Program · 4 August 2020 – November 2021
Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force
Also known as UAPTF, UAP Task Force
The Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force was formally established by the Deputy Secretary of Defense in August 2020, approved on 4 August and announced on 14 August, under the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security with the Office of Naval Intelligence. Its job was to detect, analyse and catalogue UAP that could threaten U.S. national security, and its work produced the ODNI's Preliminary Assessment of June 2021.
It is generally described as AATIP's functional successor rather than a formal continuation. Jay Stratton was its first director, and David Grusch served as its reconnaissance-office representative before his whistleblower complaint. In November 2021 it was succeeded by the AOIMSG, and in 2022 by AARO.
Sources: U.S. Navy announcement (2020) · Grusch's written statement (2023)
Facts and claims
- documented Formally established by the Deputy Secretary of Defense in August 2020 (approved August 4, announced August 14). Source: navy.mil (archived)
- documented Run by the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence together with the Office of Naval Intelligence. Source: navy.mil (archived)
- claimed Key figures: director Jay Stratton and whistleblower David Grusch. Source: doc-grusch-statement-2023-07-26.pdf
- claimed The UAPTF is generally described as AATIP's functional successor rather than a formal continuation. AATIP's funding ended in 2012. According to Luis Elizondo, the work continued informally inside the intelligence under-secretariat until 2017. After the December 2017 revelations the Navy and ONI led collection, until the task force was formalized in August 2020. Source: en.wikipedia.org (archived)
- claimed Jay Stratton was named the task force's first director when it was formalized in 2020. Wikipedia also lists Brennan McKernan as a director of the UAPTF, apparently later, though the dates are unconfirmed. Source: hollywoodreporter.com (archived)
Connected files
Books
Documents
Events
- ODNI Preliminary Assessment on UAP (subject of)
News
Organizations
- National Reconnaissance Office (included staff of) — Grusch represented the NRO on the UAP Task Force from 2019 to 2021
- Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence & Security (run by)
- Office of Naval Intelligence (run by)
People
- David Grusch (staff) — He dates his membership to 2019–2021; the task force itself was approved in August 2020, so his 2019 work belongs to the effort that preceded it
- Jay Stratton (leadership claimed by) — His and his publisher's account, supported by Gallaudet's testimony; AARO's history says the Navy was asked to lead the task force and does not name him
- Karl Nell (included staff of) — He was the Army's representative to the UAP Task Force
- Scott Bray (testimony from) — He approved the task force's security classification guide and testified on how it was set up
Programs
- Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (follows) — Insiders say the same people carried the work on: Jay Stratton, who helped start AAWSAP and the AATIP working group, became the Task Force's first director (George Knapp; Stratton). AARO's history presents the Task Force as a new, Navy-led organization approved in August 2020.
- Airborne Object Identification and Management Synchronization Group (succeeded by)
Videos
- 60 Minutes: Navy pilots recall “unsettling” 2004 UAP sighting (Fravor and Dietrich, 16 May 2021) (related to)
- Alex Dietrich with Mick West: the Nimitz event summary, time differences and other accounts (June 2021) (discussed in)
- Congressional hearings on military reports of Unexplained Aerial Phenomena (UAP) - May 17th, 2022 (discussed in)
- House holds hearing on UFOs, government transparency | full video (discussed in)
- Inside the DIA's Secretive UFO Investigation: Lacatski and Kelleher on WEAPONIZED #38 (October 2023) (discussed in)
- Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena: Exposing the Truth (discussed in)
- “He ran the Pentagon's secret UFO program, and says we've been played”: James Lacatski, part 1 (WEAPONIZED, November 2025) (discussed in)
- Jay Stratton on CUOMO: a non-human being at his window and the Legacy Program (NewsNation, 20 October 2026) (discussed in)
- Jay Stratton's first on-camera interview, recorded 2022 (WEAPONIZED, released October 2026) (discussed in)
- The Biblical Truth of UFOs & Angels (Ft. Karl Nell & Diana Pasulka) (discussed in)
- Joe Rogan Experience #2314: Hal Puthoff (discussed in)
Mentioned in this file
- Office of the Director of National Intelligence (Organization)
- All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (Program)
Mentioned in videos
- Congressional hearings on military reports of Unexplained Aerial Phenomena (UAP) - May 17th, 2022
- House holds hearing on UFOs, government transparency | full video
- Inside the DIA's Secretive UFO Investigation: Lacatski and Kelleher on WEAPONIZED #38 (October 2023)
- Jay Stratton's first on-camera interview, recorded 2022 (WEAPONIZED, released October 2026)
- “A Top Government Official Told Me Aliens Run Everything!” -Dylan Borland UNLEASHED
- Joe Rogan Experience #2065 - David Grusch
- Joe Rogan Experience #2314: Hal Puthoff
Mentioned in documents and records
- Deputy Secretary of Defense memorandum: Establishment of the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (15 July 2022)
- David Grusch — written opening statement, House Oversight hearing (July 26, 2023)
- The Age of Disclosure
- Department of War (Department of Defense)
- Defense Intelligence Agency
- DOW-UAP-PR109 — Unresolved UAP Report, Eastern United States, 2015
- DOW-UAP-PR113 — Unresolved UAP Report, Western United States, 1996
- DOW-UAP-PR123 — Unresolved UAP Report, Pacific Ocean, 2019
- DOW-UAP-PR124 — Unresolved UAP Report, Pacific Ocean, 2019
- DOW-UAP-PR125 — Unresolved UAP Report, Pacific Ocean, 2019
- DOW-UAP-PR126 — Unresolved UAP Report, Pacific Ocean, 2019
- DOW-UAP-PR127 — Unresolved UAP Report, Pacific Ocean, 2019