FBI Photo B009

FBIPDFPhoto LogHeavy redactionPURSUE Release 1

4/10

niche or mildly interesting

UAP Insight significance score

Location: Western United States
Incident date: Late 2025
Witnesses: Sensor only
Released: May 8, 2026

UAP Characteristics

● Sphere

Evidence Types

IR VideoPhotos

Government Programs Referenced

AARO

Official Conclusion

Unable to positively identify the UAP

Official Description

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) submitted a report of an unidentified anomalous phenomenon (UAP) to the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) consisting of a still image derived from a U.S. military system in 2025. The original imagery was altered with redactions before being submitted to AARO. An accompanying mission report was not provided. The operator reported that they were unable to positively identify the UAP. The date in the image is incorrect due to system date/time not being set. Narrative Description: The monochrome image displays a grainy texture with a central crosshair reticle. A small, dark, circular object is visible just below and to the left of the center of the reticle. The background appears to show an indistinct mountain range. This narrative description is provided for informational purposes only. Readers should not interpret any part of this description as reflecting an analytical judgment, investigative conclusion, or factual determination regarding the described event’s validity, nature, or significance.

Key Findings

→A small, dark, circular object is visible just below and to the left of the center crosshair reticle in the image.
→All metadata fields in the image (upper corners, lower corners, and top banner) have been redacted with black bars prior to submission to AARO.
→The embedded date/time stamp of 12/31/1999 18:10:26 is explicitly noted as incorrect due to the system clock not being set correctly.
→The operator was unable to positively identify the UAP depicted in the image.
→No accompanying mission report was provided with the submission, limiting contextual analysis.

UAP Insight Analysis— AI generated, not official

This document is a single still infrared/optical image frame from a U.S. military system, submitted by the FBI to AARO, depicting a small dark circular object visible below and left of a central crosshair reticle against what appears to be a mountainous background. The image is heavily redacted, with multiple black bars obscuring all metadata fields, and the embedded timestamp (12/31/99 18:10:26) is acknowledged to be incorrect due to system misconfiguration. No accompanying mission report was provided.

Analyst Notes

Evidential value is severely limited: all metadata fields are redacted, the system timestamp is incorrect and therefore unreliable, no mission report was provided, and the object appears as a single small dot with no detail resolvable. Single-sensor still image with no corroborating radar, IR, or witness testimony attached. Object could plausibly be sensor noise, debris on lens, or a distant conventional aircraft given the low image resolution and lack of context.

Extracted Entities

Agencies & Organizations

Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO)U.S. military (unnamed system operator)

Locations

Western United States

Aircraft & Objects

Small dark circular object visible below and left of center crosshair reticleIndistinct mountain range visible in background

Dates

12/31/1999 18:10:26 (embedded timestamp, noted as incorrect)Late 2025 (actual incident date per report)

PDF not loading? Open directly ↗

Open PDF in new tab ↗

AI analysis by claude-sonnet-4-6 · May 20, 2026