Office of the Secretary of Defense: 09_Open_Hearing_Slides

UNCLASSIFIED
ALL-DOMAIN ANOMALY RESOLUTION OFFICE (AARO)
MT. ETNA OBJECT
▪ Event: In 2018, a U.S. UAV flying over the Mediterranean Sea observed
an eruption by Italy’s Mt. Etna, capturing video of a potential UAP
seemingly passing through the volcano's plume with no apparent impact
to its performance, altitude and bearing.
▪ Findings: AARO, in coordination with IC and S&T partners, assesses with
moderate confidence that the object was a balloon drifting with the wind
approximately 170 kilometers from the volcano.
▪ Analytic Factors: Coordinated analysis employed full-motion video
analysis software, 3D modeling, pixel examination — as well as novel
speed and distance calculation techniques — to reach this conclusion.
▪ The estimated distance between the UAP and the UAV is based on
weather analysis of the cloud deck and wind speeds.
▪ AARO and its partners disproved the object flew through the ash plume
by conducting an analysis of the luminosity of the object’s pixels in
relation to a sample range of pixels immediately around it.
▪ To validate the estimated UAP speed and bearing, 3D modeling and wind
calculations were used to estimate the UAP’s location when the UAV
operator lost sight of it. Subsequent video analysis found faint tones of
the UAP where the modeling assessed it would traverse, further
validating the findings.
6UNCLASSIFIED09Page determined to be Unclassified
Reviewed by Chief, AARO
IAW FY24 NDAA, Section 1841 (a)(1)(C)
Date: 02/05/2025