UNCLASSIFIED // PUBLIC RELEASERELEASE 01 · MAY 8, 2026
PENTAGON UFO FILE · DOCUMENTFBI Photo B005
This still is part of the FBI’s B series, images from a U.S. military system, set in the western United States in 2025 that the Bureau forwarded to AARO because the operator could not identify what was being watched. Most frames in the run show a small dark object near the crosshair. This one, by AARO’s account, does not.
An empty frame
AARO’s narrative says no distinct object can be clearly made out in the central area. What remains is the grainy monochrome picture, the crosshair reticle and an indistinct shape in the background that may be a mountain range, the same backdrop described in neighbors such as B001.
The release gives no reason for including a frame without a visible target, and with the series’ date stamp unreliable — the system clock had not been set — there is no way to tell when this frame was taken relative to the others.
Why it is worth noting
An empty frame is a useful reminder of how thin this kind of evidence can be: a target can shrink to a few pixels, as in B019, or vanish into the grain. The image was redacted before submission and came without a mission report. AARO offers description only, not analysis, and nothing in the release identifies the object the operator was tracking.
The official description
From war.gov/UFO, released May 8, 2026, quoted in full
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) submitted a report of an unidentified anomalous phenomenon (UAP) to the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) consisting of a still image derived from a U.S. military system in 2025. The original imagery was altered with redactions before being submitted to AARO. An accompanying mission report was not provided. The operator reported that they were unable to positively identify the UAP. The date in the image is incorrect due to system date/time not being set.
Narrative Description: The monochrome image displays a grainy texture with a central crosshair reticle. No distinct objects are clearly visible within the central area of the frame. The background shows an indistinct formation, possibly a mountain range. This narrative description is provided for informational purposes only. Readers should not interpret any part of this description as reflecting an analytical judgment, investigative conclusion, or factual determination regarding the described event’s validity, nature, or significance.