SASC AARO Open Hearing Case Slides 19Nov2024
- File
- AARO-SASC_AARO_Open_Hearing_Case_Slides_19Nov2024
- Agency
- AARO
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Cited in: Gimbal 2015: a Navy infrared clip the Pentagon still lists as unresolved
TL;DR
Those 2024 slides are older than the 2013 Puerto Rico sighting.
- Presentation slides, AARO, for Senate Armed Services hearing 19Nov2024, USA.
- Covers UAP reports 1996-2024; highlights 2013 PR, 2015 FL, 2018 Mt Etna cases.
- UAPs showed no anomalous characteristics; explained by natural phenomena, sensor limits, or misinterpretations.
AI summary
This document is a presentation from the All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) prepared for a Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities hearing on November 19, 2024. It includes data on reported UAPs from January 1, 1996, to October 10, 2024, and analyzes specific cases, including a 2013 event over Puerto Rico, a 2015 UAP near Florida, and a 2018 observation near Mount Etna. The document concludes that these UAPs did not exhibit anomalous characteristics, attributing observed effects to natural phenomena, sensor limitations, or misinterpretations of normal objects.
Full text
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UNCLASSIFIED
THE PUERTO RICO OBJECT
▪ 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.
ALL-DOMAIN ANOMALY RESOLUTION OFFICE (AARO)
UNCLASSIFIED
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UNCLASSIFIED
THE PUERTO RICO OBJECT
▪ Analytic Factors: Perception of objects’
fading in and out due to Thermal
Crossover.
▪ Trajectory reconstruction shows the
objects traveled southwest in a straight
line at a consistent speed of ≈3.6
meters per second while slowly
descending to ≈200 meters.
▪ Winds were 7 knots (3.6 m/s) out of the
east-northeast. Cloud cover was
approximately 50 percent, with scattered
clouds at 914 meters (3000 feet).
Vector analysis is used to plot the line of sight of the sensor as a function of time. Using a closest-approach
method, a track of the object can be estimated
ALL-DOMAIN ANOMALY RESOLUTION OFFICE (AARO)
UNCLASSIFIED
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UNCLASSIFIED
GO FAST
▪ Event: In January 2015, U.S. Navy aircraft recorded an object
appearing to travel at high speeds close to the ocean surface off
Florida’s east coast.
* Video released by DoD in 2017
▪ Findings: Following in-depth computational analysis of Navy aircraft’s
flight characteristics and sensor readings, AARO, in coordination with
S&T partners, assesses with high confidence the UAP did not
demonstrate any anomalous speeds or flight characteristics.
▪ Analytic Factors: The UAP’s altitude is assessed with high confidence
as approximately 13,000 feet above sea level at a calculated velocity
of approximately 45 mph / 39 knots.
▪ Analysis of contemporaneous weather patterns in the area at the
time of event indicate winds were approximately 60 knots at
13,000 feet
▪ Analysis of its flight path in relation to the Navy aircraft revealed the
object maintained a relatively straight, slightly rising trajectory with a
slow, curving descent near the end of the analyzed video.
▪ High confidence analysis of the UAP’s exact position was not
possible given a lack of precise positional data from the
observing Navy aircraft.
ALL-DOMAIN ANOMALY RESOLUTION OFFICE (AARO)
UNCLASSIFIED
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UNCLASSIFIED
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.
ALL-DOMAIN ANOMALY RESOLUTION OFFICE (AARO)
UNCLASSIFIED
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