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| Format: | Recurso digital |
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Zenodo
2026
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.19008566 |
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Table of Contents:
- <p>Orb-like aerial phenomena reported by aviation personnel have been documented for decades, yet the environmental conditions associated with these observations remain poorly characterized. Prior corridor-based analyses suggested that such reports recur within certain operational aviation environments, particularly within the Arizona military training region. However, trajectory surveys do not support a simple funneling model in which observed objects converge toward a single central corridor.</p> <p>This study proposes and preregisters a revised hypothesis: that orb observations are associated with the <strong>operational regime of the observer aircraft and the recent aircraft activity in the same airspace region</strong>. The Arizona military training range is used as the primary study environment because previous recurrence analysis identified it as the strongest signal among surveyed military aviation corridors.</p> <p>The study classifies orb observations according to the activity of the observer aircraft at the time of the encounter and the recent operational intensity of the surrounding airspace. Orb morphology is defined broadly to include compact smooth-form aerial objects such as spherical, oval, tic-tac-like, and similarly rounded shapes, whether luminous or non-luminous. Behavior coding includes pacing, hovering, crossing motion, abrupt directional shifts, and route-parallel motion.</p> <p>Predictions include underrepresentation of sightings near static ground infrastructure, increased pacing behavior during high-speed transit operations, increased abrupt directional changes during maneuver training, and correlations between sightings and a derived Flight-Regime Intensity Score representing recent aircraft activity. Null models include random spatial distribution, aviation exposure models, and reporting-opportunity controls.</p> <p>The purpose of the study is to determine whether orb sightings exhibit structured relationships with aircraft operational environments rather than representing random occurrence or simple reporting bias.</p>