Documents / Analysis
The All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) of the U.S. Department of Defense issued this case resolution on 8 May 2023. It covers three infrared videos that theater UAV operators recorded over the Middle East and the Mediterranean Sea in 2022 and 2023, which appeared to show anomalous propulsion wakes. AARO concludes that each apparent wake was a sensor artifact. One object was matched to a military aircraft and another to an Airbus A380 airliner, while the rest were probably prosaic aircraft.
UNCLASSIFIED 1 UNCLASSIFIED All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office U.S. Department of Defense (U) Case: “Atmospheric Wakes” Case Resolution | 8 May 2023 (U) Case Essentials (U) These reports were submitted after three different missions in the Middle East, and the Mediterranean Sea in 2022 and 2023. The reports were filed due to the potential hazard posed to the mission and because the videos depict a potentially anomalous propulsion signature (U) Location: Middle East and the Mediterranean Sea (U) Date: 2022 and 2023 (U) Altitude: N/A (U) Shape: N/A (U) Reporter: Theater UAV operators (U) Sensor: Infrared (IR) (U) Behavior: Exhibited potential anomalous propulsion (U) Case Status: Resolved; prosaic aircraft; the “wake” is a sensor artifact in each case (U) Case Overview (U) AARO assesses that the UAP reported in these three cases almost certainly were not exhibiting anomalous propulsion or atmospheric wakes, rather the observed effect was the result of a sensor artifact in all cases, based on analyses by AARO’s Intelligence and Science and Technology (S&T) partners. (U) The object in Case One has not been identified, but AARO is certain that it was not exhibiting anomalous behaviors. (U) In Case Two, one object was almost certainly a known military aircraft. The second object appears oblong due to camera aberration and remains unidentified, but also was probably a prosaic aircraft as well. (U) In Case Three, the object was almost certainly a known and identified commercial aircraft, flying along a recognized travel corridor. (U) Intelligence Assessment (U) AARO’s Intelligence partners assess with high confidence that the “atmospheric wake” in each video is a sensor anomaly. AARO’s intelligence partners were not able to identify the object of Case One, but have high confidence that it is not displaying any anomalous characteristics and are almost certain it’s a prosaic object based on thorough review of the evidence.
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Analysis, from the aaro collection. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is above. 2 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.