DISCLOSURE / FILEANG F-16C Shoots Down UAP Lake Huron 2023
DOW-UAP-PR071, "USAF ANG F-16C (callsign [CALLSIGN]) Shoots Down UAP over Lake Huron with [Weapon System], 12 Feb 2023"
A 46-second infrared video retrieved from a classified network and released by the Department of War on 22 May 2026, depicting what AARO assesses as likely a U.S. military sensor recording of a kinetic engagement over Lake Huron — the uploader-defined title naming a USAF ANG F-16C shoot-down of a UAP on 12 February 2023.
Brief
DOW-UAP-PR071 was surfaced in response to a March 6, 2026 request by eight House members seeking access to 51 potentially UAP-related records held by the Department of War and the Intelligence Community. AARO identified the video on a classified network and assessed it as likely derived from an infrared sensor aboard a U.S. military platform in the NORTHCOM area of responsibility. The uploader-defined title claims an Air National Guard F-16C — callsign and weapon system both redacted — shot down a UAP over Lake Huron on February 12, 2023. At the 20-second mark, the footage appears to show the primary subject fragmenting in a radial displacement pattern that AARO's description characterizes as consistent with a high-energy event, though AARO explicitly disclaims any analytical or investigative conclusion about the event.
Metadata
- Agency
- Department of War
- Release
- 5/22/26
- Incident
- 2023
- Location
- NORTHCOM
- Type
- VIDEO • .mp4
- Length
- 0:47
- Programs
- AARO
- Tags
- UAP, infrared sensor, Lake Huron, 2023, kinetic engagement, NORTHCOM, F-16C, ANG, shoot-down, radial fragmentation
Key points
- Eight House members formally requested access to 51 potentially UAP-related records on March 6, 2026; this video was among the responsive materials AARO located on a classified network.
- AARO notes that many of the 51 materials lack a substantiated chain-of-custody, a caveat that applies to this video.
- AARO assesses the video as likely derived from an infrared sensor aboard a U.S. military platform operating within the NORTHCOM area of responsibility in 2023 — stopping short of any harder attribution.
- The video is 46 seconds long and was uploaded to a classified network in February 2023, the same month as the incident date named in the uploader-defined title.
- At the 20-second mark, the footage appears to depict a kinetic interaction between two distinct areas of contrast, with the primary subject fragmenting in a radial displacement pattern described as suggesting a high-energy event.
- Both the callsign and the weapon system named in the uploader-defined title are redacted in the public release, appearing as [CALLSIGN] and [Weapon System].
- AARO explicitly states the video description is provided for informational purposes only and that readers should not interpret it as reflecting an analytical judgment, investigative conclusion, or factual determination.
Most interesting
- The uploader-defined title — preserved verbatim in the AARO release with [CALLSIGN] and [Weapon System] as placeholders — indicates the identity of the unit and munition are known but withheld, not absent.
- February 12, 2023 is the publicly documented date of the Lake Huron shootdown during a period when U.S. forces engaged multiple airborne objects over North America in rapid succession; the video's presence on a classified network from that month suggests near-real-time documentation.
- AARO applies the phrase 'areas of contrast' at every reference to the subjects in the footage, deliberately avoiding 'objects' or 'aircraft' — an epistemic hedge that withholds any judgment about what the infrared sensor actually captured.
- The 11-second and 20-second timestamps in AARO's official description impose a precise narrative on a 46-second clip, indicating analysts reviewed the footage closely enough to annotate specific moments without committing to their significance.
- The 51-record collection was identified on a classified network only after a congressional access request — not through AARO's own proactive resolution pipeline — raising the question of how many additional materials remain unindexed.