Abstract: A system and method is disclosed for determining the likelihood that two object patterns arise from the same object source. It is able to do this without having previously been exposed to either of the object patterns. This system utilizes an adaptive processor trained to make this determination using a large number of example patterns in different views and orientations. It accommodates large verifications of how an object source is presented in an image. The system also does not require the storage of any information about any particular pattern, which greatly minimizes the storage requirements and improves the throughput of the system. Further, there is no need for accessing a database of previously stored features from a given pattern source. The system is particularly useful for object patterns which consist of facial images. The system employs a new technique for locating an object of interest within a pattern using an adaptive processor to determine a region of interest.