DISCLOSURE / FILEAFSOC Kabul 17-Second Infrared Clip July 2017
DOW-UAP-PR064, "AFSOC Kabul UAP Jul 2017"
A 17-second infrared video uploaded to a classified network in June 2024, titled 'AFSOC Kabul UAP Jul 2017' by its uploader, shows a brief area of contrast crossing the sensor frame; AARO assesses the footage likely originates from a U.S. military platform in the CENTCOM area of responsibility.
Brief
On March 6, 2026, eight House members formally requested access to 51 potentially UAP-related records held by the Department of War and the Intelligence Community; AARO identified responsive materials on a classified network, many of which lack a substantiated chain-of-custody. This 17-second clip carries a user-defined title placing the incident in Kabul in July 2017 and was uploaded to a classified network seven years later, in June 2024. Of the full runtime, only two seconds (00:14-00:15) contain visible content: a single area of contrast entering from the left edge of the sensor frame and exiting at the right. AARO issues an explicit disclaimer that nothing in the video description constitutes an analytical judgment, investigative conclusion, or factual determination about the event.
Metadata
- Agency
- Department of War
- Release
- 5/22/26
- Location
- CENTCOM
- Type
- VIDEO • .mp4
- Length
- 0:18
- Classification
- UNCLASSIFIED
- Programs
- AARO, AFSOC
- Tags
- infrared, CENTCOM, Kabul, 2017, AFSOC, contrast-area, classified-network-upload, chain-of-custody gap
Key points
- Eight U.S. House members submitted a formal access request on March 6, 2026 covering 51 potentially UAP-related records held across the Department of War and the Intelligence Community.
- AARO identified responsive materials on a classified network but flags that many lack a substantiated chain-of-custody.
- The video's title — 'AFSOC Kabul UAP Jul 2017' — is uploader-defined, not an official military or intelligence designation.
- A user uploaded the footage to a classified network in June 2024, creating a seven-year gap between the claimed incident date and the upload.
- AARO assesses the footage likely derives from an infrared sensor aboard a U.S. military platform operating within the CENTCOM area of responsibility.
- 13 of the clip's 17 seconds contain no content; the area of contrast appears only in the window from 00:14 to 00:15.
- AARO's formal disclaimer states the description does not reflect any analytical judgment, investigative conclusion, or factual determination regarding the event's validity, nature, or significance.
Most interesting
- The seven-year lag between the claimed incident (July 2017) and the classified-network upload (June 2024) is one of the chain-of-custody gaps AARO explicitly flags for this collection.
- Thirteen of the clip's seventeen seconds are blank — the UAP occupies a two-second window at the very end of the recording.
- The uploader, not any official body, named the file; that attribution carries the full weight of the provenance record, which AARO declines to validate.
- AARO's boilerplate disclaimer is unusually prominent here — its explicit placement suggests the office is distancing itself from any interpretive claim about what the contrast area represents.
- The March 6, 2026 congressional request spanned 51 records, signaling a coordinated legislative push rather than inquiry into a single incident.