Unidentified anomalous phenomena

Unidentified anomalous phenomena

Type	Term
Also known as	UAP, unidentified aerial phenomena
On the Timeline	260 events, 1948–2023

Unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) is the U.S. government's current term for objects or events that can't be immediately identified, whether in the air, in space or underwater. It began as "unidentified aerial phenomena", used by the Navy and the Pentagon from around 2019, and was broadened to "anomalous" in the 2023 defense bill to cover objects that move between air, space and sea.

Why the name changed

Officials adopted "UAP" partly to escape the ridicule attached to "UFO", which they believed discouraged pilots from reporting what they saw. Navy briefing cards from 2020 told staff to use the new term. The change also signalled that the focus was on safety and security, not on assumptions about aliens.

Government work on UAP

The Navy's UAP Task Force (2020), the June 2021 intelligence report that could explain only one of 144 military cases, and the creation of AARO in 2022 all followed. Congress has held public hearings on UAP in 2022, 2023 and 2024, and passed laws requiring agencies to report UAP data and protecting whistleblowers.

On the UAP Timeline

• Truman's oral UFO briefings (1948) — President Truman reportedly asks for spoken-only quarterly briefings on UAP research, with no records kept.
• Proposal to collect UFO home movies (1950) (6 July 1950) — An Air Force officer wants to quietly collect UAP home movies from the public with FBI help.
• Dewey Fournet's motion study and Navy inquiry (1951) — A Blue Book officer reportedly runs a private, Navy-assisted inquiry into undersea and aerial UAP.
• Urner Liddel's Skyhook balloon explanation (27 February 1951) — A Navy physicist publicly says all UAP reports are mirages or balloons.
• Anthony Mirarchi's challenge to the balloon explanation (27 February 1951) — The head of Project Twinkle tells reporters the Navy is misleading the public and real UAP show controlled motion.
• Project Twinkle kept classified (1952) (19 February 1952) — The Air Force's science advisers recommend keeping Project Twinkle, a UAP study at atomic sites, classified.
• Submarine encounters study (1952) (24 April 1952) — Air Force and Navy intelligence study nine undersea UAP encounters reported by U.S. submarines.
• CIA–MIT talks on UFO study (1952) (2 December 1952) — A CIA science chief meets MIT leaders about studying UAP through Project Lincoln.
• Robertson Panel (18 January 1953) — The CIA's Robertson Panel recommends stripping UAP of special status and reducing public interest.
• CIA memo on Civilian Saucer Investigation (9 February 1953) — A CIA officer admits monitoring a public UAP meeting in Los Angeles.
• Air Force Regulation 200-2 (26 August 1953) — Air Force Regulation 200-2 tightens UAP reporting and routes key reports away from Project Blue Book.
• JANAP 146(C) (10 March 1954) — Directive JANAP 146(C) covers UAP reports and bars civilian pilots from discussing them.
• Navy FLYOBRPT reporting instruction (1954) (23 July 1954) — A new Navy directive orders UAP sighting reports sent to several intelligence commands.
• Douglas Aircraft unconventional propulsion study (1955) — An aerospace executive claims he worked in a UAP group at Douglas Aircraft from 1955.
• Mrs. G and the Wright-Patterson catalogue (1955) — A Wright-Patterson worker reportedly said she catalogued about 1,000 incoming UAP items.
• Ruppelt's account of the Estimate of the Situation (February 1956) — Edward Ruppelt writes he once saw a top-secret 'Estimate of the Situation' on UAP.
• Navy pilots' shoot-down orders claim (1956) (5 July 1956) — Unnamed Navy pilots claim standing orders to shoot down hostile UAP over the Pacific.
• NICAP fed a fake crash story (1957) (May 1957) — Civilian group NICAP is fed a fake UAP crash story by a source with NSA ties.
• Pantex nuclear plant sightings (1957) (7 November 1957) — Guards at the Pantex nuclear plant in Texas report three flashing objects landing nearby.
• Hill AFB landing claim (1958) (1958) — An anonymous military source claims a UAP deliberately landed at Hill AFB.
• McClellan subcommittee persuaded against hearings (1958) (28 February 1958) — An Air Force general says informal talks persuaded Senate investigators no UAP hearings were needed.
• Henderson UFO briefing (1958) (20 June 1958) — The Air Force briefs members of Congress on handling constituent questions about UAP.
• McCormack subcommittee UFO briefing (1958) (13 August 1958) — The Air Force tells a House committee civilian UAP groups are its biggest UAP-related challenge.
• USS Franklin D. Roosevelt sighting (1958) (October 1958) — A Navy veteran says he saw an orange cigar-shaped object with figures inside near Cuba.
• Airline pilots and the "Big Brother" gag rules (1958) (21 December 1958) — About 50 airline pilots criticize the Air Force's UAP gag rules as 'Big Brother'.
• Ben Guerir guards' sighting (1960) (1960) — An airman in Morocco says glowing UAP prompted jet fighters to scramble.
• Air Force proposals to improve UFO work (1961) (17 March 1961) — Asked how to improve UAP work, the Air Force suggests a raise for adviser J. Allen Hynek and a new camera.
• Gun-camera films sent to the CIA claim (1962) — Researcher Richard Hall says jet gun-camera UAP films were routinely sent to the CIA.
• Jerome Nelson's Atlas missile site sighting (Late 1963) — An Atlas missile launch officer's affidavit describes a glowing round UAP over his site in New Mexico.
• Philip Moore's Atlas missile site sighting (Late 1964) — An Atlas launch officer reports a UAP near his missile site in New Mexico.
• Big Sur UFO film (September 1964) — An officer says he studied film of a UAP downing a test warhead over the Pacific; the CIA took it.
• China Lake surveyors' sighting (1966) (18 January 1966) — Two surveyors at China Lake see a UAP pass low overhead and maneuver.
• Gerald Ford's call for UFO hearings (3 April 1966) — Rep. Gerald Ford is told an upcoming UAP study won't be tied to the Air Force.
• FBI denials of UFO interest (21 July 1966) — The FBI tells citizens UAP have never been its concern, contradicting its own files.
• Wheless memo on UFO impostors (1967) (1 March 1967) — An Air Force memo warns of men in uniform telling UAP witnesses to stay silent.
• Lyndon Johnson's informal UFO study (1968) — A study for President Johnson reportedly says UAP are real and under intelligent control.
• F. Robert Naka and NORAD space tracks (14 February 1968) — A MITRE scientist tells the Condon study that NORAD radars have tracked UAP arriving from space.
• Condon Report (15 November 1968) — The Air Force-funded Condon Report concludes that UAP study has added nothing to science.
• National Bureau of Standards 1943 UFO claim (1969) — A former intelligence officer tells Vallée the National Bureau of Standards studied UAP as early as 1943.
• Project Skylite (5 April 1970) — McDonnell Douglas papers describe Project Skylite, a failed effort to copy UAP behavior.
• USS John F. Kennedy encounter (1971) (June/July 1971) — A Navy yeoman says the USS John F. Kennedy's systems failed during a UAP encounter in the Caribbean.
• Ingo Swann's magnetometer test (1972) (June 1972) — Ingo Swann's remote-viewing test with SRI leads to a CIA contract months later.
• Puthoff's report of a new secret study (1972) (7 October 1972) — Hal Puthoff tells Vallée a former NSA colleague said a new secret UAP study was underway.
• Howell McConnell and post-Blue Book analysis (28 October 1972) — An NSA official tells Vallée a Wright-Patterson office kept secretly analyzing UAP after Blue Book.
• UFOs: Past, Present, and Future documentary (May 1973) — Two Air Force colonels reportedly encourage filmmakers to make a UAP documentary.
• Great Lakes shoot-down claim (1973) (June 1973) — A Navy instructor claims a UAP was shot down by a missile and secretly moved by rail to Great Lakes.
• Dyess AFB weapons storage incident (1973) (October 1973) — A security policeman at Dyess AFB says his squadron encountered a UAP near nuclear bombers.
• Secret project asks about remote viewing (1973) (27 October 1973) — Puthoff tells Vallée a secret UAP project with an official charter asked about remote viewing.
• Barry Goldwater and the Wright-Patterson room (28 December 1973) — Sen. Barry Goldwater says he was refused access to a UAP 'room' at Wright-Patterson.
• Livermore scientists' paranormal experiences (1974) — Kit Green says he worked with scientists who reported orbs and entities in their homes.
• Vallée meets Kit Green (1974) (11 February 1974) — Vallée meets Kit Green, who describes officials interested in UAP.
• Twelve officials to study UFOs (1974) (2 June 1974) — Puthoff relays that 12 senior officials have decided to focus on UAP study.
• Vallée's doubts about Kit Green (1974) (16 June 1974) — Vallée wonders whether his UAP talks with Kit Green are a CIA cover story.
• Midwest engineers group claim (1974) (10 December 1974) — Kit Green tells Vallée 15 engineers in the Midwest secretly research UAP for the CIA.
• Goldwater letter to Shlomo Arnon (1975) (28 March 1975) — Goldwater writes that UAP information is classified above Top Secret.
• Rumsfeld's "no need to know" remark (13 April 1975) — Hynek says Donald Rumsfeld told him he had no need to know about any secret UAP study.
• CIA Domestic Collection Division memo (1976) (26 April 1976) — A CIA teletype says agency staff monitor UAP unofficially.
• Daniel Sheehan and the Blue Book photos (1977) — Attorney Daniel Sheehan says he was shown classified Blue Book material at the Library of Congress.
• Mario Woods incident at Ellsworth AFB (1977) (November 1977) — An Ellsworth AFB security airman says a UAP answered his spotlight signals.
• Project Windfall claim (1978) — John Keel says the CIA ran Project Windfall, an investigation of UAP contactees.

…and 200 more.

References