DISCLOSURE / FILECENTCOM Infrared Track Dual Redacted Callsigns August 2020
DOW-UAP-PR092, "08 AUG 2020 [CALLSIGN] [CALLSIGN] UAP observation"
A 4-minute, 52-second infrared video uploaded anonymously to a classified network in August 2020, capturing an unidentified area of contrast in the CENTCOM area of responsibility, released by AARO in response to a March 2026 congressional records request.
Brief
AARO assessed this video -- whose uploader-defined title redacts both operator callsigns -- as likely derived from an infrared sensor aboard a U.S. military platform operating in the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility in August 2020. It surfaced as part of a 51-record collection requested by eight House members on March 6, 2026; AARO notes many materials in that collection lack a substantiated chain-of-custody. The recording shows an unidentified area of contrast entering the frame from the lower right, exiting lower left within approximately four seconds, then being actively tracked and repeatedly zoomed by the sensor for the remaining runtime. AARO explicitly declines to characterize the event's validity, nature, or significance.
Metadata
- Agency
- Department of War
- Release
- 5/22/26
- Incident
- 2020
- Location
- CENTCOM
- Type
- VIDEO • .mp4
- Length
- 4:53
- Programs
- AARO
- Tags
- infrared, CENTCOM, 2020, area-of-contrast, classified-network-upload, congressional-request, callsigns-redacted, unresolved
Key points
- AARO assessed the video as likely derived from an infrared sensor aboard a U.S. military platform operating in the CENTCOM area of responsibility in 2020.
- The video entered AARO's inventory as a user upload to a classified network in August 2020 -- not through a formal UAP incident reporting channel.
- Both operator callsigns in the uploader-defined title are redacted, obscuring the recording platform and personnel.
- AARO issued a chain-of-custody caveat: many of the 51 materials in this congressional-request collection lack substantiated provenance.
- Eight U.S. House members triggered this release on March 6, 2026 by formally requesting access to 51 potentially UAP-related records held by the Department of War and the Intelligence Community.
- The area of contrast traverses the full sensor frame in roughly four seconds before the sensor pans to reacquire and sustain track.
- The sensor deploys repeated zoom cycles and at least one visual-settings change over approximately four minutes to maintain contact with the phenomenon.
Most interesting
- The area of contrast crosses the full sensor field-of-view in under four seconds (entering at 00:48, exiting by 00:52-00:53), implying high angular velocity relative to the recording platform.
- AARO's chain-of-custody caveat is analytically significant: the agency assessed the video's likely origin while simultaneously declining to certify its provenance -- an unusual hedge that stops short of treating the recording as verified evidence.
- The sensor switches visual settings at the 04:08 mark, consistent with toggling between white-hot and black-hot infrared modes, suggesting the operator was actively working to improve contrast on the target.
- The video entered AARO's inventory as an anonymous user upload to a classified network rather than a filed incident report, raising questions about how informally flagged content factors into the office's investigative inventory.
- AARO's use of 'area of contrast' rather than 'object' or 'UAP' throughout the description reflects the office's deliberate withholding of any shape, material, or behavioral attribution to the phenomenon.
- The recording contains 47 seconds of dead footage before the phenomenon appears, consistent with a sensor that was already recording for an unrelated purpose when the object entered the frame.