AARO "Southeast Asia Triangles" UAP Case Resolution Report

AARO Report landing 2010s Official link verified

Summary

AI-assisted summary — not an official document and not authoritative. It condenses the machine-extracted text; the original is the only authoritative source. Generated by summary:claude-opus-4-8@v1; last reviewed 2026-05-28.

AARO's 'Southeast Asia Triangles' case resolution (17 March 2023). AARO assesses six triangular objects in 2017 satellite imagery, once flagged as a possible navigation hazard, were almost certainly static cone-shaped fishing nets.

AARO's case resolution report for the "Southeast Asia Triangles," dated 17 March 2023. Satellite imagery from 30 August 2017 showed six dark triangular objects in formation, originally flagged by an Intelligence Community member as potentially anomalous and a possible risk to navigation. AARO assesses the objects almost certainly are cone-shaped static fishing nets floating on the ocean surface. Its intelligence partners and three science-and-technology partners compared the 2017 image with clearer imagery of the same area from late 2022 and early 2023, confirmed the triangular shapes as fishing nets of about 11 by 7 meters, and noted downstream turbidity confirming the nets sit on the water. AARO's intelligence partners hold high confidence in the identification and assess the objects pose no hazard to navigation.

Common questions

What were the "Southeast Asia Triangles" that appeared in 2017 satellite imagery?
AARO assesses the six dark triangular objects in formation, originally flagged as potentially anomalous, were almost certainly cone-shaped static fishing nets floating on the ocean surface, each measuring approximately 11 by 7 meters.
How did AARO reach its conclusion about the Southeast Asia Triangles?
The report states AARO's intelligence and science-and-technology partners compared the 2017 satellite image with clearer imagery of the same area from late 2022 and early 2023, confirming the shapes as fishing nets, with downstream turbidity showing the nets sit on the water.
Did the Southeast Asia Triangles pose a navigation hazard?
AARO's report states its intelligence partners hold high confidence in the fishing-net identification and assess the objects pose no hazard to navigation.

Source & Classification

Record metadata

Record type
Report landing
Decade
2010s
Review status
published
Publication status
published

Official source link

https://www.aaro.mil/UAP-Cases/UAP-Case-Resolution-Reports/

Preservation copy (PDF) ⬇ · 691 KB · 2 pp A local preservation copy of this public-domain U.S.-government document. The official source above is authoritative.

Documents are linked to their official source pages, with a local preservation copy of the public-domain U.S.-government document where available; the official source is authoritative. Videos are linked, not hosted. Copyright and license notes are recorded per source.

Topics

Cite this record

All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO). "AARO "Southeast Asia Triangles" UAP Case Resolution Report". 2010s. Official source: https://www.aaro.mil/UAP-Cases/UAP-Case-Resolution-Reports/. Cataloged by the independent UAP Records Archive (not an official or government source): https://uap-archive.org/uap/records/aaro-southeast-asia-triangles/.

APA

All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO). (2010s). AARO "Southeast Asia Triangles" UAP Case Resolution Report. https://www.aaro.mil/UAP-Cases/UAP-Case-Resolution-Reports/

MLA

All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO). "AARO "Southeast Asia Triangles" UAP Case Resolution Report." 2010s, https://www.aaro.mil/UAP-Cases/UAP-Case-Resolution-Reports/.

Chicago

All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO). "AARO "Southeast Asia Triangles" UAP Case Resolution Report." 2010s. https://www.aaro.mil/UAP-Cases/UAP-Case-Resolution-Reports/.

BibTeX

@misc{uaprecords_aaro-southeast-asia-triangles,
  title  = {AARO "Southeast Asia Triangles" UAP Case Resolution Report},
  author = {All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO)},
  year   = {2010s},
  howpublished = {Official source: https://www.aaro.mil/UAP-Cases/UAP-Case-Resolution-Reports/},
  note   = {Cataloged by the independent UAP Records Archive — not an official or government source},
  url    = {https://uap-archive.org/uap/records/aaro-southeast-asia-triangles/}
}

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<figure style="max-width:600px;margin:0;">
  <a href="https://uap-archive.org/uap/records/aaro-southeast-asia-triangles/"><img src="https://uap-archive.org/og/records/aaro-southeast-asia-triangles.png" alt="AARO &quot;Southeast Asia Triangles&quot; UAP Case Resolution Report — UAP Records Archive" width="600" style="width:100%;height:auto;border:0;" loading="lazy"></a>
  <figcaption style="font-size:13px;line-height:1.5;">All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO). &quot;AARO &quot;Southeast Asia Triangles&quot; UAP Case Resolution Report&quot;. 2010s. Official source: https://www.aaro.mil/UAP-Cases/UAP-Case-Resolution-Reports/. Cataloged by the independent UAP Records Archive (not an official or government source): https://uap-archive.org/uap/records/aaro-southeast-asia-triangles/. <a href="https://uap-archive.org/uap/records/aaro-southeast-asia-triangles/">View record →</a></figcaption>
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Evidence

License note (source-level)

AARO content is US Department of Defense work, generally public domain under 17 U.S.C. §105. DoD seal and identity usage is governed by 18 U.S.C. §701 and DoD Directive 5410.20 and is not used by this archive. License treatment for specific linked documents will be assessed before any indexed or monetized release.

Archivist note

AARO’s case resolution report for the “Southeast Asia Triangles,” dated 17 March 2023. Satellite imagery from 30 August 2017 showed six triangular objects in formation, originally flagged as potentially anomalous and a possible risk to navigation. AARO assesses the objects almost certainly are cone-shaped static fishing nets floating on the ocean surface.

The full English text below is machine-extracted from the linked PDF for reference; the original document is authoritative. This archive links the official source and an archive snapshot, and does not reproduce the DoD or AARO visual identity.

Full text (machine-extracted)

Machine-extracted text (tool: unpdf@1.6.2), reviewed by user:opus-review on 2026-05-28. Derived from the linked PDF; the original PDF (see official source / archive) is authoritative.

— p. 1 — UNCLASSIFIED 1 UNCLASSIFIED All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office U.S. Department of Defense (U) Case: “Southeast Asia Triangles” Case Resolution | 17 March 2023 (U) Case Essentials (U) Six triangular objects in a formation were originally flagged as potentially anomalous and potentially posing a risk to navigation (U) Location: Southeast Asia (U) Date: 30 August 2017 (U) Altitude: N/A (U) Shape: Six dark triangles (U) Reporter: An Intelligence Community Member (U) Sensor: Satellite imagery (U) Behavior: Noted as possible risk to navigation (U) Case Status: Resolved; Objects are fishing nets on the ocean surface (U) Case Overview (U) AARO assesses that the subjects of the “Southeast Asia Triangles” case from 2017 almost certainly are cone-shaped, static fishing nets floating on the surface of the ocean. This conclusion is based on a thorough review of the evidence by AARO’s Intelligence and Science and Technology (S&T) Partners.  (U) The image was originally flagged as containing potentially anomalous objects and posing a risk to navigation. Additional imagery of the area from 2023 was discovered and collected.  (U) Both the Intelligence and S&T teams compared the size, shape, and location of the initial image to existing and subsequent images in the same region, and compared it to libraries of known morphologies. (U) Intelligence Assessment (U) AARO’s Intelligence partners examined the image and compared it to other imagery. Specifically, they located clearer images in the vicinity of the objects in question.  (U) The images from 2023 display several triangles and were confirmed to be static, cone-shaped fishing nets.  (U) These triangular fishing nets were compared to the black triangles from the 2017 imagery and it was confirmed that they are all are approximately the same size of about 11m x 7m. — p. 2 — UNCLASSIFIED 2 UNCLASSIFIED  (U) AARO’s Intelligence partners have high confidence in their identification of these objects and assess they do not pose a hazard to navigation. (U) Science & Technology Assessment (U) Three of AARO’s S&T partners agree that the objects imaged in 2017 are fishing nets. (U) S&T Partner One specifically noted that subsequent images were especially clear; the location and the size comparison were critical in determining the assessment. (U) S&T Partner Two acquired and analyzed other images of the same geographical area which revealed multiple similar triangular shapes taken in late 2022 and early 2023. These images also show significant downstream turbidity, confirming that these nets are on the water. (U) S&T Partner Three also found stock footage of fishing nets on the same river, which confirms the underlying analysis. (U) Figure 1: “Southeast Asia Triangles” Comparison

Uncertainty / Limits

Archive state (this release)

Record status
Official link verified
Review status
published
Publication status
published
Archive URL
Not archived in U3
Local copy
Preservation copy hosted on this site
Summary
Not published
Translation
Not published
Added to archive
Last revised
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Translation

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