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This four-page intelligence community analysis from 2022 examines an airborne object that five U.S. Army service members at Fort Carson reported over Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado, on 15 February 2022. The witnesses described a stationary, shimmering, potato-shaped object about the size of a large jet that slowly changed shape and then suddenly disappeared. The analysis concludes, with low confidence, that sunlight reflecting off snow and lighting up low clouds possibly caused the sighting. It found no anomalous data and no adversarial capability.
From the source: Release of 2026-06-12 Incident: 2022, Colorado Springs, Colorado, U.S.. Released with redactions. This document contains analysis by an All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) Intelligence Community (IC) partner to account for a 2022 incident involving an airborne object near Colorado Springs, Colorado. U.S. military service members reported the incident to AARO in 2023. AARO’s IC partner assessed, with low confidence, that the reported phenomenon, which observers characterized as resembling an “angular, non-symmetrical potato,” was attributable to sunlight backscattering, where sunlight reflecting from mountain snow cover illuminated the underside of low-altitude clouds. This low-confidence assessment contributes to AARO’s consideration of the incident, which remains unresolved as of June 2026.
- - I ■ ■ page 4 /feet (about 2,000 to 7,000 meters) and can create a dense, uniform /layer across the sky or thin and wispy. While they often appear /opaque, altostratus clouds can permit some sunlight to pass /through, resulting in a luminous effect. Typically, the presence of /altostratus clouds suggests that precipitation is imminent, as they /may bring light rain or snow. / / Analyst Note: Backscattering is the phenomenon where sunlight /reflects off the snow-covered ground and reflects upwards, /scattering through the atmosphere and illuminate low-level clouds. /This is especially noticeable when the sun is low over the horizon. / No aircraft or balloons were noted active in or around /Cheyenne Mountain during the time the witnesses saw the airborne /object. / page 4 of 4
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Report, from the pursue collection. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is above. 4 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.