FBI black-hot infrared still of an unidentified airborne object, December 2025.

What you’re looking at

A single infrared (FLIR) still frame in 'black hot' polarity — meaning warmer pixels render dark against a paler background. The frame originates with the FBI and was published as part of the war.gov PURSUE Release 01 slideshow on May 8, 2026. The metadata locates the capture in the western United States in December 2025.

Context

Infrared imagery from federal aircraft — FBI included — is captured routinely during operations. Public release of FLIR stills tied to a UAP designation is uncommon, and is itself the news. This frame is one of six in the same FBI infrared cluster within Release 01 (Photos 1, A5, B2, B7, B18, B20), spanning two reporting windows: a September and a December 2025 sequence.

Why this matters

Three things stand out at the metadata level: (1) the FBI is rarely the publishing agency for UAP imagery — DOD operators normally are; (2) the cluster spans two distinct months in the same region, suggesting either repeat sightings or a single sustained investigation; (3) the imagery is infrared, which means heat signature exists — there is a real radiating object in the frame, not just a visual artifact.

What it does NOT show

FLIR imagery cannot independently determine an object's size, distance, altitude, or true geometry. A small warm body close to the sensor and a large warm body far away can look identical on the screen. Without supporting telemetry — radar return, slant range, optical comparison — the frame establishes that something warm was there, not what it was.

Open questions

1. 01

   What aircraft captured this — fixed-wing, rotary, or sensor pod?

2. 02

   Is there corresponding radar, ADS-B, or eyewitness data?

3. 03

   Why are the December and September captures grouped under one cluster — are they the same investigation?

4. 04

   What altitude and slant range estimates does the FBI hold internally?

Listen

Colophon

Filename

FBI-Photo-1.jpg

Source

https://www.war.gov/portals/1/Interactive/2026/UFO/Slideshow/FBI-Photo-1.jpg

Agency

FBI · FBI-Photo-1

Cluster

fbi infrared 2025

Release

RELEASE 01