Was this "selfie" literally taken handheld with a cell phone by the person in the shot? Surely they wouldn't bring personal phones into the cockpit- and wouldn't they be wearing gloves anyway?
I haven't seen the new Top Gun, but I do remember a scene from the old one where they took a polaroid camera along with them in the cockpit. I don't know how realistic that was, but it seems plausible. Certainly I know of tons of soldiers who carried personal cameras to Iraq back in the day. You'd think a U-2 would be pretty locked down as far as what pilots are allowed to have, but it wasn't exactly a super secret m…
DOD has a bunch of PR teams. If a commander wants a photo from a mission and said photo passes review, it can be released. Check out some of the Air Force's excellent public photos here: https://www.af.mil/News/Photos/