U.S. Senate: AARO Director Presents MQ-9 UAP Video
Dr. Sean Kirkpatrick testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee, presenting previously unreleased military footage of a UAP recorded in July 2022. The hearing addressed congressional oversight of the Pentagon's anomaly investigation office. The disclosure represented continued government transparency efforts regarding military sensor encounters.
Background
On April 19, 2023, the Senate Armed Services Committee conducted an open hearing on Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena, featuring testimony from Dr. Sean Kirkpatrick in his capacity as director of the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office. During the session, Kirkpatrick unveiled video evidence captured by an MQ-9 drone over the Middle East in July 2022, showing a silver orb-shaped object. He emphasized that this case illustrates the typical limitations facing investigators, where sensor data exists without adequate contextual information to achieve positive identification. While AARO determined the object displayed no anomalous behavior, it remains officially unidentified. The hearing demonstrated ongoing legislative oversight of the Defense Department's UAP research program, established to centralize military sighting investigations and reduce stigma for reporting personnel. This public release marked another instance of the Pentagon sharing previously classified sensor data with congressional representatives and the public.