UAP Task Force

The UAP Task Force (UAPTF) was a program within the United States Office of Naval Intelligence that was established to standardize the collection and reporting of sightings of Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP). It was the official successor to the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP) and was responsible for continuing the investigation into the UAP issue within the U.S. government.¹

Origins and Leadership

The UAP Task Force was established in 2020, following the public disclosure of AATIP and the growing pressure from Congress for greater transparency on the UAP issue. The task force was built from the ground up by Jay Stratton, who had been a key member of the AATIP team. Stratton was named the first director of the UAP Task Force and was responsible for creating a whole-of-government interagency effort to investigate UAP.¹

Role and Function

The primary mission of the UAP Task Force was to detect, analyze, and catalog UAP that could potentially pose a threat to U.S. national security. The task force was responsible for briefing members of Congress and the White House National Security Council on its findings. It was also responsible for producing the landmark June 2021 "Preliminary Assessment: Unidentified Aerial Phenomena," the first official U.S. government report on UAP to be released to the public in decades.¹

Challenges and Successor

Like its predecessor, the UAP Task Force faced significant challenges from within the Pentagon. The "Legacy Program," a deeply hidden effort within the military-industrial complex that allegedly controlled recovered UAP materials, actively worked to obstruct the task force's efforts. Despite these challenges, the UAP Task Force was successful in raising the profile of the UAP issue within the government and laying the groundwork for future legislative action.¹

The UAP Task Force was eventually succeeded by the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO), a permanent UAP office established by Congress in the 2022 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).¹