(NewsNation) — The Department of Defense is reshuffling leadership at All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office, the agency within the Pentagon that’s responsible for investigating reports of unidentified aerial phenomena or, as they’re better known by, unidentified flying objects.
Deputy Secretary Of Defense Kathleen Hicks will now oversee AARO while the program’s current director, Sean Kirkpatrick, will report directly to her.
A Pentagon spokesperson confirmed the change to NewsNation this afternoon but the DoD is expected to issue a release confirming the news sometime on Thursday.
NewsNation was not told why the change in leadership was being instituted.
Hicks told “Defense Scoop” the decision was made to move AARO further along and grow the agency as well as managing the creation of a new website to publish AARO’s unclassified material.
That website is a mandate from Congress and will allow people across the U.S. to submit their own sightings of UFOs directly to the Pentagon. Previously, AARO had only tracked and investigated UFO sightings reported by those in the military.
Hicks is currently the highest-ranking woman in the Defense Department. She’s been in her current role as deputy secretary since 2021. Before that, she served in the Obama administration as deputy undersecretary of defense for policy.
There has been some criticism of AARO, particularly from whistleblower David Grusch and others who claimed elements within AARO were not being fully transparent with Congress or the public about UAP reports.
Others have suggested AARO itself has been kept in the dark about illegal UAP programs. AARO has been consistent in pushing back on claims that the agency or the Pentagon has information on actual aircraft of non-human origin in it’s possession.