FBI Photo A3

FBIImagePhoto LogModerate redaction4/10— niche or mildly interestingPURSUE Release 1

Incident date: Late 2025
Released: May 8, 2026

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. government system. The date and location of the event have not been provided. 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. Narrative Description: The monochrome image displays a mottled background with a central crosshair reticle. A dark, circular object is positioned exactly at the center of the reticle. The background shows a textured pattern, possibly depicting ground terrain. 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.

UAP Insight Analysis— AI generated, not official

A still image from an unidentified U.S. government sensor system, submitted by the FBI to AARO as documentation of a UAP event. The image shows a monochrome frame — likely from a thermal or night-vision optic — with a targeting reticle centered on a small, dark circular object against a textured ground-terrain background. No date, location, or mission report was provided, and the image contains multiple redaction blocks obscuring contextual data.

Key Findings

→A dark, circular object is centered precisely on the crosshair reticle of what appears to be an airborne or remote sensor system.
→The FBI submitted this image to AARO as a UAP report, indicating the operator was unable to positively identify the object.
→No date or location data was provided with the submission, limiting contextual analysis.
→The original imagery was altered with redactions prior to submission to AARO, removing potentially identifying metadata or overlay data.
→No accompanying mission report was provided, leaving sensor type, altitude, and operational context unknown.

Analyst Notes

No date, location, or mission report accompanies the image, severely limiting analytical value. Heavy redaction of overlay data removes potentially exculpatory or identifying context. Single still frame with no video, multi-sensor corroboration, or spectral data. The circular object could be consistent with numerous mundane explanations (balloon, debris, optical artifact) that cannot be ruled out without additional context.

Extracted Entities

Agencies & Organizations

Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO)

Aircraft & Objects

Dark circular object centered on sensor reticle

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AI analysis by claude-sonnet-4-6 · May 17, 2026