UNCLASSIFIED // PUBLIC RELEASERELEASE 01 · MAY 8, 2026
PENTAGON UFO FILE · VIDEO · DOW-UAP-PR044Unresolved UAP Report, Middle East, 2020
This 5-minute-11-second infrared video was sent to AARO by Central Command, recorded aboard a U.S. military platform over the Arabian Gulf in 2020. It comes with no written account. Unusually for this series it has sound, but AARO warns that the audio was recorded incidentally and has nothing to do with what is on screen, so it should not be read as commentary on the target.
What the video shows
The first 30 seconds are blank. The sensor then tilts down and to the right onto a patch and follows it for about three minutes, keeping it close to the center. Throughout, the operator changes contrast and zoom, and each change shows up as a brief bright white flash across the picture.
Next the sensor cycles through reticles of different sizes, the boxes and crosshairs the tracking system draws around a target, while staying on the patch, which slips briefly off-center just after 4:20. The view then widens. At about 4:50 the sensor stops tracking and the patch leaves through the top left quarter. The final stretch is empty.
Context
The clip is long and steady, but it contains no range, speed or shape information, and AARO offers no assessment. 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. See also FLIR.
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 (UAP) to the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) consisting of five minutes and 11 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: This video features incidentally recorded audio, which does not relate to the visual content described below. 00:00-00:30: No content. 00:31-03:24: The sensor pans down and to the right to focus on an area of contrast. The sensor tracks the area of contrast against the background for approximately three minutes, panning to maintain its position generally within the center of the frame. The sensor cycles contrast and zoom levels several times throughout, appearing as brief, bright white flashes across the frame. 03:25-04:23: The sensor cycles through reticles of various sizes while continuing to track the area of contrast. Between 04:20 and 04:23, the area of contrast briefly leaves the center of the sensor field-of-view. 04:24-04:50: The sensor field-of-view widens to zoom out from the scene, continuing to track the area of contrast. 04:50-04:54: The sensor stops tracking the area of contrast, at which point it exits the frame from the top left quadrant of the screen. 04:55-05:11: No content.
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.