Summary

The Pentagon’s 2022 report on Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP) concluded that while UAP pose a hazard to flight safety and may be an adversary collection threat, many of the reports lack enough data to attribute them with certainty, and 171 remain uncharacterized and unattributed. The ODNI’s report on UAP incidents shows that the U.S. government is taking UAP and airspace safety issues seriously, although there have been no reported collisions between U.S. aircraft and UAP and no UAP encounters confirmed to cause adverse health effects

Detailed Notes

• The Pentagon’s 2022 report on Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP) has been released by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
• It was created with input from various intelligence community agencies and military intelligence offices, FAA, NOAA, DoE and NASA.
• 510 UAP reports were cataloged in total; 366 newly identified since AARO’s creation. 26 attributed to uncrewed aircraft systems (drones), 163 to balloons or “balloon-like entities”, 6 as airborne “clutter” like birds/plastic bags & 171 remain uncharacterized/unattributed.
• Some UAPs appear to have demonstrated unusual flight characteristics or performance capabilities that require further analysis.
• ODNI assesses these occurrences may result from collection bias due to more active aircraft & sensors combined with focused attention & guidance for reporting anomalies near military facilities/training ranges.
• UAP reports are derived from accurate recollections and/or sensors that usually work properly.
• Some UAP incidents may have been caused by errors or faults with the sensor used to detect them.
• There is an urgent need for scientific research into UAP to address a national safety threat and stop speculation.
• No reported collisions between US aircraft and UAP, nor any confirmed health effects on observers.
• Pentagon claims these cases remain unexplained; Ryan Graves (chair of AIA’s Unidentified Aerospace Phenomena Integration & Outreach Committee) encourages investment in science to tackle this issue