What the Pentagon's latest UAP report actually says
The Pentagon's All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) published its FY2025 report on unidentified anomalous phenomena in July 2026, months after the date Congress set. It covers reports from June 2024 through May 2025. Here is what it actually says.
The numbers
- 319 new reports. 284 were incidents from the reporting period and 35 were older incidents that hadn't been counted before. That's far fewer than the 757 in the previous report.
- 370 cases closed. 114 new reports and 256 older ones were attributed to ordinary explanations.
- 9 cases still open for deeper study with intelligence and scientific partners. Most other unresolved reports went into an "active archive" because there wasn't enough data.
What stands out
Satellites. 44 reports came from space or high altitude, 42 of them from civilian pilots through the FAA. AARO concluded they were consistent with sunlight reflecting off satellites.
Drones over nuclear sites. AARO logged 50 notifications of drones near U.S. nuclear infrastructure, weapons and launch sites, up from 18 the year before. None were classified as UAP.
Aircraft interference. Two reports described electronic or avionic interference with military aircraft. AARO has not determined whether UAP caused it.
Insider claims. AARO's secure channel for people claiming firsthand knowledge of government UAP programs got 262 submissions. It said 255 were outside its scope and picked 7 people for follow-up interviews. It again said it found no evidence that the government holds recovered UAP material.
How to read it
Skeptics point to the steady pattern of every resolved case turning out to be ordinary. Disclosure advocates and lawmakers from both parties argue the report is late, thin on detail, and doesn't address what may sit in classified programs. Both sides agree on one thing: better data would settle more cases. That's why careful civilian reports with a time, location and steady video matter.
Source: The Black Vault's copy and summary of the AARO FY2025 report.