A study by Ukraine’s Main Astronomical Observatory has shed new light on strange, fast-moving aerial objects. Using high-tech imaging methods, scientists observed UAPs—unidentified aerial phenomena—in three very different settings. The work highlights objects that trot across our skies with speeds above 2.5 Mach and seem as dark as a bare black cloth.

In one set of tests, astronomers set up two camera stations in Kyiv and in the village of Vinarivka. Daylight shots recorded bright and dark objects with large, spinning and structured shapes. One object was seen by both cameras at nearly the same moment. A small shift in view, measured with simple trigonometry, fixed the object’s distance at about 1,130 kilometers. With an estimated size of around 3 kilometers, it blurred the line between a fleeting light and a vast, moving mass. The object, which moved at a speed of 78 km per second, shows little reflection of the sun. Its albedo comes in at around three percent—features of a very dark body in the sky.

A second case comes from the realm of the Moon. A French astronomer once shared a video capturing three objects that raised above the lunar edge. One object crossed the Moon’s face and even cast a clear shadow on the great Endymion crater. Measurements suggest it stretches nearly 8 kilometers long and is a few kilometers wide. The research team’s own color studies, made on the Moon’s light and that of the object, back up these size estimates. The lunar scenes confirm that these fast objects appear stark and dark when lit by the Sun.

The third case arose in a war zone. On a night patrol, a DJI Mavic 3T drone recorded a dark, disk-shaped object over Ukraine’s troubled ground. Its shape was broad and its edge blurred. Video frames, taken in infrared light, show that the object was spotted near the horizon at an altitude of about 8 kilometers. Over a brief 17-second watch, it sped 14 kilometers at roughly 2.5 times the speed of sound. Its measured width is near 6 kilometers, with a height of about 1.5 kilometers. Despite low contrast and a nearly pure-black look, the study team made careful note of the body’s distance and speed with fine-tuned, millisecond-accurate camera shots.

Every set of observations paints a similar picture. The objects—dubbed “Cosmics” if bright and “Phantoms” if dark—run at tremendous speeds and are vast in size. They dwell in the skies above our cities, near the Moon and in combat zones alike. Though they echo the looks of great, floating islands in the sky, the study yields only firm data. Advanced camera work, synchronized at the one millisecond level, and careful color tests back the claims.

The study shows that these dark bodies, with their low sunlit gleam and great pace, are real objects whose mystery endures. Observers in varied settings—from city skies and lunar edges to active battlefields—share the same impressing traits: high speed, large mass, and a stark, almost black look. The search for answers about these wandering giants will no doubt spur more work and more careful watch over the firmament.