In March 2024, Tim Phillips stood behind a Department of Defense podium as acting director of the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) and delivered a familiar message: AARO had found “no verifiable evidence” that any UAP represented extraterrestrial activity or technology. The office had received “no reports in space.” Roughly 68% of cases were “aero garbage” – balloons, trash, birds.
That was the official line. Phillips delivered it clearly and without hesitation.
Now Phillips is a private citizen. And he’s telling a very different story.
What He Says Now
In an interview published February 26, 2026, by the Daily Mail, Phillips described a reality that bears little resemblance to his 2024 briefing.
On the domain question:
“Most of these were in the atmosphere, but there were things in space.”
On what observers reported:
“The ability to stop very, very quickly, accelerate quickly, right angle turns – the things that aircraft and spacecraft we know don’t behave that way.”
On the unexplained cases:
“We’re talking some of the best and brightest in the world couldn’t explain what it is.”
On ruling out known programs:
“We were able to conclusively prove it wasn’t a known system, either adversary or friendly.”
On behavior near sensitive sites:
“We never saw any hostile behavior. I couldn’t speak to the intent, but we saw them in sensitive locations sometimes.”
And on apparent evasion:
“We saw their attempt not to be surveyed, and in other cases they didn’t seem to care.”
Fewer than 50 cases out of thousands remained completely unresolved after expert review, Phillips said. But those few dozen defied explanation by “some of the best and brightest in the world.”
Side by Side
The contrast speaks for itself.
| While Acting Director (March 2024) | After Leaving (February 2026) | |
|---|---|---|
| Space cases | ”No reports in space" | "There were things in space” |
| Evidence of anomalous performance | ”No verifiable evidence” of extraordinary activity | Objects that “stop very quickly, accelerate quickly, right angle turns” |
| Overall framing | 68% of cases are “aero garbage” | ~50 cases that “the best and brightest in the world couldn’t explain” |
| Tone | Institutional, dismissive | Candid, specific, detailed |
Phillips did hedge in one direction. On LinkedIn, he wrote: “UFO believers will be disappointed by what is disclosed; there is no US Government evidence for beings or their craft visiting earth.”
That statement sits uneasily next to descriptions of objects in space making right-angle turns that the world’s best experts can’t explain and that conclusively don’t belong to any known nation.
He’s Not the First
Phillips follows a pattern set by his predecessor.
Dr. Sean Kirkpatrick was AARO’s first director, serving from July 2022 until his departure in December 2023 – just 18 months into the job. While in office, he maintained that AARO “possesses no data to indicate the capture or exploitation of UAP.”
After leaving, Kirkpatrick became markedly more vocal. He published op-eds criticizing the political dynamics around UAP disclosure and suggested the topic had become more about politics than science. The man who gave nothing while at the podium suddenly had a great deal to say once he stepped away from it.
The pattern is consistent:
| Official | While in Office | After Leaving |
|---|---|---|
| Sean Kirkpatrick (Director, 2022–2023) | “No data to indicate capture or exploitation of UAP” | Published op-eds; criticized political dynamics; became publicly vocal |
| Tim Phillips (Acting Director, 2023–2025) | “No verifiable evidence”; “no reports in space” | Objects in space; impossible maneuvers; ~50 unexplainable cases |
Two consecutive AARO leaders. Both delivered the institutional line while employed. Both found more to say after departing.
Why the Pattern Matters
There are limited explanations for why officials describe a fundamentally different picture after they leave than while they serve:
1. They were constrained. Classification rules, institutional messaging, and career incentives prevented them from speaking candidly while in office. If true, this means every official AARO statement should be understood not as what the office found, but as what it was permitted to say.
2. They are embellishing now. Free from institutional oversight, former officials may overstate findings for attention, book deals, or media relevance. If true, their post-departure claims carry less weight than their on-the-record briefings.
3. Both versions are true – at different resolutions. The institutional line (“no verifiable evidence”) and the candid version (“things we can’t explain making impossible maneuvers”) can technically coexist if “verifiable evidence” is defined narrowly enough. But that kind of semantic precision doesn’t build public trust. It erodes it.
Regardless of which explanation applies, the result is the same: the public record from AARO’s own leaders contradicts itself. The office’s official conclusions were delivered by people who, upon leaving, describe a reality those conclusions don’t capture.
The Current Director
Dr. Jon Kosloski, a physicist with 20+ years at NSA, has led AARO since August 2024. In November 2024 testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee, he maintained the same institutional position:
“AARO has discovered no verifiable evidence of extraterrestrial beings, activity, or technology.”
Kosloski has set priorities around partnerships, transparency, and scaling the office’s analytical capability. Whether his public statements will shift after he eventually departs remains to be seen – but the precedent set by his two predecessors gives the public reason to wonder what he might say differently once he’s no longer behind the podium.
What This Means for Disclosure
President Trump’s February 19 directive to Secretary of War Pete Hegseth to begin releasing UFO files has created a new political environment – one that may have made it easier for Phillips to speak more openly now.
But the broader issue isn’t about one interview or one former official. It’s structural. If AARO’s leaders can only describe what they actually found after they leave, then the office’s public-facing function isn’t transparency – it’s messaging. And every official AARO statement, past and present, should be weighed with that pattern in mind.
AARO has already missed key reporting deadlines and faced criticism for how it handles its caseload. The credibility gap between what officials say in office and what they say afterward is another data point in that pattern.
The question isn’t whether Tim Phillips is telling the truth now or was telling the truth then. The question is why those two versions are so different – and what that difference tells us about every official statement still coming out of the Pentagon’s UFO office.
Sources: Daily Mail · DoD Media Engagement Transcript, March 6, 2024 · DoD Press Release – Phillips Appointment · Phillips Official Bio (PDF) · DefenseScoop – Kosloski Appointment