Office of the Secretary of Defense: 018_Eglin

This case resolution from the Department of Defense's All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) is dated 14 October 2023. It covers a report from a military pilot on 26 January 2023 in the Eglin Air Force Base training range off Florida. The pilot tracked four objects on radar and photographed one of them, which appeared as a rounded cone at 16,000 feet. With moderate confidence, AARO concluded the object was very likely a lighter-than-air object such as a commercial lighting balloon. It found the aircraft's radar failure was coincidental.

UNCLASSIFIED
5
UNCLASSIFIED
(U) Figure 1: Comparison of reported UAP (A: Infrared image of reported object, B: Electro-optical image
of reported object, and C: Image of a commercial LTA lighting system) (Photo credit: AARO)018Page determined to be Unclassified
Review by Chief of Staff, AARO
IAW FY24 NDAA, Section 1841 (a)(1)(C)
Date: 02/06/2025