2021 · Office of the Director of National Intelligence
The ODNI's preliminary assessment
Cover: "Preliminary Assessment: Unidentified Aerial Phenomena", ODNI, 25 June 2021. · Office of the Director of National Intelligence
WhenJune 25, 2021
WhereOffice of the Director of National Intelligence
Backing3 independent
Evidenceofficial records
The U.S. intelligence community's first public UAP report examined 144 military reports from 2004 to 2021 and could explain only one, a deflating balloon. Eighteen incidents showed unusual movement patterns or flight characteristics: objects that held still in high winds, moved against the wind, or accelerated with no visible propulsion. Some showed signs of radio-frequency energy.
Evidence, in date order (3)
- 25 Jun 2021ODNIofficialPreliminary Assessment: only one of 144 reports explained ODNI: Preliminary Assessment, UAP
- May 2022ODNIofficialMay 2022 update to the assessment The June 2021 ODNI report with the May 2022 update
- 2025Senior intelligence official (war.gov)officialNarrative on the assessment war.gov: ODNI: narrative from a senior intelligence official, 2025
How plausible · High
The intelligence community's own report found 143 of 144 cases unexplained and 18 with unusual flight characteristics.
- ●●Access Direct observation or instruments.
- ●●No gain sought Nothing to gain.
- ●●Restraint Reported plainly.
- ●●Character record Trained professionals.
- ●●Checkable details check out Released official records.
- ●●Fits the documented skeleton Fits the documented record.
Plausibility weighs how well an account fits where secrecy hides the documents by design, so missing records never count against it. Strength measures what is documented. Assessed 2026-10-23.
On the record
- The nine-page unclassified assessment.
Claims
The classified annex holds the truly unexplained cases.speculationSourced, unconfirmedbelievers
The Air Force contributed almost no reports, though it runs NORAD and space surveillance.The Age of DisclosurefirsthandSourced, unconfirmedChristopher Mellon
The classified annex opened the eyes of the members who read it.The Age of DisclosurefirsthandSourced, unconfirmedspeaker in The Age of Disclosure
In The picture
The pictureDisclosure is being managed. The 2017 New York Times story, the intelligence community’s own report finding 143 of 144 cases unexplained, the hearings from 2022 to 2025, the Disclosure Act being gutted and PURSUE’s seven releases in 2026, the latest carrying DIA’s own 2008 contract files on crashes abroad and a vault…
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ODNI 2022 Annual Report on UAP 2023Hearing, 2022 2022Helicopter orbs 2025UAPTF 2020Videos released 2020
People and organizations
Christopher Mellon personMarco Rubio personExploring Unidentified Aerospace Phenomena Through Instrumented Field Studies: Historical Insights, Current Challenges, and Future Directions documentOccupational Safety and Reporting Guidance: Reviewing UAP Safety Events document
Threads · click one to see it on the board
Sources
- ODNI: Preliminary Assessment, UAP
- war.gov: ODNI: narrative from a senior intelligence official, 2025
- Details of the 2021 government UFO report
- The June 2021 ODNI report with the May 2022 update
- Wikipedia: The Age of Disclosure