"U/I small thermal signature": an operator-annotated infrared track (Arabian Gulf, 2020)
CENTCOM submitted 1 min 3 s of infrared video from a U.S. military platform. At 00:10 the original reporter paused the video and drew a white line around the area of interest, labelling it "U/I SMALL THERMAL SIGNATURE". From 00:15 to 01:03 the sensor tracks the contrast through several contrast and zoom settings, keeping it in the top third of the display. AARO says it published the material as received, with the annotation intact. *Method note: war.gov blocks this server, and the video itself was not viewed. Everything in this write-up comes from the official war.gov description, as reproduced and summarised on the ufotransparency.com mirror page. The same clip is published on DVIDS (linked below). Location is the incident location shown in the war.gov listing, as carried on the mirror page. The official description states that it is "informational" and not "an analytical judgment, investigative conclusion, or factual determination".*
Evidence, in date order (1)
- 2020U.S. Central Command (via AARO, PURSUE)sensor datainfrared video DOW-UAP-PR40 released by the Department of War DOW-UAP-PR40 (war.gov), mirror page with the official description
How plausible · High
Released official sensor footage of unresolved contrasts; no identified witness or independent backing, but the data itself is real. The operator annotated it "U/I small thermal signature".
- ●●Access A U.S. military sensor recorded it.
- ●●No gain sought Released by the government; nobody profits.
- ●●Checkable details check out Released on war.gov (PURSUE).
- ●●Physical traces or official reaction Instrument data: the clip itself.
- ●○Restraint The uploader's title frames it as UAP without explaining it.
- ●○Character record An official record, uploader unnamed.
Plausibility weighs how well an account fits where secrecy hides the documents by design, so missing records never count against it. Strength measures what is documented. Assessed 2026-10-23.
On the record
- Reporting chain: U.S. Central Command submitted the case to AARO. (DOW-UAP-PR40, official description as summarised by the mirror)
- Sensor: infrared, aboard a U.S. military platform. (DOW-UAP-PR40, official description as summarised by the mirror)
- Duration: one minute and three seconds of video. (DOW-UAP-PR40, official description as summarised by the mirror)
- Year of incident: 2020; location: Arabian Gulf / Middle East. (DOW-UAP-PR40, official description as summarised by the mirror)
- At timestamp 00:10 the original reporter paused playback and drew a white line around the area of interest, annotated "U/I SMALL THERMAL SIGNATURE." (DOW-UAP-PR40, official description as summarised by the mirror)
- From 00:15-01:03 the sensor pans to track the contrast area, cycling through several contrast and zoom settings. (DOW-UAP-PR40, official description as summarised by the mirror)