Middle East Red Balloon 2024
The All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office received a report from a U.S. military Service consisting of one minute and thirty-six seconds of full-motion video footage captured by a camera aboard a U.S. military platform in the Middle East in 2024. According to the reporting Service, the recording likely depicts a slow-moving spheroidal object. AARO assesses, with high confidence, that the object depicted in the video is almost certainly (≥95% likelihood) a consumer-grade reflective foil balloon. AARO bases its assessment on the object's strong morphological consistency with other resolved imagery depicting balloons and its behavioral correlation with recorded wind speed and direction during the event.
Scope and Content
The All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office received a report from a U.S. military Service consisting of one minute and thirty-six seconds of full-motion video footage captured by a camera aboard a U.S. military platform in the Middle East in 2024. According to the reporting Service, the recording likely depicts a slow-moving spheroidal object. AARO assesses, with high confidence, that the object depicted in the video is almost certainly (≥95% likelihood) a consumer-grade reflective foil balloon. AARO bases its assessment on the object's strong morphological consistency with other resolved imagery depicting balloons and its behavioral correlation with recorded wind speed and direction during the event.
Digital Objects
- Open
Middle East Red Balloon 2024
Video · Hosted by the government
Raw Government Record
Our normalized interpretation never replaces the government's original metadata. Both are kept.
Source Provenance
- Source Institution
- aaro
- Agency
- All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office
- Collection
- Released UAP Imagery
- Record Group
- AARO Released Imagery
- NAID
- AARO-DVIDS-964843
- Parent NAID
- —
- Original Title
- Middle East Red Balloon 2024
- Record Date
- 2024-01-01 – 2024-12-31
- Access Restriction
- Unrestricted
- Use Restriction
- DoD Visual Information — public release
- Level of Description
- Item
- Ingested
- 8/13/2026