Newly released FOIA documents reveal the Pentagon's All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) conducted a closed-door international UAP workshop in August 2025, bringing together government officials, South American UAP investigators, machine learning specialists, and civilian researchers. The Pentagon withheld 19 of 89 pages from the release, raising questions about what discussions remain classified even as disclosure accelerates.
The Pentagon's All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) convened a highly secretive workshop on unidentified anomalous phenomena in August 2025, according to documents obtained through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request and recently analyzed by The Black Vault. The invite-only meeting, held outside Washington D.C., brought together approximately 40 participants from multiple government agencies, academic institutions, independent research organizations, and notably, official representatives from foreign nations including Uruguay's formal UAP investigative body. The composition of attendees signals a dramatic shift in how the Pentagon is approaching UAP research: machine learning specialists, physicists, archivists, social scientists, and civilian UAP database operators were seated alongside military officials and intelligence representatives.
The workshop focused specifically on UAP narrative data, infrastructures, and analytical methodologies—ostensibly designed to improve how government agencies collect, standardize, and interpret UAP reports across multiple domains. AARO's own director was scheduled to deliver a keynote address alongside a prominent civilian UAP researcher, underscoring the office's attempt to build bridges between classified government programs and independent academic study. The Pentagon has acknowledged that a follow-on workshop was already being contemplated for early 2026, suggesting this August 2025 meeting was intended as the foundation for an ongoing international coordination mechanism on UAP science.
What renders this discovery significant, however, is what the Pentagon chose not to disclose. Of the 89 pages initially located during the FOIA search, AARO withheld 19 in their entirety, citing classified information and national security exemptions. Additional portions of the released documents were redacted, obscuring the identities of some participants, the full substance of workshop discussions, and the specific outcomes or agreements reached. The released material does not establish what transpired regarding a proposed collaboration—designated as "CRIDOVNI"—between government and civilian UAP analysis initiatives, nor does it clarify what ultimately happened to the follow-on workshop mentioned in the August 2025 meeting notes.
The international dimension of this workshop deserves particular scrutiny. AARO's engagement with Uruguay's official UAP investigative body (Dirección Nacional de Aviación Civil's UAP program) represents one of the first publicly documented instances of the Pentagon formally coordinating UAP research with South American governments. The documents reference outreach to "additional South American organizations," though the specific agencies and the nature of proposed cooperation remain redacted. This suggests the Pentagon is building a broader international intelligence-sharing network on UAP phenomena—potentially circumventing the traditional Five Eyes alliance framework that has dominated U.S. classified intelligence partnerships.
The timing of this workshop is particularly noteworthy given the broader context of UAP disclosure. The meeting occurred in August 2025, roughly three months after President Trump's executive order in February 2026 mandating declassification of UAP records (though the chronology indicates planning began well before the order). AARO was simultaneously managing the early phases of the PURSUE (Presidential Unsealing and Reporting System for UAP Encounters) disclosure program, which has since released six major tranches of declassified UAP files. The existence of a simultaneously classified workshop focused on improving UAP data analysis—while the government was publicly releasing historical UAP records—raises the question of whether the Pentagon's disclosure strategy intentionally separates unclassified historical data from ongoing classified analytical and operational initiatives.
Current and former government officials have previously testified to Congress that certain UAP-related programs exist outside normal congressional oversight channels. Whistleblower David Grusch claimed in 2023 that crash-retrieval programs and related research were compartmentalized in ways that prevented even members of Congress from accessing them. The structure of AARO's August 2025 workshop—with its heavy redactions, international participants with security clearances, and explicit focus on improving data infrastructure—suggests the Pentagon may be simultaneously managing two distinct UAP research ecosystems: one transparent and public-facing, the other classified and international in scope.
AARO director Dr. Jon Kosloski, who took command in 2025, has publicly emphasized the office's commitment to scientific rigor in UAP analysis. The workshop's emphasis on machine learning, statistical methodologies, and data standardization aligns with this stated mission. However, the Pentagon's decision to withhold 19 pages and redact additional materials—even from FOIA requests—suggests that discussions regarding specific UAP incidents, potential foreign adversary involvement, or classified sensor capabilities may have been discussed in a format the government believes must remain compartmentalized.
Congress has repeatedly demanded greater transparency from AARO regarding its analytical methods and findings. In September 2026, Representatives in the House Oversight Committee's Task Force on the Declassification of Federal Secrets held hearings on UAP transparency and criticized AARO's perceived reluctance to share information. The revelation of this international workshop—and the Pentagon's selective release of documentation—may intensify congressional scrutiny over the scope and true mission of AARO's work. Lawmakers may demand unredacted versions of the workshop materials, particularly regarding agreements reached with foreign governments and the nature of the proposed CRIDOVNI collaboration.
