For more than three minutes, nothing is visible in the video. Then the sensor zooms out, and an area that looks different from the rest of the image moves from the top of the screen to the bottom and disappears offscreen.
The sensor doesn’t stop there. It changes the framing, zooms in again, and turns toward the area. Then the area vanishes into the video’s grain. That’s all the footage shows: the sensor tracked something, but the video doesn’t reveal what it was.
The Spot Crosses the Screen
The video runs for nearly five minutes. For most of that time, nothing is visible. A little after the three-minute mark, the sensor adjusts the image to show more of the scene. That’s when the area of contrast appears, moves from top to bottom, and disappears offscreen.
Here, “contrast” means a difference in appearance from what’s around it. It doesn’t describe a clearly identifiable object, such as a plane or a bird. The video shows only an area that looks different.
The Sensor Changes Direction
After the area leaves the screen, the sensor adjusts the image again: first showing more of the scene, then zooming in. It also turns to track the area.
Later, the area becomes difficult to distinguish from the video’s speckles and texture. That’s what grain looks like: the image becomes rough and speckled. At the end, the sensor zooms out again.
The U.S. Department of War released the video to the public. The department assesses that it probably came from a heat-detecting sensor aboard a U.S. military asset operating in the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility in 2020. The video shows how the sensor responded; it doesn’t identify what appeared in the image.
What Remains Unknown
The cause of the area’s appearance is unknown, and the record offers no ordinary explanation for what is shown. The department assesses where the video probably came from, but notes that there is no reliable documentation of how it was stored and transferred.
The area leaves the screen. The sensor turns to follow it. Then the image swallows it.