05 · Timeline
Timeline
Eighty years of official records: what was investigated, what was concluded and what the phenomenon has been called.
Every milestone cites its source. Dates carry the precision the document gives.
1940The 1940s
Sighting
Kenneth Arnold, Mount Rainier
A private pilot reports nine circular objects in formation. His “saucer-like” description gives rise to “flying saucer”. [1 · p. 14]
New name
Flying saucers and discs
flying saucer · flying disc
Kenneth Arnold describes “saucer-like” craft and the press spreads “flying saucer”. At Roswell a “flying disc” is announced. [1 · p. 14, 22]
Sighting
Roswell, New Mexico
The airfield's press office announces the recovery of a “flying disc”. The USAF will conclude in 1995 that it was debris from a Project Mogul balloon. [1 · p. 21–22]
Program
Project SAUCER
The first official effort. Its founding date is unclear: one source gives December 30, 1947; another, 1946. [1 · p. 13–14]
→
Program
Project SIGN
Evaluates 243 sightings and concludes there is no evidence to prove or disprove that they are unknown aircraft. [1 · p. 14]
→
Program
Project TWINKLE
Tries to photograph the “green fireballs” over New Mexico and Nevada. With a single camera, it never gets a photo. [1 · p. 15]
→
Program
Project GRUDGE
Succeeds SIGN and investigates 244 reports. It finds no foreign technology and recommends scaling the program down. [1 · p. 15]
1950The 1950s
Program
GRUDGE, reorganized
Captain Ruppelt relaunches it with a new rule: cases without an answer may stay “unknown”. [1 · p. 15–16]
Sighting
The Washington wave
After the summer sightings over the capital, a CIA group reviews the cases: 90 percent are explainable. [1 · p. 16]
→
Program
Project BLUE BOOK
The USAF's longest investigation: 12,618 sightings between 1947 and 1969, of which 701 remained unidentified. [1 · p. 18–19]
New name
UFO · unidentified flying object
UFO · unidentified flying object
The term of Blue Book and the reviews of its time. The sources read document its use, not the day it was coined. [1 · p. 15–19]
Report
Robertson Panel
Scientists convened by the CIA see no threat or extraterrestrial origin, and propose campaigns to discredit the reports. [1 · p. 17, 27]
Report
Special Report No. 14
Battelle's statistical study concludes that every case with enough data has an explanation. [1 · p. 16]
1960The 1960s
Report
O'Brien Committee
Reviews Blue Book, with Carl Sagan among its members, and recommends that a university study the subject in depth. [1 · p. 19]
Report
Condon Report
The University of Colorado examines 59 cases and concludes that 21 years of study have added nothing to scientific knowledge. The National Academy of Sciences endorses it. [1 · p. 19–21]
Program
Blue Book ends
The USAF closes the program. About 40 years without an official investigation program follow. [1 · p. 10, 18]
1970The 1970s
Program · Outside the US
France: GEPAN
France's first official program, followed by SEPRA (1988) and GEIPAN (2005). SEPRA closed with 28 percent of cases unresolved. [1 · p. 26–27]
Report
Carter asks NASA
The president's science adviser suggests a panel. Five months later, NASA replies that it is not warranted. [1 · p. 21]
1980The 1980s
- No milestones in the sources read so far.
1990The 1990s
Report
Roswell reports
The USAF and the GAO investigate: the debris came from a Mogul balloon. In 1997, “Case Closed” explains the “bodies” as test dummies. [1 · p. 21–22]
2000The 2000s
→
Program
AAWSAP / AATIP
A DIA program funded with 22 million dollars to study future aerospace threats. It ends in 2012. [1 · p. 22–23]
2010The 2010s
2020The 2020s
Program
UAP Task Force (UAPTF)
Led by the Navy, it standardizes reporting and helps identify China's high-altitude balloons. [1 · p. 24]
New name
UAP · unidentified aerial phenomena
UAP · unidentified aerial phenomena
The Department of Defense creates a task force with this name, and ODNI uses it in its 2021 assessment. [1 · p. 24][3]
Report
ODNI preliminary assessment
144 reports from 2004 to 2021: only one identified with high confidence, a deflating balloon. [3][1 · p. 24]
Program
AOIMSG
The Department of Defense replaces the Navy task force with its own coordination group. [1 · p. 24]
Program
AARO is created
The office that resolves anomalies in every domain: air, sea and space. [1 · p. 25]
Law
From aerial to anomalous
The 2023 defense law now speaks of “unidentified anomalous phenomena”. [4][1 · p. 11]
New name
UAP · unidentified anomalous phenomena
UAP · unidentified anomalous phenomena
The 2023 defense law already says “anomalous”: not only in the air, also at sea and in space. AARO calls the term “imperfect”. [4][1 · p. 11–12]
Report
ODNI annual report
510 reports as of August 30, 2022. Its title still says “aerial”. [1 · p. 25]
Report
NASA independent study
It focuses on what data would be needed to resolve cases, not on their origin. It analyzes GOFAST. [8][1 · p. 25]
GOFASTReport
AARO historical report, vol. I
Reviews everything done since 1945: no investigation has confirmed extraterrestrial technology. [1 · p. 7]
Hearing
Senate hearing
AARO director Jon Kosloski explains GOFAST: the object was at about 13,000 feet, not over the water. [9 · p. 15]
GOFASTReport
AARO publishes the GOFAST analysis
No anomalous performance, with every calculation. The object remains unidentified. [10 · p. 1]
GOFASTReport
AARO annual report, FY2025
1,870 reports in its holdings as of that cut-off date. Published in 2026. [11]
Release
PURSUE: first tranche
The Department of War starts releasing declassified records of unresolved cases: 450 in six tranches through September 18. [12]
Sources
- [1]
Report · All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) · Mar 2024
Report on the Historical Record of U.S. Government Involvement with Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena, Volume I
AARO reviews the US government's involvement with UAP since 1945. It does not address the three Navy cases.
Checked on Oct 4, 2026 · Open the original ↗
- [3]
Report · Office of the Director of National Intelligence · Jun 25, 2021
Preliminary Assessment: Unidentified Aerial Phenomena
The intelligence community's first public assessment: 144 reports (2004–2021), one identified. It proposes five possible explanatory categories.
Checked on Oct 4, 2026 · Open the original ↗
- [4]
Record · U.S. Congress · GovInfo · Dec 23, 2022
Public Law 117-263 · James M. Inhofe National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023
Defense law for fiscal year 2023. Its section 1673 already speaks of “unidentified anomalous phenomena”: anomalous, not only aerial.
Checked on Oct 5, 2026 · Open the original ↗
- [5]
Hearing · U.S. House of Representatives · Committee on Oversight and Accountability · Jul 26, 2023
Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena: Implications on National Security, Public Safety, and Government Transparency (Serial No. 118–53)
Transcript of the hearing where David Fravor (FLIR1) and Ryan Graves (GIMBAL), among others, testified.
Checked on Oct 4, 2026 · Open the original ↗
- [6]
Statement · U.S. House of Representatives · Committee on Oversight and Accountability · Jul 26, 2023
David Fravor Statement for the House Oversight Committee
Written statement by Cmdr. (ret.) David Fravor, commanding officer of VFA-41 in November 2004, on the USS Nimitz group encounter.
Checked on Oct 4, 2026 · Open the original ↗
- [7]
Statement · U.S. House of Representatives · Committee on Oversight and Accountability · Jul 26, 2023
Ryan Graves / Americans for Safe Aerospace Written Testimony
Written statement by Ryan Graves, F/A-18F pilot with squadron VFA-11, on the 2014–2015 encounters off the East Coast.
Checked on Oct 4, 2026 · Open the original ↗
- [8]
Report · NASA · Sep 14, 2023
Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena Independent Study Team Report
NASA's independent team sets out how to study UAP with calibrated data. As an example it analyzes GOFAST: about 13,000 feet and 40 mph, a typical wind speed at that altitude.
Checked on Oct 4, 2026 · Open the original ↗
- [9]
Hearing · U.S. Senate · Committee on Armed Services, Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities · Nov 19, 2024
To Receive Testimony on the Activities of the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office
Transcript of the hearing where AARO director Jon Kosloski presented the GOFAST analysis.
Checked on Oct 4, 2026 · Open the original ↗
- [10]
Report · All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) · Feb 6, 2025
Case: “Go Fast” · Case Resolution (with Appendix A: Estimating UAP Location, Speed, and Heading)
AARO calculates the object was at about 13,000 feet, moving at 5 to 92 mph with the wind removed. It concludes with high confidence there was no anomalous performance, though it cannot identify the object.
Checked on Oct 4, 2026 · Open the original ↗
- [11]
Report · All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) · May 30, 2025
Fiscal Year 2025 Consolidated Annual Report on Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena
AARO receives 319 new reports and resolves 370 cases in the period; its holdings total 1,870 reports as of May 30, 2025.
Checked on Oct 4, 2026 · Open the original ↗
- [12]
Record · U.S. Department of War
Presidential Unsealing and Reporting System for UAP Encounters (PURSUE)
Department of War program, supported by ODNI, that releases declassified records of unresolved UAP cases from several agencies in tranches. None of the three Navy videos is in it.
Checked on Oct 4, 2026 · Open the original ↗