Office of the Secretary of Defense: 09_Open_Hearing_Slides

UNCLASSIFIED
ALL-DOMAIN ANOMALY RESOLUTION OFFICE (AARO)
▪ Event: On April 26, 2013, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection (USCBP) aircraft
recorded infrared (IR) video of a potential unidentified anomalous phenomenon
(UAP) over Puerto Rico’s Rafael Hernandez Airport. The video appears to show
an object traveling at high speed, splitting into two objects, and entering and
exiting the water. The object was deemed anomalous based on these initial
perceptions.
▪ Findings: AARO, in coordination with Intelligence Community (IC) and Science
and Technology (S&T) partners assess with high confidence that the UAP did
not demonstrate any anomalous speeds or flight characteristics.
▪ Two distinct objects were airborne in proximity to each other, rather than a
single object splitting into two.
▪ Modeling and Minimum Separation Vectors analysis indicates the illusion of
splitting was likely due to the changing angle of sensor view allowing only
intermittent views of both objects.
▪ The perception of high speed was attributed to
motion parallax.
▪ Reconstruction confirmed the objects traveled at
wind speed in a straight line over land during the
entire observation period, never entering
the water.
THE PUERTO RICO OBJECT
3UNCLASSIFIED09Page determined to be Unclassified
Reviewed by Chief of Staff, AARO
IAW FY24 NDAA, Section 1841(a)(1)(C)
Date: 2/5/2025