Agencies
Who handles UAP
The US offices, agencies and committees that deal with UAP, and who reports to whom. Boxes marked Ended are past programs; Alleged means described by witnesses or researchers but not confirmed. Each branch has its own colour. Point at or tap a box to light up the office above it and everything under it; tap a name or a linked word for more.
Executive branch
- The PresidentHead of the executive branch. Presidents decide what gets declassified.9 under it
- DoD / DoWDepartment of Defense, also called the Department of War since 2025The Pentagon. Publishes the UAP record releases at war.gov/ufo.8 under it
- Deputy Secretary of DefenseAARO reports to this office.1 under it
- AAROAll-domain Anomaly Resolution OfficeThe Pentagon's UAP office since 2022. Collects reports from every service and agency, and briefs Congress.
- OUSD(I&S)Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and SecurityOversees the Pentagon's intelligence agencies. Ran the UAP Task Force and AARO's early setup.2 under it
- EndedAAWSAP / AATIP2008 to about 2012The DIA study Congress funded in 2008, run by Bigelow's company. Revealed in 2017.
- Defense intelligence agenciesPentagon agencies that are also part of the intelligence community.4 under it
- NSANational Security AgencySignals intelligence. Has released a few heavily blacked-out UFO records.
- NavySource of the 2004 and 2015 videos and many of the 2026 records.1 under it
- Air ForceRan the government's public UFO projects from 1948 to 1969.4 under it
- EndedAMC, then ATICAir Materiel Command, then Air Technical Intelligence Center, Wright-Patterson AFBWhere the Air Force UFO projects were run from. Field reports went here for study.
- EndedSign, Grudge, Blue Book1948 to 1969The Air Force UFO projects. Blue Book closed after the 1968 Condon Report.
- ArmyRan the remote viewing unit that became Stargate.2 under it
- AllegedIPUInterplanetary Phenomenon UnitSaid to have studied crashes in the 1940s and 50s. The Army says it has no records of it.
- NORADNorth American Aerospace Defense Command (with Canada)Watches North American skies. Shot down several unknown objects in February 2023.
- DNI / ODNIDirector of National IntelligenceHeads the 18-agency intelligence community. Publishes yearly UAP reports with AARO.2 under it
- CIACentral Intelligence AgencyConvened the 1953 Robertson Panel and first funded remote viewing at SRI.
- ICIGIntelligence Community Inspector GeneralWatchdog. Took David Grusch's complaint in 2022 and found it credible and urgent.
- Justice DepartmentFederal law enforcement.1 under it
- FBIFederal Bureau of InvestigationHolds the 1950 Hottel memo; its agents' interviews are in the 2026 releases.
- National labsLos Alamos, Oak Ridge, Sandia, Livermore and othersRun for DOE by contractors such as Battelle. AARO has used labs to test claimed material.
- NASANational Aeronautics and Space AdministrationRan an independent UAP study (2023) and has a UAP research director.
- NOAANational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Commerce)Ocean and weather agency. Tim Gallaudet was its acting head.
- FAAFederal Aviation Administration (Transportation)Takes pilot reports of unknown objects and passes them to AARO.
Congress
- CongressFunds and oversees the agencies. Passed the laws that created AARO and the UAP records collection.5 under it
- Senate Armed ServicesWrote the AARO law with Senator Gillibrand.
- Senate IntelligenceRequired the 2021 UAP report (Senator Rubio).
- House IntelligenceHeld the May 2022 hearing, the first in about 50 years.
- House OversightHeld the 2023, 2024 and 2025 hearings with whistleblowers.
- House and Senate Armed ServicesWrite the yearly defense bill (NDAA), where most UAP laws go.
Courts
- Federal courtsNo standing UAP role. Judges decide FOIA lawsuits, which have forced some UFO records out and let others stay secret.2 under it
- EndedGSW v. CIAGround Saucer Watch v. CIA, 1977 to 1978A UFO group sued the CIA under FOIA; the case led the CIA to release about 900 pages of UFO documents in 1978.
- EndedCAUS v. NSACitizens Against UFO Secrecy v. NSA, 1980 to 1982Judge Gerhard Gesell read a classified NSA affidavit in private and let the NSA keep its UFO records withheld. The appeals court agreed and the Supreme Court declined to hear it.
What whistleblowers allege
- AllegedLegacy programWhistleblowers including David Grusch, and researchers such as UAP Gerb, say a crash-retrieval and reverse-engineering effort is hidden inside special access programs, spread across defense contractors, national labs and intelligence agencies. The Pentagon and AARO say they have found no evidence of it.2 under it
- SAP / USAP(Unacknowledged) special access programsReal, highly restricted programs; the claim is that UAP work is hidden in them.
Simplified: real reporting lines have more layers. See the glossary for every acronym and the roster for the people. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.