Official · Video · Department of War
Military Video Shows Eight-Pointed Shape Moving With a Trail
It looked like a star, left the frame, then reappeared after an edit.
Released to the public May 8, 20262 min readALIENS editorial
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It looked like a star, left the frame, then reappeared after an edit.
A military video from the Middle East shows a star-shaped form moving and leaving a trail. It disappears, reappears after an edit, then leaves the frame elsewhere.
Heavily redacted, 1-minute-46-second infrared sensor video released by AARO as DOW-UAP-PR38, originating from a U.S. military platform operating in the Middle East in 2013 and submitted by U.S. Central Command. The footage shows a single bright IR area-of-contrast resembling an eight-pointed star (a classic point-source diffraction/optical artifact pattern of a thermal imager) tracked against a hazy sky with a horizon line and what appears to be a contrail/trail. Most HUD readouts and corner banners are masked with solid black redaction blocks, leaving only crosshair reticles, corner tracking brackets, and a single 'N' character visible. Notably, the manifest classifies the record as 'Unresolved' while the DVIDS public video title states 'Resolved as an Aircraft, Middle East 2013'.
Per AARO's video description: an area of contrast resembling an eight-pointed star with arms of alternating length is observed by an airborne IR sensor. At 00:10 the sensor field-of-view narrows (zooms in). From 00:11-00:29 the area of contrast moves within the FOV followed by a visible trail. At 00:30 it leaves the FOV at the bottom right of the screen. Following an apparent cut, from 00:35-01:44 the area of contrast generally remains in FOV before exiting from the top-left quarter of the screen. The reporter provided no oral or written description of the observation. The DVIDS video title states the case is 'Resolved as an Aircraft'.
Middle East, Unspecified
U.S. military platform (unspecified)
aircraft
Infrared sensor (airborne, FLIR-type)
sensor
Top edge of frame, central rectangular block masking a HUD readout/banner row
Likely reason: Likely classification/operational marking, sensor type, or platform identifier
Top-right corner: stepped block of black redaction over a multi-line HUD field
Likely reason: Likely date/time stamp, coordinates, or platform/sensor identifier
Upper-left edge: vertical block masking left-side HUD column
Likely reason: Likely sensor mode/range/altitude readout
Mid-left edge: short horizontal block masking a HUD line
Likely reason: Likely numeric readout (range, bearing, or altitude)
Lower-left of frame: vertical block masking left HUD column
Likely reason: Likely sensor parameter or aircraft attitude readout
Bottom-center: long horizontal black banner masking a multi-field HUD row
Likely reason: Likely date/time stamp, coordinates, classification banner, or mission/platform identifier
Bottom-right: row of small block redactions over discrete HUD fields
Likely reason: Likely numeric readouts (e.g., laser/range/bearing values)
Right edge: vertical block masking right-side HUD column
Likely reason: Likely sensor mode, FOV/zoom, or weapon/sensor status
Important conflict to flag in cross-cutting reports: manifest row 094 calls this 'Unresolved UAP Report' but the DVIDS public video_title for the same DVIDS ID 1006088 says 'Resolved as an Aircraft, Middle East 2013' — at least one of those metadata sources is mislabeled. The eight-pointed-star morphology is a well-known IR-imager diffraction/bloom artifact and should not be reported as a literal physical shape. All HUD/banner metadata (date, time, coordinates, platform, sensor, classification banner) is redacted with solid black blocks; only a single 'N' character (likely heading/compass) is preserved. Group with the other DOW-UAP-PR series AARO videos released 2026-05-08 and with USCENTCOM IR-sensor UAP cases.
A star-shaped form moves across the screen, leaving a trail behind it. It disappears, reappears after a cut, and leaves the frame elsewhere.
No. The person who submitted the report provided no description, and the record describes the video without offering an explanation for what it shows.
Bottom-left corner: small block
Likely reason: Likely a HUD label or compass/heading indicator partner to the visible 'N'
A video filmed in the Middle East in 2013 shows an eight-pointed shape. It looks like a star, moves across the screen, and leaves a trail behind it. Then it leaves the frame.
The footage came from a thermal camera aboard a U.S. military vehicle. But the strangest moment comes after the shape disappears: the video cuts, and the shape reappears on the other side of the frame. The official description says what the video shows but does not explain what the shape was.
U.S. Central Command sent the video to a U.S. agency that investigates reports of unidentified phenomena. The U.S. Department of War released the record to the public. The video runs for almost two minutes.
At the start, a light or dark shape appears, with eight points protruding from it. Some are longer than others. The camera does not show a conventional image; it displays differences in heat, so the shape appears as an area with a different temperature from its surroundings.
A moment later, the image zooms in on the area. The description does not say the military vehicle itself moved closer; it says the camera zoomed in. The shape then moves across the screen, with a trail visible behind it. The video does not explain what produced the trail.
Later, the shape leaves the frame through the lower-right corner. A few seconds later, the video cuts, and the shape appears again. This time, it remains in the frame for most of the clip, until it leaves near the upper-left corner.
The cut changes what the viewer sees: the shape disappears, returns, then leaves somewhere else. That is the movement captured in the video, not an explanation of what happened off-screen.
It is not known what the shape was or what caused it to move and leave a trail. The person who submitted the report provided no verbal or written explanation, and the official description offers no conventional explanation; it only notes that the video appears to contain a cut.
It disappeared at one edge of the screen. After the cut, all that remains is to watch it leave at another edge.