DoD Unveils Documents Detailing the Origins of UFO Office, AARO

The Department of Defense (DoD) has released a few documents that shed light on its original operations and goals of the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO).

Formed on July 20, 2022, AARO operates under the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) and is tasked with investigating unidentified flying objects (UFOs) and other anomalous phenomena, whether they occur in the air, sea, space, or on land. These phenomena are often referred to as “unidentified aerial phenomena” (UAP), “unidentified anomalous phenomena,” or simply “U.A.P.” The office’s director is Dr. Sean M. Kirkpatrick.

Released through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) in a case filed by The Black Vault which sought the following:

1) All documents, PowerPoint presentations, memos, letters, etc., that state the objectives, outline, or initial goals set for AARO. You can omit the publicly released memo on this, but rather, seeking all documents internally used to talk about what AARO’s missions are.

2) All reports (status reports), update memos, etc., that update on the status / findings of AARO.

The first document released is a breakdown of the “Office Goals, Progress” for the year 2022, outlining the milestones that AARO aimed to achieve. This document gives an in-depth look at the ambitions and operations of the office throughout its inaugural year.

The second document is a PowerPoint presentation made by Dr. Sean Kirkpatrick himself, titled “The Defense Department’s UAP Mission”. This presentation provides an insight into how the Defense Department views the mission surrounding UAPs, and how it plans to approach these phenomena.

The third set of documents consists of three pages that were entirely exempt from release due to exemption (b)(5) as stated in the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) response letter dated June 6, 2023. The letter explains, “portions of the 10 responsive pages are exempt from release pursuant to 5 U.S.C. § 552 (b)(5), inter- and intra- agency memoranda which are deliberative in nature; this exemption is appropriate for internal documents which are part of the decision making process, and contain subjective evaluations, opinions, and recommendations. Please note that we have considered the foreseeable harm standard when reviewing records and applying exemptions under the FOIA in the processing of this request.”

Given the nature of records released that were not redacted, and the scope of the request, it can be speculated that the fully withheld pages likely pertain to item #2 of the request, which sought, “All reports (status reports), update memos, etc., that update on the status / findings of AARO.”

While these documents are currently exempt from public view, The Black Vault is appealing this decision. The results of that case will be posted, when available.

UPDATE September 20, 2023: The Black Vault received the response to the appeal, and it was denied. According to the official appeal response (available in full below), “After carefully considering your appeal, I am affirming FOID’s action on your request. FOID properly withheld certain information because it is protected from disclosure under the FOIA pursuant to 5 U.S.C. § 552(b)(5). This provision concerns certain inter- and intra-agency records protected by the deliberative process privilege.”

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Document Archive

FOIA Release

DoD Releases Documents On Genesis of UFO Office AARO [12 Pages, 1.1MB]

FOIA Appeal Response

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