DISCLOSURE / FILEEast Coast NORTHCOM 34-Second Infrared December 2019
DOW-UAP-PR086, "UAP from Dec 2019 (East Coast)"
A 34-second infrared video uploaded to a classified network in September 2020, assessed by AARO as likely captured from a U.S. military platform over NORTHCOM airspace in December 2019.
Brief
Eight House members submitted a formal access request on March 6, 2026 for 51 potentially UAP-related records held by the Department of War and the Intelligence Community. AARO identified responsive materials on a classified network but flagged that many lack a substantiated chain-of-custody. The agency assesses this video was likely recorded by an infrared sensor aboard a U.S. military platform operating within U.S. Northern Command airspace in December 2019, then uploaded by an unidentified user to a classified network nine months later in September 2020. The 34-second clip captures a sensor tracking an area of contrast, a mid-clip contrast-mode switch, and a final 10-second segment containing no content.
Metadata
- Agency
- Department of War
- Release
- 5/22/26
- Incident
- 2019
- Location
- NORTHCOM
- Type
- VIDEO • .mp4
- Length
- 0:34
- Classification
- UNCLASSIFIED
- Programs
- AARO
- Tags
- infrared, NORTHCOM, East Coast, 2019, classified-network-upload, area-of-contrast, contrast-mode-switch, DOW-UAP-PR086
Key points
- AARO assessed the video as likely derived from an infrared sensor aboard a U.S. military platform operating within NORTHCOM in 2019 — language that stops short of confirming platform identity, sensor model, or recording unit.
- The video was uploaded to a classified network by an unidentified user in September 2020, approximately nine months after the December 2019 incident; no uploader identity or chain-of-custody is provided.
- AARO explicitly noted that many of the 51 responsive materials identified across the collection lack a substantiated chain-of-custody, raising provenance concerns for the broader release tranche.
- The sensor switches contrast modes during the tracking segment (00:03-00:21), a detail that complicates optical interpretation of the tracked object or phenomenon.
- Nearly 30 percent of the video's total runtime — the final 10 seconds (00:24-00:34) — contains no content.
- The congressional access request, dated March 6, 2026 and signed by eight House members, targeted 51 records held jointly by the Department of War and the Intelligence Community.
Most interesting
- The uploader is identified only as 'a user' — no rank, unit, or affiliation is provided, and the chain-of-custody is explicitly flagged as unsubstantiated by AARO.
- The nine-month gap between the December 2019 incident and the September 2020 classified-network upload is unexplained in any released material.
- AARO's published description closes with a formal disclaimer stating it should not be interpreted as an analytical judgment, investigative conclusion, or factual determination — an unusually explicit hedge for a government release document.
- The video's uploader-defined title, 'UAP from Dec 2019 (East Coast),' is the only geographic specificity offered; AARO's own assessment refers only to the broader NORTHCOM area of responsibility.
- The sensor pans twice to track an area of contrast (00:00-00:02 and 00:22-00:23), suggesting the phenomenon was maneuvering or that the operator was acquiring and re-acquiring a target.