Document · D-028
AARO's Historical Record Report, vol. 1 (March 2024)
Report on the Historical Record of U.S. Government Involvement with Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP), Volume I
AARO – Department of Defense · Mar 8, 2024 · USA · Report
Original available
64-page PDF read in The Black Vault's copy, with the DOPSR clearance date of March 6, 2024; the official media.defense.gov server blocks automated requests.
- What it contains
- The volume traces government investigations of UAP from 1945 to October 31, 2023, based on archives and about 30 interviews with people who said they knew of secret programs. It concludes that no investigation has ever confirmed extraterrestrial technologies, that there is no empirical evidence of reverse-engineering programs, and that the thesis derives largely from “circular reporting” within a small group of people. On AAWSAP/AATIP it writes that Congress appropriated $22 million for the DIA program, that AATIP was never an official program but a name that was also used informally afterwards, and that Deputy Secretary Lynn rejected Reid's SAP request on the recommendation of James Clapper.
- What it shows and what it does not
- It is the broadest official assessment against the retrieval thesis and against an official role for AATIP after 2012; it also attributes the rejection of the SAP to a Clapper memo of November 17, 2009, cited in a footnote but not published. It cannot prove an absolute absence: AARO says it identified the programs indicated by the interviewees and found them unrelated to UAP, but critics, Elizondo included, judge it incomplete or misleading; some claims are also deferred to a second volume that, as of July 2026, did not appear to have been published.
- How it came to light
- Published by AARO on March 8, 2024 in an unclassified version, cleared by DOPSR on March 6 (cover dated February 2024); copy hosted by The Black Vault.
- The document
- Open the document (documents2.theblackvault.com)
Sources
- Department of Defense – official PDF of the report (media.defense.gov) (primary source)
- Space.com – AARO's historical report finds no empirical evidence of alien technology (press)
- The Debrief – the AARO report and the criticisms (press, pro-disclosure)
On this site
People 4
Claims 5
- Luis Elizondo: Writes that AATIP was an official program that was never closed, that when the funds ran out he continued to… Contradicted
- Luis Elizondo: Calls the first volume of AARO's historical report intentionally dishonest, inaccurate and dangerously… Unverifiable
- Luis Elizondo: Answers “yes” under oath to the question of whether the government has conducted secret programs to retrieve… Disputed
- David Grusch: Claims that the United States holds material of non-human origin, including intact and partially intact craft. Disputed
- David Grusch: Claims that he was informed, in the course of his official duties, of a decades-long program to retrieve… Disputed
Inconsistencies 1
Official positions 2
- AARO (Department of Defense) (2024): The first volume of the historical report concludes that no government investigation has…
- AARO (Department of Defense) (2024): In the historical report AARO writes that AATIP was never an official DoD program, but…
Where the claims come from 8
- The United States holds intact or partially intact craft of non-human origin, the product of a retrieval…
- Non-human biological remains, that is, bodies or “biologics,” were recovered together with the craft.
- Lockheed Martin holds material of non-human origin and tried to transfer it to the AAWSAP program and to…
- In 1947 at Roswell non-human bodies were recovered: four according to Elizondo (2024), with some of the…
- A “Legacy Program” exists, that is, a set of “legacy” programs that for about eighty years has been…
- The United States has been engaged for decades in a secret “cold war” with rival powers, in particular…
- Those involved in the programs or who speak about them have suffered threats, retaliation, violence and even…
- The reverse engineering of recovered craft has contributed to the development of U.S. aerospace and military…
Timeline 2
- Mar 8, 2024: AARO publishes the historical report (vol. 1): no evidence of alien technology
- Jun 24, 2009: Senator Reid requests special access program status for AATIP
Open in the interactive archive The whole section: Archive of primary documents
UAPgrade's entries are compiled with artificial intelligence (three verifiers with opposing roles) and checked against the sources listed above: how we work. Have a document that changes this entry? Bring it to the Investigations Unit.