Brief

The FBI forwarded to AARO a single monochrome still derived from a U.S. military system, captured in 2025 in the Western United States, with redactions applied before submission. No mission report was provided, and the operator could not positively identify the object. The image timestamp reads 12/31/99 18:19:33 because the system date/time was not set. The narrative description records a grainy monochrome frame with a simplified central crosshair and a single dark, elongated object near the right edge of the reticle.

Metadata

Agency

FBI

Release

5/8/26

Incident

Late 2025

Location

Western United States

Type

PDF • .pdf

Length

1 pages

Classification

UNCLASSIFIED

Programs

AARO

Tags

elongated object, monochrome still, military sensor, crosshair reticle, Western United States, 2025, FBI to AARO submission

Key points

• FBI submitted the report to AARO; the source imagery came from a U.S. military system in 2025.p.1
• The original imagery was altered with redactions before submission to AARO.p.1
• No accompanying mission report was provided with the still.p.1
• The operator reported they were unable to positively identify the UAP.p.1
• Image timestamp reads 12/31/99 18:19:33 because the system date/time was not set.p.1
• Narrative description records a grainy monochrome frame with a central crosshair and a single dark, elongated object near the right edge of the reticle.p.1
• Incident location logged as the Western United States; incident date late 2025.p.1

Verbatim

• 12/31/99 18:19:33

  p.1

Most interesting

• The only extractable text on the released page is the system timestamp 12/31/99 18:19:33, which the document itself flags as incorrect because the capture system's clock was never set.
• Everything else on the page is redacted, so the narrative description in the war.gov listing is the only available account of what the image shows.
• No mission report accompanied the still, leaving the platform, sensor, altitude, and operator context unresolved on the public record.