Documents / Report
The All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office issued this information paper in December 2024 on how sunlight reflecting off Starlink and other Low Earth Orbit satellites can be mistaken for UAP. It explains the difference between diffuse and specular reflection, Starlink trains, and flares, and it gives a step-by-step method for predicting flare windows. The method is shown with AARO photographs taken near Sidney, Nebraska, and applied to a 2022 airline pilot report near Gallup, New Mexico. AARO concluded that the lights in that report were very likely satellite flares.
All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) 11 Table 2: Example table completed for the scenario described above. Observation Site Latitude 41.0064° NOTES: Sidney, NE Longitude -103.1260° After sunset Before sunrise Date Time (L) Sun Altitude Azimuth Look Angle Date Time (L) Sun Altitude Azimuth Look Angle 03/10/24 10:22PM -38° 305.2° 10° 03/11/24 2:44AM -46° 38.1° 0° 11:20PM -46° 321.6° 0° 3:43AM -38° 54.7° 10° Measured Values of Satellite Flare Measured Values of Satellite Flare Date Time (L) Flare Azimuth Flare Elevation Date Time (L) Flare Azimuth Flare Elevation 03/10/24 10:38PM 309.6° 3.2° 03/11/24 3:13AM 47.4° 3.7° Figure 12: Images taken by AARO personnel near Sidney, NE after sunset on March 10, 2024. Note that the azimuth to the Starlink flares falls within the predicted angles in Table 2 at the time of image capture. Camera settings: [7].
Report, from the aaro collection. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is above. 19 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.