Office of the Secretary of Defense/Joint Staff

The Office of the Secretary of Defense/Joint Staff (OSD/Joint Staff) is a U.S. government entity within the Department of Defense, established in 1947 as part of the National Security Act restructuring post-World War II. Country: United States. Type: Government (military oversight). Key activities include policy formulation, strategic planning, and coordination of Joint Staff operations for national defense. In UAP/UFO context, it oversees the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO), established in 2022 under Deputy Secretary Kathleen Hicks to investigate unidentified anomalous phenomena across air, sea, space, and land domains, succeeding the UAP Task Force (2017-2021). AARO collects reports from DoD special use airspace, analyzes incidents (e.g., 171 uncharacterized of 366 in early reports), and recommends policy to address intelligence gaps. Notable achievements: Issued reports finding no extraterrestrial evidence, yet highlighting unusual flight characteristics needing analysis; supported congressional transparency efforts. Current status: Active, with AARO operational despite recent reduced public updates.