UAP Task Force Preliminary Assessment

June 25, 2021 — Office of the Director of National Intelligence

Overview

On June 25, 2021, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) released the "Preliminary Assessment: Unidentified Aerial Phenomena," a landmark nine-page report representing the first official US government acknowledgment that unidentified aerial phenomena pose a genuine national security concern.

Key Findings

The report examined 144 incidents between 2004 and 2021:

• In 80 cases, UAP were detected by multiple sensors
• 18 incidents described unusual movement patterns or flight characteristics, including objects remaining stationary in high winds, moving against the wind, maneuvering abruptly, or moving at considerable speed without discernible propulsion
• 11 cases involved documented near-misses with US military aircraft
• Only 1 of the 144 cases was resolved (identified as a deflating balloon)

Significance

This report marked a paradigm shift in official US government posture toward UAP. For the first time, the intelligence community officially acknowledged that UAP represent a genuine, unresolved phenomenon warranting systematic investigation and that 143 of 144 military encounters remained unexplained.