personnel operating off the Virginia coast. According to the report, the event involved approximately 100 airborne UAPs and two likely uncrewed surface vessels. AARO said it continues to investigate the incident in coordination with the reporting unit.
The report also said AARO moved 191 reports into its active archive because available information was insufficient to determine whether the reported characteristics reflected natural phenomena or exceeded known technological capabilities. Those cases remain open pending additional data or improved analytical methods.
As in previous annual reports, AARO said none of the cases it resolved “provided evidence of advanced foreign adversary capabilities or breakthrough technologies in any operational domain.”