'Most resembling a delta wing drone': two federal agents, a black triangle, and an AARO case left open

The account begins with a call-out. According to the agents' co-signed statement, attached verbatim to FBI FD-302 FBI-UAP-D043, a colleague at the site reported 'a detection for a thermally elevated aerial object' to the west. The two Special Agents ran to the western side of their observation post and 'almost immediately observed a substantial, nonreflective, dark black triangular object most resembling a delta wing drone.' They estimated its wingspan at nine to fifteen feet, its depth at six to nine feet and its thickness at one to two feet. Through a handheld thermal device it 'appeared hotter than ambient temperature with a completely consistent thermal signature across the entire airframe and no visible exhaust gases.'

The statement says the object ascended vertically over a ridge line, 'then transitioned from vertical to horizontal flight at a very significant velocity, approaching our position,' before descending to the southeast. The agents lost sight of it at an estimated range of about 1.5 miles. 'The total duration of the sighting was approximately three seconds.' Neither agent 'detected any auditory output.' The FBI file includes nine digitally rendered forensic sketches 'depicting the primary incident, as confirmed by the Special Agents in their eyewitness account.'

AARO's memorandum for record, DOW-UAP-D176, documents its own debrief of the two agents and 'incorporates a corroborating account from a third official positioned at a separate observation post.' In the Department's summary, the object 'rose vertically, remained stationary, and then banked and descended into a canyon'; the memorandum records the witnesses' descriptions of its shape, color, apparent thermal signature, 'perceived lack of conventional propulsion features,' and absence of an audible signature, a 'secondary observation on the following evening,' and a ground search that 'found no visible debris or evidence of an impact in the accessible survey area.'

Unusually for the portal, AARO states a view on what happens next: it 'considers this incident to warrant further investigation due to the close alignment of the phenomena's reported morphological features and kinematic profiles with those of other reported incidents in the western United States region.' It does not name those incidents, and the file 'does not present a conclusive finding regarding the nature or origin of the reported object or objects.' Release 05 published other 2026 accounts by federal agents in the western United States, including the first FBI-captured video in the program; neither release says the incidents occurred at the same site. The location, dates and witnesses' identities are redacted throughout.