CENTCOM's Five-Second Infrared Anomaly, Arabian Gulf

Brief

In 2020, U.S. Central Command transmitted a five-second infrared clip — sourced from an unspecified military platform — to the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office as a formal UAP report. The reporting unit supplied no oral or written description; the entire evidentiary record is the video itself. The object registers as a faint area of contrast that enters the lower-right edge of the frame, traverses right-to-left across the corner, and exits near the center-bottom between the three- and five-second marks. AARO's published video description carries an explicit disclaimer that it reflects no analytical judgment, investigative conclusion, or factual determination about the event.

Metadata

Agency

Department of War

Release

5/8/26

Location

Arabian Gulf

Type

VIDEO • .mp4

Classification

UNCLASSIFIED

Programs

AARO

Tags

infrared, Arabian Gulf, 2020, faint contrast, right-to-left traverse, CENTCOM, AARO, no witness statement, low thermal differential

Key points

• Platform and sensor: an unidentified U.S. military asset operating under CENTCOM, equipped with an infrared sensor; platform type and altitude are not disclosed.
• The reporting unit provided zero oral or written description — the video was submitted as the sole evidence, which is atypical for a formal AARO report.
• UAP motion profile: right-to-left trajectory across the lower corner of the frame, entering from the bottom-right edge and exiting near the center-bottom; the visible event occupies only seconds 3-5 of the five-second clip.
• The object's infrared signature is described as a 'faint area of contrast,' suggesting a low thermal differential relative to the background — inconsistent with typical jet exhaust or engine heat at close range.
• AARO's release disclaimer explicitly distances the office from any interpretive claim, stating the description is 'provided for informational purposes only' and does not reflect analytical judgment, investigative conclusion, or factual determination.
• Filed under DOW-UAP-PR39 and released publicly on 2026-05-08 as part of the Department of War's UAP disclosure series.

Most interesting

• The submitting unit — CENTCOM — attached no description of any kind, leaving AARO to construct the entire record from raw footage alone; this represents a data-floor case for the disclosure archive.
• A two-second visibility window within a five-second clip implies either rapid transit through a narrow sensor field-of-view or an object that briefly became thermally detectable before fading.
• The Arabian Gulf operational zone is among the most sensor-saturated environments in U.S. military history; the failure to classify the contact is notable given the density of known assets in the region.
• The faint contrast profile on infrared is more consistent with a cool, slow-moving object or an artifact at range than with propulsion-driven flight at detectable speed — though AARO makes no such determination.
• No witness rank is recorded because no witness statement exists — the report chain skips the human attestation step entirely.