Defense law creates a permanent UAP office (FY2022 NDAA)
🏛️ U.S. Congress
The National Defense Authorization Act for 2022 (Section 1683) required the Defense Department and the intelligence agencies to set up an office to lead UAP work.
Key points
- Required regular reports to Congress, with an unclassified version each year.
- Called for a way for service members and others to report sightings.
- The office it created became AARO in 2022.
Why it matters
It turned UAP study from a temporary task force into a permanent office required by law.
Read it yourself
The summary above is ours, written in plain English. Always check the original: the official files on this page go straight to the source, and each one has a backup copy saved by the Internet Archive in case the government page moves.
U.S. Congress. (2021). Defense law creates a permanent UAP office (FY2022 NDAA). https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/senate-bill/1605Related records
Law creates the UAP Records Collection (FY2024 NDAA)
U.S. Congress
The National Defense Authorization Act for 2024 included a slimmed-down version of the UAP Disclosure Act, creating a UAP records collection at the National Archives.
UAP Disclosure Act proposal (2023)
U.S. Senate (Schumer–Rounds amendment)
A bipartisan amendment from Senators Chuck Schumer and Mike Rounds to the 2024 defense bill, modelled on the JFK Records Act, to collect and release government UAP records.
Senate Intelligence Committee asks for a UAP report (2020)
U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence
In its report on the Intelligence Authorization Act for 2021 (Senate Report 116-233), the committee directed the Director of National Intelligence and the Secretary of Defense to deliver an unclassified report on unidentified aerial phenomena.
Senate Armed Services hearing on AARO (2023)
U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee
AARO director Sean Kirkpatrick testified to the Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities about the office’s mission, activities and budget.