FBI Photo B23 is a one-page PDF released in Department of War PURSUE Release 01 on May 8, 2026. The release metadata identifies the source agency as the Federal Bureau of Investigation, places the incident in the Western United States, and dates the underlying event only to late 2025.1
Redacted Military Still
The PDF contains a single monochrome still image from what the release describes as a U.S. military system. The visible frame is grainy, marked by a simplified central reticle, and partially covered by black redaction bars. A single dark, elongated mark appears near the horizontal reticle line to the right of center, close to the reticle's right edge.12
The lower-left image timestamp reads 12/31/99 18:19:33. The release metadata says that timestamp is not the incident date because the system date and time were not set.12
FBI Submission Limits
The FBI submitted the material to the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office as a UAP report based on a still image. According to the release metadata, the original imagery had already been altered with redactions before AARO received it, no accompanying mission report was provided, and the operator reported being unable to positively identify the UAP.1
Those facts support a narrow reading of the record. The public material can show that a redacted, military-derived still image entered AARO's UAP reporting pipeline through the FBI. It cannot establish the object's identity, distance, size, speed, altitude, motion, sensor mode, exact location, weather conditions, or whether the mark represents an object rather than an imaging artifact or background feature.12
Traceable But Thin
B23 matters because it is a traceable UAP submission while also showing how thin the public record can be. The image, metadata, and redactions preserve a documented reporting event, but the missing mission report and limited frame context prevent meaningful independent assessment of origin or performance.12