What the Pentagon Records Now Show

• AARO arranged a private Pentagon meeting with Uruguay’s CRIDOVNI one day before its August 2025 UAP workshop, including reciprocal mission briefings and talks about “future collaboration.”
• The released attendee roster lists CRIDOVNI twice and separately identifies an “Australian Government” participant, although the Australian agency and individual remain undisclosed.
• Uruguay now says the relationship went further — its CRIDOVNI director says a formal cooperation agreement with AARO is being developed and could include shared investigations, data, software and equipment.

By Samuel López | USA Herald

WASHINGTON - Pentagon records released through the Freedom of Information Act reveal that the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office did considerably more than invite foreign observers to a UAP conference.

AARO arranged a separate August 4, 2025 meeting inside the Pentagon with representatives of CRIDOVNI, Uruguay’s official government organization for investigating unidentified aerial phenomena.

The agenda is unusually direct.

From 10:00 to 10:30 a.m., CRIDOVNI was scheduled to deliver a mission briefing. AARO followed with its own briefing. Then an entire hour was reserved for “Discussion of Briefings and Future Collaboration.” Pentagon visitor approvals had already been obtained. Lunch and a private Pentagon tour followed. The Black Vault

AARO also told the Uruguayans exactly what it wanted to learn — CRIDOVNI’s investigative process, analytical tools, how it evaluates cases with little technical data, its most interesting UAP cases, its relationship with the Uruguayan Air Force and its partnerships with other South American organizations. The Black Vault

That is considerably more significant than another government delegation sitting through a UFO conference.

The records show AARO was examining how another country actually investigates UAP and exploring ways the two offices could work together.

The FOIA production itself is incomplete. AARO located 89 responsive pages but withheld 19 pages entirely under FOIA Exemption (b)(5), which covers certain deliberative government communications. Portions of another 70 pages were also redacted under exemptions protecting deliberations and personal privacy. The Black Vault

The attendee roster provides another intriguing detail. Alongside NASA Headquarters, the U.S. Air Force, RAND Corporation, universities and civilian UAP organizations are two entries for CRIDOVNI (Uruguay) — followed immediately by Australian Government. The records do not disclose which Australian agency was represented or identify the person associated with that entry. The Black Vault

AARO's February 2026 public paper described the August 5-6 workshop as an interdisciplinary effort involving 40 participants focused on improving UAP data collection, integrating databases and determining how artificial intelligence and machine learning might assist analysis. It did not publicly spell out this separate Pentagon engagement with Uruguay. AARO

And there is now an important development beyond the FOIA file.

CRIDOVNI director Ariel Sánchez recently told Uruguay's El Observador that his organization and AARO are working toward a formal cooperation agreement stemming from the August 2025 Pentagon meeting. Sánchez said the proposed arrangement could involve joint investigations, information exchange, logistical cooperation and equipment. He also said AARO had offered hardware and software to help CRIDOVNI advance its work. El Observador

Sánchez further said AARO wants a future workshop in Uruguay involving official UAP investigation offices from across the Americas, potentially aimed at standardizing scientific investigative methods and data exchange. El Observador

If an AARO-CRIDOVNI agreement is formally approved, the United States could soon have a publicly acknowledged bilateral arrangement with one of the world's longest-running government UFO investigation organizations.

Read the full Pentagon FOIA release 26-F-1773
Read AARO’s official 2025 UAP Workshop paper
Read The Black Vault’s document analysis

About the Author

Samuel López is a reporter and correspondent for USA Herald whose work focuses on legal affairs, insurance, government records and UAP disclosure. With more than two decades of experience analyzing litigation, evidence and complex documentary records, López approaches UAP reporting much the same way — separating what government documents actually establish from speculation surrounding them.

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