DISCLOSURE / FILECENTCOM Multi-Zoom Infrared Track October 2020
DOW-UAP-PR083, "7 October 2020 [CALLSIGN] observes UAP"
An AARO-assessed infrared video from a U.S. military platform in the CENTCOM area of responsibility, uploaded to a classified network in October 2020, released in response to a formal congressional records request covering 51 potentially UAP-related DoW and IC materials.
Brief
Eight members of the U.S. House of Representatives formally requested access to 51 potentially UAP-related records held by the Department of War and the Intelligence Community on March 6, 2026. AARO identified this 4:34-minute video as a responsive item and assessed it as likely captured by an infrared sensor aboard a U.S. military platform operating within CENTCOM in October 2020. The recording shows a sensor tracking an unidentified area of contrast through multiple zoom cycles and modality shifts before the signal loses distinctiveness at 4:09. Chain-of-custody documentation for this video and the broader 51-record collection is described as lacking substantiation.
Metadata
- Agency
- Department of War
- Release
- 5/22/26
- Incident
- 2020
- Location
- CENTCOM
- Type
- VIDEO • .mp4
- Length
- 4:34
- Programs
- AARO
- Tags
- infrared, CENTCOM, 2020, area of contrast, UAP video, multi-modal sensor, classified network upload, congressional release
Key points
- Eight U.S. House members formally requested access to 51 potentially UAP-related DoW and IC records on March 6, 2026, prompting AARO to identify this video as a responsive item on a classified network.
- AARO assesses the video is likely derived from an infrared sensor aboard a U.S. military platform operating within the United States Central Command area of responsibility in October 2020.
- The video was user-uploaded to a classified network in October 2020; the operator callsign in the uploader-defined title is redacted in the release.
- Chain-of-custody documentation is described as lacking substantiation across many of the 51 identified materials, including this video.
- The sensor cycles zoom levels and modalities multiple times during the recording, actively tracking the area of contrast until it loses distinctiveness against the background at the 4:09 mark.
- The area of contrast reappears on the right side of the sensor field-of-view at 4:27, after a no-content gap spanning 4:10 to 4:26.
- AARO explicitly disclaims that its video description constitutes any analytical judgment, investigative conclusion, or factual determination regarding the event's validity, nature, or significance.
Most interesting
- The operator callsign is redacted even in the declassified release, appearing only as '[CALLSIGN]' — a detail that limits any independent corroboration of the platform or crew.
- The sensor shifts between multiple modalities during the recording, suggesting active operator effort to characterize the contact rather than routine passive tracking.
- A no-content gap runs from 4:10 to 4:26 before the area of contrast reappears at 4:27 — the description offers no explanation for what the sensor was pointed at during that window.
- AARO's chain-of-custody caveat applies broadly to the entire 51-record congressional release set, not just this video, signaling systemic provenance gaps across the collection.
- The congressional request was jointly filed by eight House members and was specific enough to name 51 records — suggesting prior knowledge of the collection's existence, not a broad fishing inquiry.
- At 3:21, the sensor shifts modalities to pursue a 'faint' area of contrast — a degradation in signal strength that the description notes without interpretation.