UNCLASSIFIED // PUBLIC RELEASERELEASE 05 · AUGUST 7, 2026
PENTAGON UFO FILE · VIDEO · DOW-UAP-PR120Unresolved UAP Report, Gulf of Oman, 2021
This 13-second clip is one of six phone recordings of an AC-130J gunship’s infrared display made over the Gulf of Oman on September 8, 2021, during a nighttime live-fire training flight by U.S. Special Operations Forces. Because it is a recording of a screen rather than the sensor’s own data, AARO cautions that resolution and fidelity are reduced and some blurring or flickering comes from the filming itself.
What happens here
For the first eight seconds a patch stays near the center of the picture while pieces of the display’s on-screen symbols drift in and out of view. Then the operator changes sensor mode twice in quick succession, and the patch becomes harder to distinguish from the background.
Why that matters
The crew’s intelligence report, DOW-UAP-D101, described the objects as “cold orbs” about four feet across; on an infrared display, “cold” would ordinarily mean cooler than the surroundings, though the report as summarized does not elaborate. How a target looks depends heavily on the mode and contrast settings, so a change of mode alone can make it seem to vanish, a point AARO makes in another file, DOW-UAP-PR115. The record does not say why the operator switched or what was seen afterward, and AARO lists the event as unresolved.
The official description
From war.gov/UFO, released August 7, 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 13 seconds of video footage. This footage is a secondary capture, recorded via a cellular device, of an infrared sensor display aboard a U.S. Special Operations Forces AC-130J Gunship. This footage does not represent native primary sensor data, and the secondary recording method introduces limitations in fidelity, resolution, and overall visual quality. Artifacts inherent to filming a screen, such as blurring or flickering, may be present. The footage contained within DOW-UAP-PR117 through DOW-UAP-PR122 was captured contemporaneously. An accompanying Intelligence Information Report, DOW-UAP-D101, describes the phenomena as “cold orbs” approximately four feet in diameter.
Video description:
00:00-00:08: An area of contrast remains generally within the center of the sensor field-of-view. Visual elements of the sensor display enter and exit the frame throughout the duration of the video.
00:08-00:13: The sensor changes modalities twice and the area of contrast loses distinctiveness against the background.
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.