2025 UAP Workshop: Narrative Data, Infrastructures, and Analysis

The 2025 UAP Workshop on Narrative Data, Infrastructures, and Analysis, held on August 5-6, 2025, and sponsored by the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO), brought together 40 experts from government, academia, and independent research organizations. The primary objective was to address the challenges associated with the collection, organization, and interpretation of UAP narrative reports. The workshop participants recognized that while UAP reports are a critical source of information, they are currently fragmented, sparse, and lack standardized metadata, making them difficult to analyze at scale. The report highlights that effective UAP research requires a shift toward rigorous data collection and standardization. Discussions emphasized the need for common reporting templates that capture essential metadata such as time, location, provenance, and morphology. Participants also explored the role of artificial intelligence and machine learning, noting that while these tools offer significant potential for transcription, triage, and pattern detection, they must be used with caution to avoid bias, hallucination, and the amplification of hoaxes. Human oversight remains an essential component of any analytical workflow. A major theme of the workshop was the importance of linking disparate datasets—including military logs, pilot reports, archival records, and sensor data—while balancing interoperability with privacy, ethical, and classification constraints. The participants advocated for a multi-disciplinary approach that integrates social science methods with quantitative analysis to preserve the experiential and cultural richness of witness accounts. The workshop concluded with several actionable recommendations, including the development of standardized metadata templates, the adoption of a hybrid human-AI approach, the preservation and digitization of historical records, and the enhancement of public reporting portals. Furthermore, the participants stressed the need for citizen engagement and the cultivation of a sustainable 'community of practice' to ensure that UAP research remains credible, transparent, and innovative. The report underscores that by establishing clear standards and fostering interdisciplinary collaboration, the research community can better leverage narrative data to advance the scientific understanding of UAP.