The U.S. Department of Defense released its annual UAP report in July.
There were 319 reports received over the year, and only some of them were identified.
The first thing to understand is how to read the “unresolved” label attached to the rest.
3-Line Summary
1. UAP is the official term that replaced unidentified flying object.
2. Only 114 of the 319 reports received were identified.
3. Unresolved does not mean extraterrestrial; it means there is insufficient data.
Why It Is No Longer Called a UFO
UAP stands for Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena. In Korean, it can be translated roughly as “unidentified anomalous phenomena.”
The older term, UFO, stood for Unidentified Flying Object. It includes “flying” and “object.” Those two words narrow the scope.
Things observed on or under the sea, points of light for which it is unclear whether they are objects or phenomena, and cases reported to have crossed different media do not fit that definition well. UAP is therefore a broader term that removes both “flying” and “object.”
There is another reason. The word UFO already carries the cultural meaning of an “alien spacecraft.” Using that term for an observation whose identity remains unknown embeds a conclusion the moment it is named.
The name of the organization that issues the report points in the same direction: AARO — the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office. Its name signals that it is not limited to the air.
The Numbers in This Report
This is the fiscal year 2025 report, released in July 2026. The reporting period runs from June 2, 2024, to May 30, 2025, and it also includes previously unrecorded cases from 2010 to 2024.
- 319 reports received
- 114 resolved — identified as balloons, birds, satellites, aircraft, drones, and so on
- 191 transferred to archives — held until additional data become available
- 1,870 cases held cumulatively (as of May 30, 2025)
The two single cases that stand out most in the list of 114 resolved reports are one rocket launch and one person wearing a jetpack.
The jetpack case is especially notable. A person was flying while wearing equipment, and that was reported as a UAP and became the subject of an investigation. This single line shows how far judgments based on seeing something in the sky can go astray.
What the 191 Cases Mean
More than half of the incidents were not closed. This is where interpretations diverge.
The place to which the report moved those 191 cases is not an “unsolved-case file,” but an archive waiting for comparison data. If satellite orbital records, radar logs, air traffic records, and the like become available later, the cases can be pulled out and compared again.
A single eyewitness report cannot close a case. If there is no record of the lighting conditions, the distance, or what the observer used for comparison, there is no way to narrow down the possibilities.
And AARO stated that among the resolved cases, none suggested foreign advanced adversary capabilities or technology surpassing what already exists. It made no such judgment about the unresolved cases. Their status is that there is no data on which to make a judgment.
The Incident off the Coast of Virginia
The most frequently cited item in this report is one report from the sea.
The incident, reported by U.S. Navy assets off the coast of Virginia, describes about 100 UAPs in the air and two surface systems believed to be unmanned. AARO said it is conducting an investigation with the unit that made the report.
That is the extent of what has been made public. The number 100 stands out, but no assessment of what those objects were has yet been announced.
The report also includes this point: it is developing formal procedures for handling material originating from UAPs. However, the sentence carries a condition — the assumption that such material might come into the government’s possession.
Three Criteria for Distinguishing the 191 Cases
First, count resolved and unresolved cases separately. Headlines usually cite the number of unresolved cases. That number alone tells us nothing.
Second, look at where the sample came from. These statistics cover reports submitted through U.S. military reporting channels. They are bound to be concentrated around military facilities and training airspace.
Third, the full report is public. AARO posts the report and related documents on its website. The difference in wording between summary articles and the original text is larger than one might expect.
Records that state what is not known are useful in themselves. The problem arises when people fill those blanks with the answers they want.
The number 191 has not said anything yet.