UNCLASSIFIED // PUBLIC RELEASERELEASE 02 · MAY 22, 2026
PENTAGON UFO FILE · VIDEO · DOW-UAP-PR08020 October 2020 [CALLSIGN] [CALLSIGN] Observes UAP
This recording, titled “20 October 2020 [CALLSIGN] [CALLSIGN] Observes UAP,” has an unusual rhythm. Instead of one long track, AARO lists a string of very brief events, most lasting a second or two, spread across the five-minute file. The office places it in U.S. Central Command’s area in 2020 and believes an infrared sensor on a U.S. military platform made it. It was posted to a classified network that same October.
A pattern of brief crossings
The first event comes at 01:17, when a patch of contrast enters at the top right and the operator pans toward it, then away. From 02:45 onward the crossings come more often: at 03:12 and 03:20 contrast areas cut diagonally from the upper right to the lower left; at 02:45, 03:40 and 04:02 they pass through the lower right toward the bottom middle; at 03:35 one crosses the lower right; and at 04:22 one crosses the lower left. After five of them the sensor changes mode or attempts to track, without AARO recording a successful track.
The description does not say whether these are several objects or the same one passing repeatedly through the view.
What can be taken from it
Without range or heading data, which the release does not provide, there is no way to judge from these fleeting crossings what the objects were, and AARO proposes no explanation. AARO stresses its timeline is not an analytical judgment. For infrared sensors, see FLIR; other footage is at videos.
The official description
From war.gov/UFO, released May 22, 2026, quoted in full
On March 6, 2026, eight members of the U.S. House of Representatives requested access to 51 potentially UAP-related records allegedly held by the Department of War and the Intelligence Community. The All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) identified a collection of responsive materials held on a classified network. Many of these materials lack a substantiated chain-of-custody.
AARO assesses that this video, whose uploader-defined title is, “20 October 2020 [CALLSIGN] [CALLSIGN] Observes UAP,” is likely derived from an infrared sensor aboard a U.S. military platform operating within the United States Central Command area of responsibility in 2020. A user uploaded this video to a classified network in October 2020.
Video Duration: 00:04:54 Video Description: 01:17-01:21: An area of contrast enters the sensor field-of-view from the top right of the screen. The sensor pans toward the object, then pans away. 02:45-02:46: An area of contrast transits the sensor field-of-view across the bottom right quarter to the bottom middle edge of the screen. 03:12-03:13: An area of contrast transits the sensor field-of-view from the top right quarter to the bottom left quarter, after which the sensor changes modes and attempts to track the area of contrast. 03:20-03:21: An area of contrast transits the sensor field-of-view from the top right quarter to the bottom left quarter, after which the sensor changes modes and attempts to track the area of contrast. 03:35-03:36: An area of contrast transits the sensor field-of-view across the bottom right quarter, after which the sensor attempts to track the area of contrast. 03:40-03:41: An area of contrast transits the sensor field-of-view across the bottom right quarter to the bottom middle edge of the screen, after which the sensor attempts to track the area of contrast. 04:02-04:03: An area of contrast transits the sensor field-of-view across the bottom right quarter to the bottom middle edge of the screen, after which the sensor attempts to track the area of contrast. 04:22-04:23: An area of contrast transits the sensor field-of-view across the bottom left quarter.
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.