BRIGHT STAR 25 Exercise, September 8, 2025
What This Image Shows
A screenshot of a U.S. Central Command news release dated Sept. 8, 2025 -- two days before the shooting.
The text reads: "U.S. Air Force Airmen demonstrated aeromedical evacuation operations to Egyptian Air Force service members during exercise BRIGHT STAR 25, showcasing lifesaving skills in combat and humanitarian environments. The training scenario simulated patient loading and in-flight medical care, giving crews opportunities to rehearse complex, time-sensitive missions. BRIGHT STAR, first held in 1980, is one of the largest and longest-running military exercises in the Middle East. The aeromedical evacuation training highlighted the U.S.-Egypt par[tnership]..."
This is an official United States military release and it is one of the most important pieces of context in the Egyptian aircraft thread. It establishes that a major, decades-old joint exercise between American and Egyptian forces was running in the same window as the Provo visit -- which is a documented, published reason for Egyptian Air Force aircraft and personnel to be moving in coordination with United States counterparts in early September 2025.
That does not explain why an Egyptian government jet sat at Provo specifically, and BRIGHT STAR is conducted in Egypt rather than in Utah. But any serious reading of the flight pattern has to account for an active bilateral exercise on the same dates.
See Egyptian Armada and the maintenance contract on Photo 97.
Related Areas
- Cluster: Aircraft and Flight Evidence
- Section: Planes
- All photo evidence: Photos