Washington, DC UFO Sighting (May 2008) — AARO Records
A post-cold war case from Washington, DC. Senators Reid, Inouye, and Stevens invited a Program Manager from the Defense Intelligence Agency to discuss establishing a research program focused on 'exotic sciences'.
Background
In May 2008, in Washington, DC, the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) recorded the unidentified-phenomenon case described below. The case is preserved in AARO’s 2024-2025 publications and consolidated annual reports to Congress, declassified or released in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and Department of Defense reporting cycles.
A post-cold-war case predating the formation of the modern uap task forces.
The case appears in materials produced or curated by the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office.
What the document records
Senators Reid, Inouye, and Stevens invited a Program Manager from the Defense Intelligence Agency to discuss establishing a research program focused on ‘exotic sciences’. This led to a contract with Bigelow Aerospace to research advanced aerospace threats and technologies.
Type of case
The case is a visual sighting reported by ground or air observers.
Status
AARO designates unresolved cases as those for which the agency has not concluded the events were anomalous, has not concluded that they were conventional, and has not ruled out either possibility. Conventional candidates for sightings of recent periods include commercial drones, classified test platforms, satellite re-entry, balloon traffic, atmospheric optical phenomena, and astronomical objects.