The Pentagon’s All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office quietly convened an invite-only workshop in 2025 bringing together roughly 40 government, academic, and independent researchers. The goal was to standardize how UAP sighting data is collected, stored, and analyzed, including how artificial intelligence could be applied to pattern recognition across large datasets.
The workshop was not publicly announced. Details only emerged through a Defense Department whitepaper published afterward.
What most coverage missed: AARO currently carries a caseload exceeding 2,000 UAP reports dating back to 1945. The office is simultaneously under congressional pressure for transparency while quietly building what amounts to a classified research infrastructure.
DefenseScoop, which broke the story today, noted that AARO hopes to convene future workshops but has no additional events to announce at this time.
If the government is serious about transparency, why is the research shaping its conclusions happening behind closed doors?
Source: DefenseScoop — https://defensescoop.com/2026/03/16/dod-ufo-workshop-uap-research-aaro/