A U.S. military platform collected 96 seconds of daylight full-motion video depicting a reddish, spheroidal target gliding at modest speed over the Middle East.
Frame-by-frame analysis by AARO linked its motion to local wind vectors and highlighted specular flashes typical of metallised party balloons. Based on morphology, photometrics, and environmental data, AARO judged the object almost certainly a consumer-grade reflective foil balloon, assigning ≥95 % likelihood.1