AARO UAP Historical Record Report Vol. II

What this countdown tracks

The All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office is expected to publish Volume II of its Historical Record Report on or around August 1, 2026, satisfying a long-overdue mandate from Section 6802 of the FY23 National Defense Authorization Act. Volume II is the follow-up to the Volume I report delivered to Congress in March 2024 and was originally due in 2024.

Background

Congress established AARO inside the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security in July 2022, reorganizing predecessor efforts that included the Airborne Object Identification and Management Synchronization Group (AOIMSG). Section 6802 of the FY23 NDAA (Public Law 117-263) required AARO to produce a written historical record of the US government's involvement with unidentified anomalous phenomena, dating back to 1945. Volume I, released March 8, 2024 under then-AARO Director Sean Kirkpatrick's tenure and finalized under Acting Director Timothy Phillips, concluded that AARO had found "no empirical evidence for claims that the US government and private companies have been reverse-engineering extraterrestrial technology." The report ran 63 pages, surveying programs including Project Blue Book and Cold War radar-tracking efforts, and addressed the "Immaculate Constellation" and "Kona Blue" program claims raised by whistleblowers. Volume II was intended to extend the review, address newly surfaced claims and interviews, and cover the period running from the Volume I cutoff through subsequent years. As of early 2026, the report had slipped past its original statutory timeline, drawing criticism from House Oversight members including Rep. Anna Paulina Luna and from former AARO insiders. AARO's current director, Jon Kosloski, took over in late 2024 after a senior career at the NSA's Research Directorate. AARO's records and reporting page on aaro.mil hosts released materials and statements on the report's schedule.

Why the date matters

August 1, 2026 reflects AARO's most recently communicated publication window for Volume II. It is not a hard statutory deadline — the NDAA §6802 mandate has effectively been past-due since 2024 — but it is the working date Pentagon officials and congressional staff are preparing against. The timing also matters because the House Oversight Task Force on Declassification of Federal Secrets, which has pressed AARO publicly, plans hearings in late 2026 that will use the Volume II contents as a core record. The parallel with the 1969 Condon Report — the last major federal-government survey of UAP, produced under Air Force contract at the University of Colorado — is instructive: that report shaped US policy on unidentified phenomena for three decades.

What to watch for

• The report's scope — historical cutoff date and whether newly surfaced legacy programs are addressed.
• Treatment of named legacy programs like the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program.
• Any new interviews with government insiders beyond those cited in Volume I.
• Classification markings and the share of content held back in a classified annex.
• AARO's disposition of allegations raised in congressional testimony by David Grusch.
• Congressional Task Force reactions from Rep. Luna, Rep. Burchett, and Rep. Moskowitz.
• Press-conference Q&A with Director Kosloski following release.
• Interagency coordination signals from ODNI, Air Force Intelligence, and Naval Intelligence.
• Any cross-referenced material with the 46-video release from the House Oversight Task Force.

What could go wrong

Volume II faces three distinct risk vectors. First, interagency coordination: AARO depends on records held by each service branch and the intelligence community, and any single agency's classification review can delay publication. Second, political pressure: with midterm-cycle hearings planned, both AARO leadership and congressional critics have incentives to shape the report's tone. Third, evidentiary boundaries: Volume I drew criticism for its conclusory tone, and Volume II will be judged on whether it cites specific files, interviewees by name, and program identifiers.

Related events to track

The report lands alongside the House Oversight Luna Task Force UAP 46-video release earlier in the summer, and feeds a broader US declassification calendar that includes the JFK/RFK/MLK next declassification tranche and the NARA 25-year auto-declass of 2001 records later the same year.

FAQ

When exactly will AARO Volume II publish? Targeted for on or around August 1, 2026, though the report is already past its original statutory due date of 2024.

Is the publication date confirmed or expected? Expected — AARO has not issued a formal publication date, only working windows communicated through Pentagon briefings and congressional correspondence.

Who is responsible for the report? The All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office, under the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security, with input from service-branch historical offices and the intelligence community.

Where can I read AARO's official materials? AARO posts records and reports at https://www.aaro.mil/UAP-Records/.