Aerial Observer- Air Force Reconnaissance. An Aerial Observer is the functional position of gathering information visually from an airborne platform for use by military or commercial purposes. This history started when the first balloons were flown in Europe. In the early twentieth century it developed with the invention of biplanes and mono-winged aircraft. During World War I and II there was a tremendous amount of intelligence gathered through these means. These crewmembers would use optical and photographic means to record their observations.