UNCLASSIFIED // PUBLIC RELEASERELEASE 01 · MAY 8, 2026
PENTAGON UFO FILE · VIDEO · DOW-UAP-PR042Unresolved UAP Report, Middle East, 2020
Central Command sent AARO this 4-minute-53-second infrared video, recorded in 2020 by a U.S. military platform over the Arabian Gulf, with no description from the reporter. It is one of several unexplained 2020 clips from the Gulf in the first PURSUE release, and parts of it are redacted.
An unsteady track
The patch first appears at the bottom left and the sensor follows it, keeping it in the lower left quarter of the frame. For almost half a minute it keeps losing definition against the background, seeming to vanish and reappear irregularly. After a zoom at 41 seconds, a patch leaves through the top of the frame and the operator swings the camera upward and leftward.
For more than a minute the sensor then pans erratically, while a patch stays in a fairly fixed spot just left of and below center. At 2:09 the operator switches imaging mode and the patch shows up to the right of and above center instead. When the mode changes again at 2:30, it returns to its earlier position and stays there to the end.
What to make of the jump
AARO does not explain the shift, but its timeline ties the change in position to the switches between imaging modes rather than to any movement it describes. The record offers no identification, no measurements and no witness account, and the case is listed as unresolved. “Area of contrast” is AARO’s deliberately neutral phrase for anything that stands out from the background in a sensor image; on an infrared camera that usually means something warmer or cooler than its surroundings.
The official description
From war.gov/UFO, released May 8, 2026, quoted in full
The United States Central Command submitted a report of an unidentified anomalous phenomenon to the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) consisting of four minutes and 53 seconds of video footage from an infrared sensor aboard a U.S. military platform in 2020. The reporter did not provide any oral or written description of the observation.
Video Description: 00:00-00:12: An area of contrast enters the sensor field-of-view from the bottom left corner of the frame. The sensor pans to track the area of contrast, keeping it generally within the lower left quadrant of the frame. 00:13-00:40: The area of contrast intermittently loses distinctiveness against the background, seeming to disappear and reappear irregularly. 00:41: The sensor narrows its field-of-view to zoom in on the area of contrast. 00:42-00:52: An area of contrast exits the sensor field-of-view from the left half of the top of the frame, after which the sensor pans up and to the left. 00:53-02:09: The sensor pans erratically, with an area of contrast appearing in a relatively fixed position to the left and slightly below the center of the frame. 02:09-02:29: The sensor switches imaging modalities, and the area of contrast appears to the right and slightly above the center of the frame. 02:30-04:53: The sensor switches imaging modalities again, and the area of contrast returns to its previous position to the left and slightly below the center of the frame.
This video description is provided for informational purposes only. Readers should not interpret any part of this description as reflecting an analytical judgment, investigative conclusion, or factual determination regarding the described event’s validity, nature, or significance.