How To Report A Ufo Sighting To Aaro Or Mufon?

If you see something in the sky you cannot identify, you can report it to AARO through the official form at aaro.mil, or to MUFON through its website at mufon.com. AARO is the Pentagon’s All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office, the U.S. government office that collects and analyzes unidentified anomalous phenomena reports. MUFON is the Mutual UFO Network, a civilian nonprofit that has gathered sighting reports from the public since 1969. Neither group will tell you what you saw. Both will log your account, and in some cases follow up.

What Is AARO And What Does It Do With Your Report?

AARO stands for the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office. It was established by the Department of Defense in 2022, taking over work that had previously been handled by a Navy-led task force and a short-lived Pentagon group called the Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force.

The office’s stated mission is to detect, identify, and attribute objects of interest in or near military installations, operating areas, and other designated zones. That wording matters. AARO is not a public service for curious skywatchers. It is a defense analysis office, and its priority is anything that could represent a safety hazard or a foreign intelligence capability.

What happens to a report once it reaches AARO depends on what it contains. Reports with sensor data, radar tracks, or multiple independent witnesses carry more analytical weight. A single naked-eye observation with no supporting data is logged but is much harder to resolve. AARO has said publicly that many cases remain unresolved simply because the available data is too limited to reach a conclusion. That is not a dodge. It reflects a real limitation of observational data.

How do you submit a report to AARO?

Go to aaro.mil and use the official reporting form. The form asks for the date, time, location, duration, and a description of what you observed. It also asks whether you have photos, video, or other supporting material.

You do not need to be military. AARO accepts reports from the general public. You do not need to have a dramatic story. An ordinary report of something you could not identify is exactly what the office says it wants.

A few practical points. Write down your account as soon as possible, before memory reshapes it. Note the exact time and your location. Describe what you saw in plain terms before you try to explain it. If you have footage, keep the original file unedited. Cropping or stabilizing a clip can make it harder to analyze.

What Is MUFON And How Is It Different?

MUFON is a civilian organization, not a government one. It was founded in 1969 and describes itself as a nonprofit dedicated to the scientific study of UFOs. Its structure is decentralized, with state and regional chapters and volunteer field investigators who follow up on reports.

The key difference from AARO is purpose. AARO is looking for threats and anomalies relevant to national security. MUFON is collecting and cataloging sightings for research and public interest. MUFON’s database is one of the largest civilian sighting archives in the world.

MUFON’s investigative methods have drawn criticism over the years. The organization relies heavily on volunteer investigators with varying levels of training, and its conclusions have not generally been subjected to peer-reviewed scientific scrutiny. That does not make every report worthless. It does mean you should treat MUFON’s findings as a civilian archive rather than a scientific authority.

How do you file a report with MUFON?

Go to mufon.com and use the online report form. The form is longer than AARO’s. It asks about the object’s shape, color, movement, sound, and the weather at the time. It also asks whether you have photos or video and whether you would be willing to speak with an investigator.

After you submit, a field investigator may contact you. Some reports get a follow-up interview. Many do not, depending on volunteer availability in your area. You can request that your identity be kept confidential, though MUFON has historically published case details in its public database.

Should You Report To AARO, MUFON, Or Both?

You can do both. There is no rule against it, and the two organizations serve different purposes. Reporting to AARO puts your account in front of a government analysis office. Reporting to MUFON adds it to a civilian archive that researchers and the public can access.

If you have to pick one, the choice depends on what you want. If you believe what you saw could have safety or security implications, AARO is the more relevant destination. If you want your sighting documented in a public archive and possibly investigated by a civilian researcher, MUFON fits better.

One thing worth understanding: neither organization is likely to tell you what you saw. AARO has resolved only a minority of the cases it has reviewed, and many remain unexplained because of insufficient data. MUFON identifies a small share of reports as conventional objects. Most sit in an unresolved category. An unresolved case is not evidence of anything exotic. It usually means the data was not good enough to reach a conclusion.

What Information Makes A Report Useful?

The single biggest factor in whether a sighting can be analyzed is the quality of the data. A detailed written account with a precise time and location is far more useful than a vague story told weeks later.

• Exact date, time, and duration of the observation
• Your location and the direction you were facing
• Weather and sky conditions
• Apparent size, shape, color, and movement
• Whether the object made sound
• Whether other people saw it
• Any photos, video, or sensor data, kept in original form

Write your account before you read other people’s reports or check social media. Memory is reconstructive, and reading similar accounts can quietly reshape what you remember. This is a well-documented effect in eyewitness research, and it applies to sky observations just as it does to other kinds of testimony.

If you have video, resist the urge to zoom, crop, or stabilize it before submitting. Analysts can do that work themselves, and an edited file is harder to authenticate. Send the original.

What Happens After You Report?

With AARO, you will typically receive an acknowledgment. Beyond that, there is no guaranteed follow-up. The office does not investigate every report, and it does not publish individual case conclusions for public reports. Its periodic reports to Congress summarize trends and case categories rather than detailing specific sightings.

With MUFON, a volunteer investigator may reach out within days or weeks. Some cases get a full investigation with interviews and site visits. Others get filed with minimal follow-up. Response depends heavily on where you live and how many volunteers are active there.

In both cases, expect a long wait and limited feedback. This is not because your report does not matter. It reflects the reality that most sightings cannot be resolved with the data available.

What Should You Do Before You Report?

Rule out common explanations first. Most unidentified sightings turn out to be aircraft, drones, satellites, balloons, planets, or atmospheric effects. That does not mean you should not report. It means a quick check can save you and the investigators time.

Starlink satellite trains are a frequent source of reports. So are bright planets like Venus and Jupiter, which can appear to move or pulse when viewed through atmospheric turbulence. High-altitude balloons and drones have also generated large numbers of reports in recent years.

If after checking you still cannot identify what you saw, report it. Both AARO and MUFON exist precisely because some observations do not have easy answers. An honest report of something you could not identify is more useful than a dramatic story with details you are not sure about.