Congress establishes the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office

On 23 December 2022, President Biden signed the James M. Inhofe National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023. Sections 6802 and 6803 of the statute formally established the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) within the Department of Defense, absorbed the predecessor Airborne Object Identification and Management Synchronization Group, and gave AARO statutory authority to coordinate UAP-related activities across the Department of Defense and the Intelligence Community.

The statute imposed a recurring requirement that AARO submit to the congressional defense and intelligence committees a historical record reaching back to 1945, an annual unclassified summary of UAP activity, and a process for the secure reporting of UAP encounters by current and former U.S. government personnel. The provisions were the legislative product of bipartisan effort led by Senators Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and Senate Armed Services Committee staff including Kirk McConnell.