The United States Navy Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena Task Force (UAPTF) transferred this media to the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) in 2022. The video contains 2 minutes and 57 seconds of footage likely captured by an infrared sensor aboard a U.S. military platform in 1996.
The case was submitted to the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) for formal assessment as part of the office's centralized UAP reporting pipeline. AARO reviews all reports submitted by military branches, intelligence agencies, and other government bodies, applying standardized analytical criteria to determine whether observed objects or phenomena can be identified as conventional aircraft, drones, atmospheric phenomena, or sensor artifacts, or whether they exhibit genuinely anomalous characteristics warranting further investigation.
This material was among records identified in response to Congressional oversight requests and was publicly released as part of the Department of War's disclosure initiative. The release is intended to promote transparency and enable independent analysis of UAP-related records held by the U.S. government.
No formal data handling practices for UAP-related records existed at the time this media was reported to the UAPTF. This media was digitally altered before being reported to the UAPTF, and is presented as it was received by AARO.00:01-00:13: No content.00:14-00:17: An area of contrast transits the sensor field-of-view, entering near the upper right corner and exiting near the lower left corner of the frame.00:18-01:21: The footage repeats frame-by-frame.01:22-02:13: The footage repeats at a slower playback speed.02:14-02:56: The footage holds on a frame extracted from the first 17 seconds of the video.This video description is provided for informational purposes only. Readers should not interpret any part of this description as reflecting an analytical judgment, investigative conclusion, or factual determination regarding the described event's validity, nature, or significance.
This video description is provided for informational purposes only. Readers should not interpret any part of this description as reflecting an analytical judgment, investigative conclusion, or factual determination regarding the described event's validity, nature, or significance.
The official conclusion of AARO is that this case remains an unresolved UAP report. The available evidence does not provide sufficient information to conclusively identify the phenomenon as any specific conventional platform, nor does it contain observable characteristics that can be definitively categorized as anomalous. The designation "unresolved" reflects the determination that the available evidence is insufficient to reach a positive identification or to rule out conventional explanations.
This case is representative of a category of AARO reports where the duration and quality of the available data are inadequate to support a definitive analytical conclusion. Such cases remain open in AARO's case management system and may be revisited if additional data becomes available.
- Q.01What was the true nature and origin of the observed phenomenon? Without independent sensor data -- including radar tracking, electronic warfare system returns, or corroborating optical observations -- it is impossible to determine the object's range, velocity, altitude, or physical composition.
- Q.02What additional sensor data from the recording platform exists but has not been publicly released? Military and intelligence platforms typically carry multiple sensor systems operating simultaneously. Whether radar, electronic support measures, or other onboard sensors captured contemporaneous data has not been addressed in any official public statement.
- Q.03What information has been redacted from this record, and how does that redaction affect the completeness of the public record? The presence of redacted elements in the released material means that the public cannot fully assess the operational context.
- Q.04Have any subsequent incidents in the same area or involving similar characteristics been linked to this case? A comprehensive cross-referencing of UAP reports with matching signatures has not been conducted publicly.