He quit heading the Pentagon’s UFO office. Now a report of his has shaken up ufology

Sean Kirkpatrick, director of All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office at the defense department, speaks at Nasa’s headquarters in Washington DC on 31 May 2023. Photograph: Joel Kowsky/Nasa

Sean Kirkpatrick doesn’t seem too thrilled to be chatting with me about UFOs. Since taking over the Pentagon’s All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) in 2022 – government-speak for UFO hunting – Kirkpatrick has received violent threats, social-media smear campaigns, and even had to call the FBI after a UFO fanatic showed up at his home.

“I’ve had people threaten my wife and daughter, and try to break into our online accounts – far more than I ever had as the deputy director of intelligence [of US Strategic Command],” Kirkpatrick says. “I didn’t have China and Russia trying to get on me as much as these people are.”