Military Image Shows Dark Circle Against Mountain Ridge

A small, dark circle appears near the center of the targeting reticle in this black-and-white image. A blurred mountain ridge is visible behind it. The image came from a U.S. military system in the western United States sometime in 2025.

The person operating the system couldn’t identify the object. The image was sent for review, but parts of it were redacted, and the mission report was missing. Reviewers therefore received the image without a full account of what happened when it was taken.

What the Image Shows

The image is grainy. A reticle at its center marks the middle of the frame. Just above and to the right of the center, a dark circle is visible. In the background, only the blurred outlines of a mountain ridge can be made out.

The description provides no information about the circle’s size, its distance from the system, or whether it was moving. It also doesn’t say what else was around it when the image was taken. The shape is fairly distinct, but there is little information to help explain it.

The Image Was Sent for Review

The FBI sent the image to a U.S. agency that reviews reports of unexplained phenomena. It was submitted along with a report that the operator couldn’t identify the object.

But parts of the original image were redacted before it was sent, and the accompanying mission report was not included. The record offers no details about further testing or any other attempt to identify the circle. It doesn’t name the military system that captured the image, beyond saying it was American.

What Remains Unknown

The circle’s identity is unknown, and there is no mission report to provide further context. The date shown in the image is incorrect: the system’s clock was not set, so it can’t be relied on to establish exactly when the image was taken.

The image shows a dark circle, a marker indicating the center, and a blurred ridge. Everything else, including anything that might explain them, is missing.