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DOW-UAP-PR045, Unresolved UAP Report, Middle East, 2020

The released record says the Department of the Air Force submitted a report of an unidentified anomalous phenomenon to the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) consisting of 58 seconds of video footage from an infrared sensor aboard a U.S. military platform in 2020. File: DOW-UAP-PR045, Unresolved UAP Report, Middle East, 2020. DOW-UAP-PR045, Unresolved UAP Report, Middle East, 2020 combines an official, playable video, 3 extracted claims, 1 evidence record, and 2 timeline entries, and file-level provenance that can be compared with related release records.

File
Video · Release 01
Date
2020
Location
Southern United States
Agency
Department of War

Probed Assessment

The released record says the Department of the Air Force submitted a report of an unidentified anomalous phenomenon to the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) consisting of 58 seconds of video footage from an infrared sensor aboard a U.S. military platform in 2020. File: DOW-UAP-PR045, Unresolved UAP Report, Middle East, 2020.

Key takeaways

  • The released record says the reporter did not provide any oral or written description of the observation.
  • AARO comments that the area of contrast’s apparent increase in size is likely to be at least partially attributable to the U.S. platform closing the distance between itself and the source of the detection
  • The released record says an unidentified anomalous phenomenon was observed by a U.S. military platform.

Why it matters

DOW-UAP-PR045, Unresolved UAP Report, Middle East, 2020 combines an official, playable video, 3 extracted claims, 1 evidence record, and 2 timeline entries, and file-level provenance that can be compared with related release records.

Corroboration

For DOW-UAP-PR045, Unresolved UAP Report, Middle East, 2020, the release establishes official provenance but does not independently verify the record's statement that the Department of the Air Force submitted a report of an unidentified anomalous phenomenon to the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) consisting of 58 seconds of video footage from an infrared sensor aboard a U.S. military platform in 2020.

Open questions

  • Do an original-generation recording, complete transcript, or sensor metadata survive outside the released artifact?

Probed separates this editorial assessment from the source claims below. It summarizes what the released artifact supports; it is not independent verification.

Official Description from War.gov

The Department of the Air Force submitted a report of an unidentified anomalous phenomenon to the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) consisting of 58 seconds of video footage from an infrared sensor aboard a U.S. military platform in 2020. The reporter did not provide any oral or written description of the observation. Video Description: 00:00-00:03: The sensor tracks an area of contrast acquiring a reticle lock. 00:04-00:30: The area of contrast gradually increases in distinctiveness against the background. 00:31: The sensor narrows its field-of-view to zoom in on the area of contrast. 00:32-00:56: The area of contrast increases in apparent size and distinctiveness. 00:57-00:58: The area of contrast leaves the center of the frame and passes out of the sensor field-of-view, exiting the scene in the bottom right corner of the screen. 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. AARO Comment: The area of contrast’s apparent increase in size is likely to be at least partially attributable to the U.S. platform closing the distance between itself and the source of the detection.

Preserved verbatim as source metadata. This wording is separate from Probed’s file-specific description and assessment.

File Context

Related entities

5
Research Map relationships require row-level claim or timeline references.

Tracker findings

1

DOW-UAP-PR45: the Department of the Air Force submitted a report of an UAP

The linked release item states that the Department of the Air Force submitted a report of an unidentified anomalous phenomenon to the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) consisting of 58 seconds of video footage from an infrared sensor aboard a U.S. military platform in 2020.

Release provenance

Release
Release 01
Official ID
release-01-file-097-dow-uap-pr045-unresolved-uap-report-middle-east-2020
Cleared
May 8, 2026
Official release source

Related coverage

6

Sighting Context

Stored occurrence and enrichment data for this released artifact. Missing or regional data stays explicit rather than being inferred.

Shape model

Shape not classified

No grounded form data

Observation profile

Recorded occurrence details

Occurrence
Southern United States · 2020
Location
Southern United States
Classification
Not classified

Environmental, lunar, orbital, satellite, airport, and nearby-infrastructure context loads when this section approaches the viewport.

Referenced Timeline

  1. UAP Incident

    An unidentified anomalous phenomenon was observed by a U.S. military platform.

  2. Report Cleared for Release

    The report was cleared for public release.

Source Claims

Claims are attributed to the released source and remain distinct from Probed’s assessment and tracker findings.

Reported by source2Source interpretation1
Source reportedObserved

The Department of the Air Force submitted a report of an unidentified anomalous phenomenon to the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) consisting of 58 seconds of video footage from an infrared sensor aboard a U.S. military platform in 2020.

The Department of the Air Force submitted a report of an unidentified anomalous phenomenon to the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) consisting of 58 seconds of video footage from an infrared sensor aboard a U.S. military platform in 2020.

Source reportedObserved

The reporter did not provide any oral or written description of the observation.

The reporter did not provide any oral or written description of the observation.

InterpretationAsserted

AARO comments that the area of contrast’s apparent increase in size is likely to be at least partially attributable to the U.S. platform closing the distance between itself and the source of the detection.

AARO Comment: The area of contrast’s apparent increase in size is likely to be at least partially attributable to the U.S. platform closing the distance between itself and the source of the detection.

Source Material & Evidence

video

Infrared video footage of UAP

Department of the Air Force report

Research Map

5 entities · 1 grounded link

Lines appear only when two entities share a row-level source claim or dated timeline event. Unconnected nodes remain visible without implying a relationship.

UAP/Disclosure Graph
5 nodes1 links