UNCLASSIFIED // PUBLIC RELEASERELEASE 06 · SEPTEMBER 18, 2026
PENTAGON UFO FILE · VIDEO · DOW-UAP-PR133Unresolved UAP Report, Middle East, 2025
Central Command sent AARO this 4-minute-58-second infrared video from a U.S. military platform with a mission report, DOW-UAP-D107. In it, an operator described the object as looking “like a white round orbit… moving as fast as 500 miles per hour.” The date is inconsistent: the file is titled 2025 and the mission report is dated 2025, but AARO’s description says the footage is from 2024.
A long chase on screen
For the first two minutes the sensor follows a patch steadily, changing magnification and panning speed to keep it in the middle. At about 1:43 a rectangular “focus box” appears. AARO explains this is a graphical element of the sensor system, though its published sentence then says the box “does indicate a physical change in the environment,” which sits at odds with that explanation. Shortly after, the patch drops out of the bottom of the frame.
From then on the operator repeatedly loses and recovers it. An auto-tracking reticle switches on but fails to lock. After zooming out, the operator finds the patch again, now much smaller in the frame, and in the last half-minute it crosses and leaves through the top while the zoom cycles.
What it shows and doesn’t
The repeated losses show how hard the target was to hold, but the footage gives no independent measure of the speed the operator estimated. AARO draws no conclusion and lists the case as unresolved. See also MISREP.
The official description
From war.gov/UFO, released September 18, 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 4 minutes and 58 seconds of video footage from an infrared sensor aboard a U.S. military platform in 2024. An accompanying mission report, DOW-UAP-D107, described the UAP as “look[ing] like a white round orbit… moving as fast as 500 miles per hour.”
Video Description: 00:00-00:04: The sensor pans to track an area of contrast, keeping it generally centered within the frame. 00:05-00:50: The sensor decreases its level of magnification and continues to track the area of contrast, keeping it generally within the center of the frame. 00:51-01:21: The sensor decreases its level of magnification and adjusts its panning speed to track the area of contrast, keeping it generally within the center of the frame. 01:22-01:41: The sensor increases its level of magnification and adjusts its panning speed to track the area of contrast, keeping it generally within the center of the frame. 01:43-2:05: A rectangular digital overlay, or “focus box,” appears near the center of the frame. This display element is a graphical component of the sensor system and does indicate a physical change in the environment. The sensor pans to track the area of contrast, keeping it generally within the center of the frame before exiting the sensor field-of-view from the bottom edge. 02:06-02:21: The sensor pans across the scene and decreases its level of magnification. The area of contrast intermittently re-appears from the left edge of the frame. 02:22-02:28: The sensor pans across the scene, reacquiring the area of contrast. After the area of contrast re-enters the scene, the sensor continues to pan to track it, keeping it generally within the center of the frame. The sensor engages briefly stops panning and the area of contrast exits on the right side once again. 02:29-02:36: The sensor activates an auto-tracking reticle, which does not establish a lock on the area of contrast. After the auto-track reticle disengages, the sensor stops panning, causing the area of contrast to exit the frame from the right edge. 02:37-3:22: The sensor pans and requires the area of contrast, keeping it within its field-of-view before it exits the bottom edge of the frame. 3:23-4:29: The sensor continues to pan then zooms out and reacquires the area of contrast, now significantly smaller in the sensor’s field of view. The sensor continuously pans to keep the area of contrast in the field of view. 4:30-4:58: The sensor zooms in, and the area of contrast transits the field-of-view, exiting the top of the frame. The sensor cycles magnification levels multiple times.
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.