UAP Task Force: the 2020–2022 Navy-led predecessor to AARO, fully sourced
The UAP Task Force (UAPTF) was the Navy-led Department of Defense task force that consolidated US military UAP reporting between August 2020 and the November 2021 establishment of its successor office. It produced the June 2021 ODNI Preliminary Assessment and is the institutional bridge between the AATIP era and AARO.
UAPTF was formally established on August 4, 2020 by Deputy Secretary of Defense David Norquist, directed at the request of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. It was housed under the Office of Naval Intelligence and chaired by the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security.
Its principal deliverable is the June 25, 2021 ODNI 'Preliminary Assessment: Unidentified Aerial Phenomena' — the nine-page unclassified report covering 144 UAP incidents from 2004–2021. That report is the foundational document of the modern public UAP record and remains the most-cited single source on this site.
UAPTF was succeeded on November 23, 2021 by the Airborne Object Identification and Management Synchronization Group (AOIMSG), which was in turn replaced by the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) on July 15, 2022 under Section 1683 of the FY2022 NDAA. The Navy stood down its task force on that date.
Why this hub matters. The Navy-led structure of UAPTF — distinct from the later cross-service mandate of AARO — explains why the modern record opens with Navy ATFLIR cases and Navy pilot testimony. Without UAPTF there is no June 2021 assessment, and without that assessment there is no Schumer–Rounds amendment.
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Frequently asked
- What did UAPTF stand for?
- Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force. The Navy-led DoD task force that consolidated US military UAP reporting between August 2020 and November 2021.
- Was UAPTF the same as AATIP?
- No. AATIP was a 2007–2012 DIA-era analysis effort funded under the AAWSAP contract. UAPTF was a 2020–2021 Navy-led task force established by Deputy Secretary of Defense David Norquist at the request of the Senate Intelligence Committee. The two share institutional DNA but are separate programmes.
- What did UAPTF actually produce?
- Its principal public deliverable is the June 25, 2021 ODNI 'Preliminary Assessment: Unidentified Aerial Phenomena', a nine-page unclassified report on 144 UAP incidents from 2004–2021 that has anchored every subsequent congressional UAP discussion.
- When was UAPTF disbanded?
- November 23, 2021, when Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks established AOIMSG (Airborne Object Identification and Management Synchronization Group) as its successor. AOIMSG was itself replaced by AARO on July 15, 2022.
- Why was it Navy-led?
- The 2014–2015 east-coast incursions reported by Carrier Strike Group 12 pilots, the 2004 Nimitz Tic Tac incident, and the April 2020 release of the three FLIR videos all originated with Naval Aviation. The Navy had both the case backlog and the documentary record when Congress asked DoD to consolidate UAP reporting.
Canonical reading on this topic
Non-fiction titles by named witnesses, Pentagon insiders, and investigative journalists referenced in this archive.
- UFOs: Generals, Pilots, and Government Officials Go on the RecordLeslie Kean · 2010
- In Plain Sight: An Investigation Into UFOs and Impossible ScienceRoss Coulthart · 2021
- UFO: The Inside Story of the US Government's Search for Alien Life Here—and Out ThereGarrett M. Graff · 2023
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How other governments handle UAP
U.S. material is the single largest body in the public UAP record, but it isn't the only one. France's GEIPAN has run a transparent case database since 1977; the UK MoD released ~60,000 pages between 2008 and 2017; Japan's evolving track is the program currently moving fastest in 2026. Every state-run UAP-investigation body with a public archive — fifteen countries to date — is catalogued in one place.
Browse international government archives →Looking for related material? Browse the full timeline, the on-the-record witnesses, or every topical tag.