DISCLOSURE / FILEEglin AFB Aircrew Infrared UAP February 13 2023
DOW-UAP-PR070, "IIR 1 655 S0301 23/Eglin AFB Aircrew Observed Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP) on 13 Feb 23"
A 30-second declassified infrared sensor video, uploaded to a classified network in March 2023, showing an unidentified area of contrast tracked by a U.S. military platform within the USNORTHCOM area of responsibility on February 13, 2023.
Brief
AARO released this footage in response to a March 6, 2026 congressional request — signed by eight House members — for access to 51 potentially UAP-related records held by the Department of War and the Intelligence Community. AARO assesses the video is likely derived from an infrared sensor aboard a U.S. military platform operating within the USNORTHCOM area of responsibility, though it stops short of any analytical or investigative conclusion about the object's nature. The 30-second clip shows the sensor actively panning to keep an area of contrast centered in its field-of-view while cycling through contrast modes, until the tracked target loses distinctiveness against the background at the 22-second mark. AARO explicitly notes that many records in this collection lack a substantiated chain-of-custody.
Metadata
- Agency
- Department of War
- Release
- 5/22/26
- Incident
- 2023
- Location
- Southeastern United States
- Type
- VIDEO • .mp4
- Length
- 0:30
- Programs
- AARO
- Tags
- infrared sensor, USNORTHCOM, 2023, Eglin AFB, IIR, contrast target, southeastern United States, airborne platform
Key points
- Eight U.S. House members formally requested access to 51 potentially UAP-related records from the Department of War and the Intelligence Community on March 6, 2026.
- AARO located responsive materials on a classified network and flagged that many of these records lack a substantiated chain-of-custody.
- AARO assesses the video is likely derived from an infrared sensor aboard a U.S. military platform operating within the USNORTHCOM area of responsibility in 2023.
- An unidentified user uploaded the video to a classified network in March 2023; the title was uploader-defined, not officially assigned.
- The sensor actively pans throughout the 30-second clip to keep an area of contrast centered in its field-of-view, cycling through contrast modes multiple times.
- At the 22-second mark, the tracked area of contrast loses distinctiveness against the background, effectively ending sensor lock.
- AARO explicitly declines to interpret its own video description as reflecting any analytical judgment, investigative conclusion, or factual determination about the event's validity or significance.
Most interesting
- The file title — 'IIR 1 655 S0301 23' — follows imagery intelligence report naming conventions, suggesting the footage may have originated within a formal ISR collection workflow before being uploaded informally to a classified network.
- AARO's chain-of-custody caveat is notable: it signals that the provenance of this and surrounding records cannot be verified, which complicates any attribution of the footage to a specific sensor platform or mission.
- The sensor's active contrast-mode cycling during the 30-second clip is consistent with mid-wave or long-wave infrared systems attempting to resolve a low-signature target against a cluttered thermal background.
- The congressional request that triggered this release — eight members, 51 records — suggests a coordinated legislative push rather than a routine FOIA, marking one of the more direct post-disclosure-era demands on the Department of War's UAP holdings.
- Eglin AFB, named in the title, hosts the Air Force's largest overland test range and multiple airborne ISR platforms, making it a plausible origin point for the sensor system depicted.