DISCLOSURE / FILECENTCOM Spherical UAP April 2021 First Video
DOW-UAP-PR061, "Spherical UAP [CALLSIGN] 2021/04/12 vid 0"
A 4-minute, 46-second declassified video clip from a U.S. military infrared and full-motion video sensor, recorded over the CENTCOM area of responsibility in April 2021, shows an unresolved 'area of contrast' tracked briefly before becoming indistinct against the background.
Brief
DOW-UAP-PR061 is a classified-network video upload — title self-assigned by its anonymous uploader as 'Spherical UAP [CALLSIGN] 2021/04/12 vid 0' — released by the Department of War in response to an eight-member House request for 51 UAP-related records. AARO assesses the footage is 'likely derived from a full-motion video camera and an infrared sensor aboard a U.S. military platform' operating in the CENTCOM AOR in 2021. The object is described only as an 'area of contrast': it enters the sensor frame upper-right, is tracked to center, then becomes indistinct after a sensor mode change at the 4:01 mark. Chain-of-custody for this and related materials is explicitly flagged as unsubstantiated.
Metadata
- Agency
- Department of War
- Release
- 5/22/26
- Incident
- 2021
- Location
- CENTCOM
- Type
- VIDEO • .mp4
- Length
- 4:46
- Programs
- AARO
- Tags
- spherical, area of contrast, infrared, full-motion video, CENTCOM, 2021, classified network upload, callsign redacted
Key points
- Eight House members submitted a formal request on March 6, 2026 for access to 51 potentially UAP-related records held by the Department of War and the Intelligence Community.
- AARO located responsive materials on a classified network; many lack a substantiated chain-of-custody.
- The video was uploaded to a classified network by an unidentified user in June 2024 — roughly three years after the April 2021 incident date encoded in the file title.
- AARO assesses the sensor platform as a U.S. military asset operating within the CENTCOM area of responsibility.
- The contact is characterized throughout as an 'area of contrast,' not as a discrete craft or identified object.
- From 03:02 to 04:00 the sensor pans to track the contact and centers it in the frame; at 04:01 a sensor mode change causes the area of contrast to become indistinct against the background.
- The uploader-defined title contains a redacted callsign, and AARO provides no attribution or identification of the uploader.
- The video description carries an explicit disclaimer that it reflects no analytical judgment, investigative conclusion, or factual determination regarding the event's validity, nature, or significance.
Most interesting
- The word 'Spherical' in the file title originates from the anonymous uploader, not from any AARO analytical determination — the agency declines to endorse or refute that characterization.
- A three-year gap exists between the April 2021 incident date and the June 2024 classified-network upload, with no explanation offered for the delay in the public description.
- AARO's phrasing — 'likely derived from' rather than 'recorded by' — preserves deliberate hedge room on sensor provenance and chain-of-custody integrity.
- The redacted callsign in the title prevents open-source identification of the specific platform or unit that collected the footage.
- The sensor mode change at 04:01 that renders the contact indistinct is a recurring complication in UAP sensor analysis: mode transitions alter thermal contrast thresholds and can cause a previously trackable return to drop below the detection floor.