FBI Photo A6

FBI Photo A6 is an official Release 01 still-image item attributed to the FBI. The release description says the image came from a U.S. government system, was submitted to AARO, and had already been altered with redactions before that submission. The event date is only stated as Late 2025; the location is listed as N/A. The release also says no accompanying mission report was provided and that the operator could not positively identify the UAP.

This page is a source-reading draft. It preserves what the released file, OCR, and Open Sky graph context support without converting the still image into an identification or conclusion.

Evidence media

Official Release 01 PNG still, verified as the 80,159-byte file with SHA-256 0686b305215d5a6ffe009dfbb06a6c7797d28e34880dfc682f4726ba7db30270. The image shows a redacted grayscale sensor-style frame with a central reticle, a lightly textured background, a small visible 5, and a compact dark unresolved mark near the reticle. The still alone does not identify the mark or supply motion, location, range, or platform context.

Investigation reading

The reviewed source is one verified official PNG still, one short OCR extraction, the Release 01 description, and graph records derived from those materials. The release does not provide unredacted display metadata, a precise timestamp, coordinates, platform, sensor mode, range, altitude, motion track, or mission report.

Direct visual inspection of the verified PNG shows a grayscale sensor-style frame with a white central reticle/crosshair and multiple black redaction blocks around the frame. The background is low-contrast and lightly textured, with no reliable landmark or scale reference. A compact dark spot is visible near the reticle. The official narrative says a dark circular object is positioned at the center of the reticle; the visible still places the mark close to the center but slightly lower-left of the reticle intersection. That offset is an image-review note only. It does not resolve what the mark is.

The file supports a narrow observation: a small dark unresolved feature appears near the reticle in a redacted monochrome still. The still does not establish identity, physical size, distance, speed, trajectory, behavior, or environmental context.

What the file appears to contain

• One official 412 × 308 PNG still image, 80,159 bytes.
• A grayscale reticle-style frame with horizontal and vertical crosshair lines and small tick marks.
• Multiple black redaction/masking blocks across the upper, side, and lower portions of the frame.
• A lightly textured grayscale background with no clear scale or location cues.
• A small dark round-to-compact mark near the reticle center, visually slightly lower-left of the crosshair intersection.
• A small visible numeral 5 near the reticle area.
• OCR text limited to redaction markers and the numeral 5; no timestamp, location, platform, or sensor-mode text is readable from OCR.

The controlling release description should be treated as source wording: the FBI submitted a still image derived from a U.S. government system; the date and location were not provided; the original imagery had redactions; no mission report accompanied it; the operator reported being unable to positively identify the UAP; and the narrative description is informational rather than an analytical judgment or factual determination.

Source custody and provenance

The checked release-file copy matches the recorded byte size and SHA-256 above. That hash anchors the exact redacted PNG discussed here.

Graph context

The Open Sky graph has exact official-primary records for this item:

• ImageEvidence: official:image:war-pursue-uap-release:fbi-photo-a6-png:5a487c793b48
• Document: official:doc:war-pursue-uap-release:record:190de7624c7db63e

The graph context currently includes 12 extracted claims, 7 entity mentions, 1 machine-extracted sensor event, and 3 text chunks covering the manifest description, OCR text, and release CSV record. The single sensor event is a STILL IMAGE cue derived from source text; it is not an independent track, radar return, or separate instrument measurement.

High-signal source-text claims preserved in the graph are: FBI and AARO are named; the source is a still image; the original imagery was redacted before submission; no mission report was provided; the operator could not positively identify the UAP; and the official description warns that its narrative is informational only. The graph also records related catalog context for FBI Photo A3 and FBI Photo B1. Those relationships are navigation leads, not proof that the records show the same object, sensor sequence, or event.

Leads to check

1. Audit the row mapping: the image asset is tracked as row 112, while the exact release-record node for the same title preserves row 109.
2. Compare FBI Photo A6 with nearby A-series and B-series photo records for reticle layout, redaction pattern, background continuity, and source-row grouping, without assuming a shared event.
3. If less-redacted frames or adjacent frames become available, check whether the dark feature persists, moves, changes shape, or disappears.
4. Seek the missing mission report, operator notes, sensor metadata, platform/time/location fields, or AARO package context before any stronger interpretation.
5. Preserve the official phrase dark, circular object as release-description language; the released still alone supports only a compact unresolved mark near the reticle.

Lead check notes

• Partial — row mapping: The asset inventory tracks the official PNG under image asset row 112, while the exact Release 01 record node for the same title preserves row 109. That remains a catalog/provenance cleanup item; it does not change the verified image hash or source URL.
• Partial — adjacent-photo context: Current graph context links nearby FBI Photo A3 and FBI Photo B1 as navigation/context records only. The released A6 page does not provide source-frame metadata sufficient to confirm a shared event, sequence, sensor, or platform.
• Blocked — missing source package: The release still lacks a mission report, less-redacted or adjacent frames, precise timestamp, coordinates, platform, sensor metadata, and operator notes. Those are required before motion, persistence, ordinary-object, or environmental checks can be run responsibly.
• Checked — wording limit: The official description uses dark, circular object; visual review of the released PNG supports only a compact dark unresolved mark near the reticle. Keep the official wording attributed to the release description, not as an Open Sky identification.

Deep investigation — graph + web reconnaissance

Source reread and media audit

• The controlling source remains a single official Release 01 PNG still and the official CSV/release description. The verified image is 412 × 308 pixels, 80,159 bytes, with SHA-256 0686b305215d5a6ffe009dfbb06a6c7797d28e34880dfc682f4726ba7db30270.
• A visual reread of the still shows a grayscale sensor-style frame with a central white reticle, extensive black redaction blocks, a small visible numeral 5, and one compact dark circular-to-oval unresolved mark slightly left/below the reticle center. No scene geography, platform data, motion track, range scale, or timestamp is visible.
• The OCR layer adds only redaction tokens and the numeral 5; it does not add readable time, location, platform, sensor mode, or operator annotation.
• The official narrative phrase dark, circular object is positioned at the center of the reticle is preserved as publisher wording. The image reread supports the narrower statement that a compact dark mark is visible near the reticle in a heavily redacted still.

Graph connections and catalog caveats

• The graph has an exact official-primary ImageEvidence record for the A6 PNG and an exact Release 01 CSV Document record for FBI Photo A6. Together they preserve the official source URL, release description, Late 2025 incident window, N/A location field, verified hash, and official-primary provenance.
• The A6 graph neighborhood currently contains two source chunks, 12 machine-extracted claims, 7 entity mentions, and one machine-extracted STILL IMAGE sensor event. These records are review aids only: the sensor event is derived from the phrase still image, not from a separate radar track, telemetry stream, or measured motion sequence.
• A same-title/hash/URL check also surfaces a row-shift/catalog issue: the image asset is carried with Release 01 row 112, while the current CSV record for FBI Photo A6 is row 109; a neighboring FBI Photo B1 row also carries the A6 PNG hash/final URL in graph context. Treat that as a provenance-cleanup lead, not evidence that A6 and B1 are the same event or same object.
• Local source-pack context groups A6 with the FBI Photo A-series PNG stills, but that grouping is catalog context only. It does not establish a shared sensor sequence, location, platform, or object track.

External provenance and official-source checks

• Direct official WAR.GOV fetches for the A6 image, the Release 01 CSV, and the Release 01 landing page returned 403 Forbidden during this check, so the audit relies on the verified official-primary release-file copy and external archive confirmation rather than a live official byte fetch.
• The Internet Archive CDX has a 200 capture for the official A6 image at 2026-05-08T18:07:13Z. Fetching that archived image returned 80,159 bytes, PNG magic bytes, and the same SHA-256 0686b305215d5a6ffe009dfbb06a6c7797d28e34880dfc682f4726ba7db30270.
• An archived Release 01 CSV snapshot from 2026-05-12T03:22:10Z contains a FBI Photo A6 row with type IMG, agency FBI, incident date Late 2025, incident location N/A, the same official PNG URL, and the same cautionary narrative description. The CSV physical line is 110, corresponding to data row 109 after the header.
• The A6 record has no DVIDS video ID, PDF pairing, video pairing, exact location, or mission report in the checked source/graph records. Any future community mirror or repost should be treated only as a lead unless it preserves the same official URL/hash provenance.

Prosaic checks and unresolved blockers

• Weather, astronomy, satellite, launch, air-traffic, and local-range checks cannot be responsibly run from this page alone because the release omits precise date/time, location, look direction, platform position, sensor settings, and field of view.
• The active prosaic lane is still-image/sensor handling: redaction, compression, display capture, reticle overlay, dust/debris near the optical path, hot/dead pixels or low-contrast image artifacts, and ordinary targets cannot be tested without adjacent frames or original sensor metadata.
• Follow-up evidence needed before escalation: mission report, operator notes, unredacted or less-redacted frames, adjacent frames before/after A6, original sensor metadata, and a reconciled row/hash mapping for the A-series/B-series photo records.

Audit note

This section was added after rereading the official description, OCR text, verified PNG, graph neighborhood, source-pack context, and official/archive web checks. No graph writes were made, and no finding, hypothesis, or resolution decision is implied.

Limits

• This page does not identify the dark feature as an aircraft, balloon, drone, bird, debris, ground object, sensor artifact, or any other cause.
• The still image alone does not show motion, speed, acceleration, heading, altitude, range, or physical size.
• The location is listed as N/A, so weather, astronomy, satellite, launch, and local air-traffic checks cannot be responsibly run from this page alone.
• Redactions remove surrounding display metadata and parts of the frame.
• The release/publication year context is 2026, but the incident window for this image is only stated as Late 2025.
• The official description itself says it should not be read as an analytical judgment, investigative conclusion, or factual determination.

Sources

• Official/source image URL: https://www.war.gov/medialink/ufo/release_1/fbi-photo-a6.png
• WAR.GOV / PURSUE Release 01 CSV/image asset record: FBI Photo A6, image asset row 112
• Open Sky release-file route: /api/explore/war-gov/release-file/war-gov-fbi-photo-a6-5a487c79
• Verified SHA-256: 0686b305215d5a6ffe009dfbb06a6c7797d28e34880dfc682f4726ba7db30270
• Open Sky source dataset: war_pursue_uap_release_2026_05_08
• Open Sky semantic dataset: war_pursue_release01_semantic_2026_05_12
• Graph exact records: ImageEvidence and Document records listed above

All statements on this page are source-text claims, direct visual observations from the released image, or review leads. This page is not an adjudication and not a resolution decision.