South Asian Object 1
In an open hearing on Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena before the Senate Armed Services Committee on April 19, Dr. Sean Kirkpatrick, director of the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO), shared a video depicting an unidentified object with an apparent atmospheric wake or cavitation trailing it as it moves across the sensor’s field of view from left to right. An MQ-9 forward-looking infrared video sensor captured this footage in South Asia as it was recording another MQ-9. After analysis of the full motion video, inclusion of additional footage with a longer focal length, and analysis of commercial flight data in the region, AARO assesses that the object likely is a commercial aircraft and that the trailing cavitation is a sensor artifact resultant of video compression. Case resolution is pending final review.