Pentagon announces long-awaited UFO reporting form

After months of delays, the Pentagon on Tuesday unveiled a new secure form that service members and government employees can use to report sightings of unidentified aerial phenomena to a government office.

The online form will allow current and former service members, employees and contractors to share nonsensitive and unclassified information about past and current sightings with the Pentagon’s All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office, or AARO. It will also complement reporting procedures that were announced in May to the services and combatant commands.

Sean Kirkpatrick, the head of AARO, maintained that information provided via the form would be protected, as would any information given in follow-up interviews with AARO officials. He urged possible witnesses to use the form and share what they know with his office.

“I’d also like to take this opportunity to strongly encourage any current or former U.S. government employees — military or civilian — or contractors who believe they have first-hand knowledge of a U.S. UAP program or activity to please come forward using this new secure reporting mechanism,” Kirkpatrick said. “We want to hear from you.”

The form is not available for the general public. Kirkpatrick told reporters on Tuesday that one would be coming soon.

“We understand that members of the public are also interested in reporting UAP sightings to AARO,” Kirkpatrick noted. “We are exploring methods for how the public can do so in the forthcoming third phase of the secure reporting mechanism.”

The announcement follows criticism from lawmakers, witnesses and UAP enthusiasts over delays in creating a hotline or form that would make it easier to share information. AARO, established by the Biden administration in July 2022, has been tasked with reviewing UAP reports going back decades and turning in a report to Congress in June 2024 about government UAP programs.