Summary
This document presents analysis by an Intelligence Community partner of the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) regarding a 2022 airborne object near Colorado Springs, reported by U.S. military service members in 2023. The partner assessed with low confidence that the phenomenon, described as resembling an angular potato, may have resulted from sunlight backscattering off mountain snow onto low clouds. The incident remained unresolved as of June 2026.
Detail
This document contains analysis by an Intelligence Community partner of the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) seeking to account for a 2022 incident involving an airborne object near Colorado Springs, Colorado. U.S. military service members reported the incident to AARO in 2023.
The IC partner assessed, with low confidence, that the phenomenon, which observers characterized as resembling an angular, non-symmetrical potato, was attributable to sunlight backscattering, in which sunlight reflecting from mountain snow cover illuminated the underside of low-altitude clouds. This low-confidence assessment contributes to AARO's consideration of the incident, which remained unresolved as of June 2026. The PDF record was released through PURSUE.
