AARO Reporting Process
What it Does
AARO processes for reporting for military, civilian pilots and the public
Description
The AARO reporting process is a secure, legally protected mechanism created by the Department of Defense’s All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) to systematically collect firsthand information regarding Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP). Currently, the online reporting portal is not intended for the general public or for reporting everyday UFO sightings. Instead, it serves as a secure intake channel specifically for current or former U.S. government employees, military service members, and defense contractors who possess direct, firsthand knowledge of U.S. government UAP-related programs or activities dating back to 1945. Through the unclassified portal, eligible individuals submit basic affiliation details, prompting AARO staff to arrange a secure, informational interview where sensitive or classified information can be formally documented without violating national security protocols.
To ensure the safety of those coming forward, the process incorporates strict legal protections. Under federal law, whistleblowers who make authorized disclosures through this mechanism are exempt from prior nondisclosure agreements (NDAs) regarding the UAP information and are explicitly shielded from professional reprisal, loss of security clearance, or termination. The testimonies and data collected through this process are utilized to inform AARO’s ongoing, congressionally mandated Historical Record Report concerning the government’s historical involvement with anomalous phenomena.
History and Comments
The secure AARO reporting process was legally mandated by the James M. Inhofe National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2023, reflecting a significant congressional push to uncover the truth behind alleged legacy UAP programs. Prior to this legislation, military and intelligence personnel lacked a unified, legally protected pathway to report highly compartmentalized UAP knowledge to oversight bodies without risking severe legal consequences or career termination. To resolve this, the Department of Defense formally launched the secure reporting mechanism in late 2023, offering a legally protected structure for whistleblowers to bypass standard chain-of-command restrictions when reporting legacy programs.
While AARO initially focused heavily on establishing a reporting pipeline for contemporary operational UAP sightings encountered by active-duty military personnel (such as fighter pilots and radar operators), mounting pressure from Congress and public whistleblower testimonies necessitated a retroactive approach. By establishing this specific historical intake tool, AARO shifted the U.S. government’s approach to UAPs from institutional secrecy to centralized, congressionally monitored data collection, paving the way for a more rigorous historical accounting of the phenomenon.
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