Compression artefact mistaken for wake (Sensor A)
While filming another MQ-9, a forward-looking infrared camera incidentally captured a luminous streak terminating in a bright point. Subsequent analysis combined longer-focal-length footage with regional flight data, revealing the point source to be a distant airliner. The trailing "wake" was a video-compression echo accentuated by sensor gain, not physical cavitation. AARO therefore categorised the observation as a non-anomalous commercial aircraft event.1
Second-angle confirmation (Sensor B)
A second MQ-9 in the formation captured the same phenomenon from a different look angle with a longer focal length. Triangulation between both sensors and open-source ADS-B tracks tied the luminous point to a scheduled civil flight at cruise. The apparent "wake" again resolved to codec echo rather than condensate.