A Dark Circle Beneath the Reticle in a Military Image

A blurry military image shows a dark circle beneath a reticle. Near the top, it also shows a dark object that looks like a helicopter. These are the image’s two most prominent details, but only one was partially identified.

The image reached the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) from a U.S. military system. The operator couldn’t identify the circle with certainty, and no description of the mission accompanied the report. The image therefore shows what appeared on the screen, but not what was happening around it.

What the Image Shows

The image was created in the western United States toward the end of 2025. The FBI included it in a report about an unidentified phenomenon. At the center of the image is a reticle, a mark showing where a camera or weapon is aimed.

A dark object resembling a helicopter appears in the upper-right quadrant. Beneath the reticle is a second, smaller, round object. The background is blurry and indistinct, revealing little about the area around the two objects.

The Operator Couldn’t Identify the Circle

According to the report, the operator couldn’t identify the round object with certainty. That leaves a clear gap: the image shows a relatively distinct shape, but there’s no identification to explain what it is.

The image was provided after its source had been altered and parts of it redacted. In other words, readers of the report cannot see all the information in the original image. The accompanying mission report, which could have provided context about the activity, was not submitted. The image also displays an incorrect date because the system’s clock had not been set.

What We Still Don’t Know

It’s not known what the circle is or what was happening around it. The identity of the person who captured the image was also not provided. All that is known is that it came from a U.S. military system, and the mission report was not included.

Two dark shapes remain in the image: one resembling a helicopter, the other a small circle beneath the reticle. What was beyond the frame? No one can say.