Documents / Official release
This information paper from the Department of Defense's All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) is dated December 2024 and was released in full in February 2025. It explains how sunlight reflecting off Starlink and other low Earth orbit satellites produces bright flares and satellite trains that observers can mistake for UAP. It gives step-by-step methods for predicting flare windows from the ground and from aircraft. It concludes that lights reported by an airline pilot near Gallup, New Mexico, in October 2022 were very likely satellite flares.
All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) 16 The specific azimuth and elevations of the sighting were not given, but the pilot does state that the UAP was to the “left of the constellation Leo.” Therefore, it is possible to approximate the sighting parameters by determining the Leo constellation’s location at the given day and time when viewed from the effective observation location, O2. Figure 16 below was generated using the planetarium view on the website https://in-the-sky.org/satmap_planetarium.php?. Noted in the image is information on several stars that provide a reference for estimating the sighting azimuth and elevation location “left of the constellation Leo.” Also shown are numerous Starlink satellites that were present in the sky during this time. The red satellites are estimated to be flaring per this website. The red arrows were added to the image by the author to show the direction of motion for several of the Starlink satellites. Note their crossing directions, which are consistent with the pilot’s report of “multiple lights moving in different directions.” The azimuth and elevation of the stars was determined using the website https://theskylive.com/planetarium?. The estimated area of the sky the pilot likely referenced is circled by a white, dashed oval shape and the approximate center of this area is provided in the image. Using this estimate, it is possible to determine the sighting parameters required in Table 4. Comparing these to the expected location of the Starlink flare window for this date, time, and location (given by the Sun’s azimuth and look angle in the table), it is seen that these are very comparable. Consequently, the anomalous lights reported by the pilot are very likely Starlink and other satellite flares. Figure 16: Graphic of predicted night sky as seen from an observer at location O2. Generated using reference [18].027Page determined to be Unclassified Reviewed by Chief of Staff, AARO IAW FY24 NDAA, Section 1841(a)(1)(C) Date: 2/14/2025
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Official release, from the nara collection. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is above. 18 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.