What Recent ODNI and DoD UAP Reports Say

Since 2021, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) and the Department of Defense have issued a series of public reports to Congress on unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP). This guide summarizes them neutrally, with links to the official records.

2021: Preliminary Assessment

Published in June 2021, the ODNI preliminary assessment examined 144 reports recorded between 2004 and 2021. It found that most could not be resolved because of limited data; only one was attributed with confidence at the time (a deflating balloon).

2022 Annual Report

The first congressionally mandated annual report, released in January 2023, described 247 new reports and 119 additional reports identified later (366 in total, beyond the 144 in the preliminary assessment), and noted 510 reports on record as of August 2022. After initial analysis, about half were assessed to have ordinary explanations such as uncrewed aircraft, balloons, and clutter.

FY2023 Consolidated Annual Report

Published in October 2023, the FY2023 report covered 291 reports (274 from the reporting period and 17 from prior years). Many were resolved as ordinary objects such as balloons, birds, uncrewed aircraft, and clutter; the report stated there was no verifiable information that any case involved extraterrestrial activity.

FY2024 Consolidated Annual Report

Published in November 2024, the FY2024 report covered the period from May 2023 to June 2024 along with earlier unreported cases. It continued to record hundreds of reports and reached findings consistent with prior reports.

The consistent bottom line

Across these reports, the agencies state that most UAP reports lack sufficient data to be characterized, that cases which are resolved generally have ordinary explanations, and that none has been confirmed as extraterrestrial or non-human technology. See the linked records for the official documents.