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) 18 [7] AARO, "Canon EOS Rebel T7 f/1.8 10.0 sec exposure, ISO-800, 18mm focal length, no flash, compulsory, Sigma Lens 210-101, manual focus, auto white balance.," 2023. [8] M. Boucher, "Space Ref," [Online]. Available: https://spaceref.com/science-and- exploration/spacex-publishes-update-on-starlink-satellite-brightness-issue/. [9] J. C. McDowell, "The low earth orbit satellite population and impacts of the SpaceX Starlink constellation," The Astrophysical Journal Letters, vol. 892, no. 2, p. L36, 2020. [10] S. M. B. A. C. &. R. H. Lawler, "Visibility predictions for near-future satellite megaconstellations: latitudes near 50 will experience the worst light pollution," The Astronomical Journal, vol. 163, no. 1, p. 21, 2021. [11] A. C. &. B. M. Boley, "Satellite mega-constellations create risks in Low Earth Orbit, the atmosphere and on Earth," Scientific Reports (Nature), vol. 11, no. 1, pp. 1-8, 2021. [12] J. e. a. Zhang, "LEO mega constellations: review of development, impact, surveillance, and governance," Space: Science & Technology, pp. 1-17, 2022. [13] NOAA Global Monitoring Division, [Online]. Available: https://gml.noaa.gov/grad/solcalc/solareqns.PDF. [14] T. Hoffmann, "SunCalc.org," [Online]. Available: https://www.suncalc.org/. [15] "Sunrise and Sunset Calculator," [Online]. Available: https://www.timeanddate.com/sun. [16] O. R. &. W. A. P. Hainaut, "Impact of satellite constellations on astronomical observations with ESO telescopes in the visible and infrared domains," Astronomy & Astrophysics, vol. 636, p. A121, 2020. [17] "Kansas State University," [Online]. Available: https://www.math.ksu.edu/~dbski/writings/haversine.pdf. [18] "In The Sky," [Online]. Available: https://in-the-sky.org/satmap_planetarium.php?. [19] O. S. o. America, "Snell’s Law, Reflection, and Refraction," 2008. [Online]. Available: https://osa.magnet.fsu.edu/tutorials/snell.html.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.