AARO "Southeast Asia Triangles" UAP Case Resolution Report

AARO’s case resolution report for the “Southeast Asia Triangles,” dated 17 March 2023. Satellite imagery from 30 August 2017 showed six triangular objects in formation, originally flagged as potentially anomalous and a possible risk to navigation. AARO assesses the objects almost certainly are cone-shaped static fishing nets floating on the ocean surface.

The full English text below is machine-extracted from the linked PDF for reference; the original document is authoritative. This archive links the official source and an archive snapshot, and does not reproduce the DoD or AARO visual identity.

<!-- p.1 --> UNCLASSIFIED 1 UNCLASSIFIED All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office U.S. Department of Defense (U) Case: “Southeast Asia Triangles” Case Resolution | 17 March 2023 (U) Case Essentials (U) Six triangular objects in a formation were originally flagged as potentially anomalous and potentially posing a risk to navigation (U) Location: Southeast Asia (U) Date: 30 August 2017 (U) Altitude: N/A (U) Shape: Six dark triangles (U) Reporter: An Intelligence Community Member (U) Sensor: Satellite imagery (U) Behavior: Noted as possible risk to navigation (U) Case Status: Resolved; Objects are fishing nets on the ocean surface (U) Case Overview (U) AARO assesses that the subjects of the “Southeast Asia Triangles” case from 2017 almost certainly are cone-shaped, static fishing nets floating on the surface of the ocean. This conclusion is based on a thorough review of the evidence by AARO’s Intelligence and Science and Technology (S&T) Partners.  (U) The image was originally flagged as containing potentially anomalous objects and posing a risk to navigation. Additional imagery of the area from 2023 was discovered and collected.  (U) Both the Intelligence and S&T teams compared the size, shape, and location of the initial image to existing and subsequent images in the same region, and compared it to libraries of known morphologies. (U) Intelligence Assessment (U) AARO’s Intelligence partners examined the image and compared it to other imagery. Specifically, they located clearer images in the vicinity of the objects in question.  (U) The images from 2023 display several triangles and were confirmed to be static, cone-shaped fishing nets.  (U) These triangular fishing nets were compared to the black triangles from the 2017 imagery and it was confirmed that they are all are approximately the same size of about 11m x 7m. <!-- p.2 --> UNCLASSIFIED 2 UNCLASSIFIED  (U) AARO’s Intelligence partners have high confidence in their identification of these objects and assess they do not pose a hazard to navigation. (U) Science & Technology Assessment (U) Three of AARO’s S&T partners agree that the objects imaged in 2017 are fishing nets. (U) S&T Partner One specifically noted that subsequent images were especially clear; the location and the size comparison were critical in determining the assessment. (U) S&T Partner Two acquired and analyzed other images of the same geographical area which revealed multiple similar triangular shapes taken in late 2022 and early 2023. These images also show significant downstream turbidity, confirming that these nets are on the water. (U) S&T Partner Three also found stock footage of fishing nets on the same river, which confirms the underlying analysis. (U) Figure 1: “Southeast Asia Triangles” Comparison