Hi all,

Happy New Year! We took a short break but are happy to announce that the challenges are back. In this newsletter, we introduce our new topic, a research field that hasn’t been covered in the challenges so far…

We will also take a look back at December, when we launched a whole extra (hidden) set of challenges. Did you find them? We’ll now let you in on how to get there!

Because December marked our one-year anniversary, we thought it was about time for some feedback. We already spoke to some of you during our Challenges Office Hours on Discord. We discussed how we usually create the challenges and what you would like to see next. Did you miss the live chat? This feedback form is where we collect all your ideas, so we can take this input into the new year!

Curious about the background to the challenges? Galen spoke to Philip Bump about his newsletter How to Read This Chart. He elaborated on why we created the challenges and explained how each of the puzzles introduces you to new research techniques and tools.

February Challenge: Coded Landscapes

This month, we turned to Michael Colborne for inspiration. Michael is a Bellingcat researcher focused on monitoring the transnational far right. Alongside our Digital Hate and Harms Team, he has just released a new microsite to document and share information about symbols used by hate groups from around the world. https://monitoring-glossary.bellingcat.com/

You can find the new challenges here: challenge.bellingcat.com

Symbols play an important role in digital communities, but we also see the same symbols used in real-world situations. Examples of this can be found in many of our investigations, including our research into the online profiles of people involved in the January 6 breach of the US Capitol, for example.

A warning - It’s important to note that this challenge includes symbols used by hate groups. While searching for the answer, you might come across sources that include hateful content.

As always, our Discord server is the place to find others working on the challenges. Join us in the #challenges channel!

On February 11, we’ll be joined by researcher Logan Williams. He’ll attempt the challenges on our Youtube channel at 5pm CET.

December’s 2025 Archive

SPOILER ALERT: From this point on, we’ll be discussing last month’s challenges. If you still plan to complete them, you may want to skip this section.

Here are the answers to the “Archive 2025” challenges:

1. 07/01/2025

2. mass resignations

3. Wonsan

4. Pedro

5. 8904434

But there was more to it! Did you manage to find the hidden clues to the corrupted archive? In each of the exercises, we hid part of a URL. Conducting an error analysis using a website like Forensically allows you to find a QR code hidden in the photo included in ‘Multispectral Sightings’. 

The Corrupted Archive is still online. Want to check it out without uncovering every secret code yourself? You can do so here: https://challenge.bellingcat.com/corrupted-archive-n95OMwn144.html 

Let’s see how others solved the main challenges this month!

For ‘Multispectral sightings’, open source investigator Zahra Alqadasi turned to LinkedIn to share her approach. She highlighted some landmarks that could be identified in the picture, including some flames, extensive vegetation and a reservoir or small lake. Because of the fire, and the source of the image stating the photo was captured in 2025, she researched which forest fires occurred in 2025. In January of this year, large wildfires occurred in California. She matched the distinct features using Google Maps to find the exact location and through the False Color Urban composite layer in Copernicus Browser, confirmed it was captured on the date 07/01/2025.

In ‘Breaking News’, Hex Spidey began with a reverse image search of the provided photo, which led to a matching travel vlog filmed at the same location. The bridge and some nearby buildings were visible in the vlog, which confirmed the location as Nepal. The timeframe provided in the challenges immediately brought to mind the protests in Nepal that year. Looking for an Al Jazeera article on the 2025 Nepal protests, they managed to cross-reference the original photo with the lead image of an article that was taken in the same street.

‘Lost in Translation’ was our very first audio challenge! Faaiz Kaleem solved it using the LLM model Gemini. Uploading the mp3 file into the AI model, it provided a transcript of the audio, and established the languages spoken in the recording were Korean and Russian. The recording mentioned Wonsan, a city in North Korea, which proved to be the correct answer to the question. 

That Guy wrote on Medium how they solved ‘Climate Question’. Their method started by using reverse image search to locate matching photos online. An X thread helped to identify which panel was taking place. They verified it was the right session by looking at the individuals on stage and then watched the official recording to find the audience Q&A. By reviewing the video at the point where audience questions began, they identified that the first audience questioner’s first name was Pedro.

The blog El Rincón de Potas describes how to solve ‘The Frozen North’. Beginning with the environmental clues and port infrastructure in the photo, it suggests a remote Arctic location. Using AI-assisted leads, they cross-referenced different mapping tools like Google Earth, Sentinel Hub, and Planet Explore to confirm the site as the Nagurskoye base in Franz Josef Land. The next step, identifying the vessel, required them to make use of the date that was embedded in the file name of the challenge picture. When checks in maritime databases such as MarineTraffic and VesselFinder proved to be inconclusive, they leveraged geopolitical context. As it’s a Russian military base, it was assumed the vessel was likely Russian. Filtering for general cargo ships in a sanctions database provided a ship with matching features. 

And Finally…

GeoPeter posted more great videos tackling the challenges on his YouTube channel. Checking out his work is always a good idea, but it might be especially useful to do it before March…

That’s it for this month’s Bellingcat Challenge Newsletter. We’d love to hear your feedback on the challenges. You may also want to join us on Discord and let us know if you have ideas for future challenges.

If someone forwarded this newsletter to you and you’d like to subscribe, you can do that here.That’s it for this month’s Bellingcat Challenge Newsletter. We’d love to hear your feedback on the challenges. Join us on Discord and let us know if you have ideas for future challenges.

If someone forwarded this newsletter to you and you’d like to subscribe, you can do that here.

Elsewhere on Bellingcat

Before we go, here are some links to other exciting projects from Bellingcat:

• Alex Pretti: Analysing Footage of Minneapolis CBP Shooting

• Five Shots in Five Minutes: Analysing One Federal Agent’s Use of Less-Lethal Launcher in Minneapolis

• Analysing Footage of Minneapolis ICE Shooting

• Inside the Strike: The US Munition That Hit a Residential Building in Venezuela

• Identifying ‘Less-Lethal’ Weapons Used By DHS Agents in US Immigration Raids and Protests

See you next month!