Disclosed

"[CALLSIGN] (Mission) - HD 2020-02-13"

Date
2020
Place
CENTCOM
Record
Pentagon file
Assessment
Not assessed
Evidence strength
467 case pages by decade; this one falls in 2020s with 169 othersAll cases

What was reported

Video released by AARO under the PURSUE program (release 2), uploader-titled "[CALLSIGN] (Mission) - HD 2020-02-13". AARO attributes the footage to an electro-optical and infrared sensor aboard a U.S. military platform operating within the United States Central Command area of responsibility in 2020. The blurb's shot-by-shot description records an unresolved sensor track of an "area of contrast" over 00:04:59 of footage, with panning, zooming and mode changes but no resolved shape, size or performance data. A user first uploaded the file to a classified network in February 2020; the PURSUE release is its first appearance found in the open record.

What officials concluded

Unresolved

The file gives no official explanation.

Agency
Department of War
Released in

Evidence profile

Sensors1 of 9
  • No: Visual
  • Yes: Infrared
  • No: Radar
  • No: Video
  • No: Photo
  • No: Film
  • No: Audio
  • No: Night vision
  • No: Other sensor
Witnessescount not stated
  • No: Civilian
  • Yes: Military aircrew
  • No: Military ground
  • No: Airline crew
  • Yes: Sensor operator
  • No: Law enforcement
  • No: Scientist
  • No: Astronaut
  • No: Intelligence official
  • No: Other
Shapenot stated
  • No: Light only
  • No: Orb or sphere
  • No: Disc
  • No: Triangle
  • No: Cylinder
  • No: Cube
  • No: Other shape
Effectsnone reported
  • No: Physiological
  • No: Physical trace
  • No: Electromagnetic
  • No: Sound
  • No: Silent

Why this rating Single-sensor electro-optical/infrared video from one military platform; the government's own shot-by-shot description records only an "area of contrast" being panned, zoomed and tracked, with no shape, size, speed or altitude data resolved. No radar, second platform or independent witness account is cited, and no conventional explanation is offered or ruled out in the blurb.

As described in the file

Witnesses
Sensor operator/aircrew (unnamed; callsign, platform and/or weapon system redacted in blurb)
Sensors
Electro-optical, infrared
Motion
Sensor pans/zooms to track a moving area of contrast; no speed data given
Duration
00:04:59

Pentagon files

1

What the file claims

1
  • Unverified

    AARO assesses the file's likely technical origin as: an electro-optical and infrared sensor aboard a U.S. military platform operating within the United States Central Command area of responsibility in 2020.

On the map

28.00° N, 55.00° E, plotted at the theatre of operations named in the file

Show on the map