Documents / Official release

Office of the Secretary of Defense: 022_SASC_Transcript_2023

Department of Defense. Office of the Secretary of Defense. · 2023 · 50 pages · text from the file's own layer

This is a stenographic transcript of an April 19, 2023 hearing of the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities, chaired by Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, on the mission and budget of the All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office. AARO released it in full in 2025. Director Sean Kirkpatrick testified that AARO has found no credible evidence of extraterrestrial activity and that most reports resolve into mundane objects. He also presented trend data and two declassified MQ-9 videos, one of which was resolved as a commuter aircraft.

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“Works”22 pages

  • p. 3 …Kirkpatrick to 19 lean in on this issue and the work that he has accomplished 20…
  • p. 5 …in interagency coordination after 14 the NSC Working Group disbands. 15 In the fiscal year 2023…
  • p. 7 …Adversaries like China and Russia are working to 9 hold U.S. interests, including our homeland…
  • p. 9 …24 All leadership that I have had the pleasure of working 25 with, whether DOD, IC…
  • p. 12 …As such, we are 10 working with industry, academia, and the scientific 11 community which bring…
  • p. 14 …10 In the wake of the PRC HAB event the interagency is 11 working to better…
  • p. 15 …AARO is working very hard to do the 14 same. That is how science works, not…
  • p. 16 …Much remains to be done but the hard work is 11 underway. 12 Thank you for…
  • p. 18 …How are we going to get more 22 data? We are working with the joint staff…
  • p. 20 …But this is the kind of data that we have to work 19 with and the…
  • p. 26 …22 In the course of your work have you become aware of any 23 Chinese or…
  • p. 28 …They are just willing to 21 try things and see if it works. 22 Are there…
  • p. 29 …I appreciate that and that 2 is why it is so important that you are working…
  • p. 30 …24 We are also working very closely with Joint Staff and 25 the Joint Staff has…
  • p. 31 30 Scheduling@TP.One 800.FOR.DEPO www.TP.One (800.367.3376) 1 work through…
  • p. 34 …So that is actually wrapped into the 15 plan ord that we are working with Joint…
  • p. 35 …work, here is what we have seen work, here is what does not 14 work. 15…
  • p. 36 …8 DOD and DNI are working through that now. I would have 9 to refer you…
  • p. 39 …I worked with the director of Joint Staff, 11 the J2 and the J3 that night…
  • p. 40 …That is why 25 it is so important the work we are doing with Joint Staff…
  • p. 43 …11 So part of our budget is working through what does that 12 look like and…
  • p. 46 …We have a lot of work to do. So if you do not hear 17 from…
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Scheduling@TP.One 800.FOR.DEPO
www.TP.One (800.367.3376)
1 congressionally-directed efforts to successfully resolve UAP
2 encountered first and foremost by U.S. military personnel,
3 specifically Navy and Air Force pilots.
4 The law establishing AARO is ambitious and it will take
5 time to realize the full mission. We cannot answer decades
6 of questions about UAP all at once but we must begin
7 somewhere.
8 While I assure you that AARO will follow scientific
9 evidence wherever it leads, I ask for your patience as DOD
10 first prioritizes the safety and security of our military
11 personnel and installations in all domains.
12 After all, UAP encountered first by highly capable DOD
13 and IC platforms featuring the nation's most advanced
14 sensors are those UAP most likely to be resolved by my
15 office, assuming the data can be collected.
16 If AARO succeeds in first improving the ability of
17 military personnel to quickly and confidently resolve UAP
18 they encounter I believe that in time we will have greatly
19 advanced the capability of the entire United States
20 government, including its civilian agencies, to resolve UAP.
21 However, it would be naive to believe that the
22 resolution of all UAP can be solely accomplished by the DOD
23 and IC alone. We will need to prioritize collection and
24 leverage authorities for monitoring all domains within the
25 continental United States. Page determined to be Unclassified
Reviewed by Chief of Staff, AARO
IAW FY24 NDAA, Section 1841(a)(1)(C)
Date: 2/6/2025
022

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Official release, from the nara collection. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is under it. 50 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.