Two Points Enter the Frame. A Sensor Tracks Them

Two points entered the lower-right corner of an image from a military sensor. The sensor tracked them to the center of the screen, according to the U.S. agency that reviewed the footage.

Then the sensor zoomed in. One point disappeared, while the other appeared as three points in a row. Later, the distance between them changed on screen, and more points entered from above.

What the Sensor Recorded

The video shows an image apparently captured by a sensor that detects differences in heat. The sensor was mounted on a U.S. military aircraft in an area overseen by U.S. Central Command. The incident took place in 2018.

At first, two points appear. The sensor shifts its view to track them. When it zooms in, one point disappears from the frame. The remaining point now looks like three separate shapes, almost in a straight line.

The Distance Changes on Screen

The point on the right then appears to move away from the other two. The pair remain roughly the same distance apart. More points enter the frame from above.

The video runs for about a minute and 20 seconds. A user uploaded it to a classified network in 2020, about two years after the incident. The agency that reviewed the material was able to describe what appears in the video and estimate where it was filmed. It did not identify the points.

What Remains Unknown

The agency estimates that the footage was probably captured with an infrared sensor, which detects differences in heat, mounted on a U.S. military aircraft. It is not known what the points were or what happened outside the frame; the video’s description does not establish their origin or significance.

Three points, almost in a straight line. In the image, one begins to move away.