Glossary

AARO

All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office — the U.S. Department of Defense office established in 2022 to detect, identify, and attribute unidentified anomalous phenomena across air, sea, space, and trans-medium domains. See: AARO — All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office

AAWSAP

Advanced Aerospace Weapon System Applications Program — a Defense Intelligence Agency program, active around 2008–2010, that funded research into advanced aerospace threats and related anomalous phenomena. See: AATIP — Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program

crash retrieval

A claim, central to much UFO lore, that governments have recovered crashed craft of unknown or non-human origin; such claims remain unverified by official disclosure.

disclosure

The general term for the release of government-held information about UAP to the public, ranging from declassified records to the broader call for official acknowledgment of the subject. See: The UAP Disclosure Act

DoD

Department of Defense — the U.S. federal executive department responsible for the armed forces and national security, and the parent department of the offices that handle UAP reporting and analysis.

DOPSR

Defense Office of Prepublication and Security Review — the U.S. Department of Defense office that reviews material written by current and former personnel before public release to ensure it contains no classified information.

Five Observables

A set of five flight characteristics popularized by former program officials and the To The Stars Academy — anti-gravity lift, sudden and instantaneous acceleration, hypersonic velocity without signatures, low observability, and trans-medium travel — said to distinguish anomalous craft from known aircraft. See: AATIP — Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program

FLIR

Forward-Looking Infrared — an infrared imaging system, often mounted on aircraft, that detects heat signatures; it is also the informal name of one of the U.S. Navy videos released in connection with UAP encounters.

foo fighter

A term coined by Allied pilots during World War II for the unexplained lights and fast-moving objects they reported seeing near their aircraft.

Gimbal

The informal name of one of the U.S. Navy infrared videos officially released by the Department of Defense in 2020, showing an object recorded by an aircraft's targeting camera.

GoFast

The informal name of one of the U.S. Navy infrared videos officially released by the Department of Defense in 2020, showing an object moving low over the ocean.

NHI

Non-Human Intelligence — a term used in disclosure discourse and legislation (notably the UAP Disclosure Act) for an intelligence not of human origin.

ODNI

Office of the Director of National Intelligence — the U.S. office that oversees and coordinates the intelligence community; it has issued public UAP assessments, including the 2021 preliminary report.

orb

A generic descriptor for a small, often spherical light or object reported in many sightings; the term describes the appearance, not any confirmed nature or origin.

SAP

Special Access Program — a category of highly classified U.S. government program with access controls and protections beyond those normally required for information at a given classification level.

the phenomenon

A catch-all phrase used by researchers and officials to refer to the broad, recurring pattern of unexplained sightings and encounters without committing to any single explanation for their cause.

Tic Tac

The nickname for a smooth, white, oblong object reported by U.S. Navy pilots during the 2004 Nimitz Carrier Strike Group encounters off the coast of Southern California, named for its resemblance to the breath mint.

UAP

Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena — the U.S. government's current umbrella term (formerly 'Unidentified Aerial Phenomena') for objects or events in air, sea, or space that cannot be immediately identified. See: AARO — All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office

UFO

Unidentified Flying Object — the older popular term for an aerial object with no immediate conventional explanation; largely superseded in official use by UAP.

USO

Unidentified Submerged Object — an unidentified object observed entering, exiting, or operating under water.